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Ducati Qualifies 4&9th in first session at Assen |
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Written by Moto Hero
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Friday, 27 April 2007 |
From Ducati:
DUCATI XEROX MEN FOURTH AND NINTH IN FRENETIC FIRST QUALIFYING SESSION AT ASSEN
Assen (Netherlands), Friday 27 April: The opening qualifying session for the Dutch Round of the World Superbike championship at Assen saw both Ducati Xerox Team riders close to the front-runners' pace but down in fourth and ninth place at the end of the day.
Troy Bayliss was the quicker of the two in 1m39.806s, just two-tenths of a second slower than provisional pole sitter James Toseland (Honda), while Lorenzo Lanzi was a further six-tenths of a second down with 1m40.445s. Such was the frenetic pace of the leading ten riders that the Italian eventually ended up in ninth place.
"We have changed the bike a lot from when we were here last year, trying the settings from 2006 and giving the bike I've had this year a bit of a go and they are both completely different" declared Troy. "We've also been testing the hardest tyre Pirelli has got because we thought it would be the only one that was able to do any good for the race. Right at the last moment we put a soft tyre to do a lap and I decided to stay out, I did eight laps and my time looked good so we've got a few things to think about tonight. Despite the fact that I'm missing quite a bit in the second split and missing a bit of feeling with the back and I'm struggling to touch the gas the way I want and not feeling as comfortable as I should be, I'm looking forward to tomorrow and feeling good in general".
"The track conditions changed a lot from this morning because the temperature warmed up and I was unable to improve as much as I would have liked" declared Lorenzo. "In the qualifying session I went well while I was using the race tyre then I put on a softer compound to try and move up a few positions, but unfortunately I could only record the same time. However I'm pleased with my race pace and I've already got an idea of the tyres to use Sunday, I did a lot of laps to test them and try and get the best setting. Even though I'm only ninth I'm close to the times of the top guys and am quite pleased with everything so far."
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