Hodgson quickest after first day’s qualifying

The times have come in for the first qualifying session in Valencia with only one second separating the top seven riders.

Fila Ducati rider Neil Hodgson put in a fastest lap of 1:34.932, just 0.069 seconds slower than his time in this morning’s free practice session, with Chris Walker on the HM Plant Ducati 998 following just 0.415 seconds behind.

Hodgson’s team-mate Ruben Xaus was only 0.069 seconds behind Walker in third place with a fastest lap of 1:35.416.

Frankie Chili, 1:35.687, Steve Martin, 1:35.827, James Toseland, 1:35.839, and Troy Corser, 1:35.908 are the remaining riders less than a second behind Hodgson.

James Haydon managed to better his practice time by 1.2 seconds to clock a best lap of 1:36.949 on the Foggy FP1, finishing just 0.113 seconds behind 12th place Suzuki GSX-R1000 rider Gregorio Lavilla.

Saturday will see the second qualifying round starting at 11am with the all-important Superpole at 4pm. On Sunday the action starts with the first race at 12noon followed by race two at 3.30pm.

Don’t forget to check out next week’s edition of MCN, out March 5, for a full report from our man at Valencia, Andy Downes.

If you haven’t registered yet for the MCN Fantasy Road Racing competition, you only have until midnight to choose your team. Log on to www.mcnfrr.com for your chance to win a Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000.