Andrew Pitt Secures top spot, Craig Jones takes second

Phillip Island race winner Andrew Pitt made his intentions clear by topping the time sheets in first qualifying with a lap 2/10th under the provisos Supersport circuit record.

Pitt’s time of 1m36.773 was 0.295s faster than Britons Craig Jones who improved on his fourth place position from this morning to take second place and a provisional spot on the front row.

Katsuaki Fujiwara, the current lap record holder claimed third position after making a switch back from the factory Ohlins TTX forks to the customer kit Ohlins forks.

Yamaha’s Broc Parkes rounded off the provisional front row and was pleased with his performance as he was the only rider in the top four that didn’t complete last months two day test at the circuit.

Series leader Josh Brookes revealed that Valencia is one of his least favoured circuits, but that didn’t stop him securing fifth onboard his Stiggy Honda with fellow Honda rider and local man Joan Lascorz in sixth.

Britons Jonathan Rea took 0.3 seconds off this mornings lap time but dropped from fifth to seventh onboard his Ten Kate Honda, whilst Chris Walker went half a second faster and jumped from ninth to eighth spot.

Grame Gowland struggled with set-up on his Benjan Honda after making some big changes to handle bar and seat positioning. The young Brit is confident that the changes are going in the right direction and now needs to improve the balance of the bike before he can start really pushing for times.

Provisional pole man Andrew Pitt said:

“So far so good. Valencia is where it all started for me last year when I replaced Sebastian Charpentier in the team and took second. The pace is definitely a lot faster this year, nearly two seconds. Last year I qualified in a 1m38.5 and now I’ve just done a 1m 36.7s.

“We had a good test here a couple of weeks ago so we knew we had a good set-up. If the conditions stay the same for Sunday I think the race pace is going to be 37’s especially in the first half of the race so it’s going to be tough.”

 

 

1 88 A. PITT AUS Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR600RR 1’36.773

2 18 C. JONES GBR Parkalgar Racing Team Honda CBR600RR 1’37.068

3 21 K. FUJIWARA JPN Kawasaki Gil Motor Sport Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’37.233

4 23 B. PARKES AUS Yamaha World Supersport Yamaha YZF-R6 1’37.436

5 25 J. BROOKES AUS Hannspree Stiggy Motors. Honda Honda CBR600RR 1’37.449

6 26 J. LASCORZ ESP Glaner Motocard.com Honda CBR600RR 1’37.538

7 65 J. REA GBR Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR600RR 1’37.551

8 9 C. WALKER GBR Kawasaki Gil Motor Sport Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’37.810

9 105 G. VIZZIELLO ITA Berry Racing Honda CBR600RR 1’37.899

10 77 B. VENEMAN NED RES Software Hoegee Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R600 1’37.985

11 55 M. ROCCOLI ITA Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni Yamaha YZF-R6 1’38.007

12 14 M. LAGRIVE FRA Intermoto Czech Honda CBR600RR 1’38.042

13 127 R. HARMS DEN Hannspree Stiggy Motors. Honda Honda CBR600RR 1’38.108

14 99 F. FORET FRA Yamaha World Supersport Yamaha YZF-R6 1’38.211

15 81 G. GOWLAND GBR Benjan Racing Team Honda CBR600RR 1’38.255

16 38 G. LEBLANC FRA CRS Grand Prix Honda CBR600RR 1’38.263

17 47 I. CLEMENTI ITA Triumph Italia BE1 Racing Triumph 675 1’38.315

18 8 M. AITCHISON AUS Triumph Italia BE1 Racing Triumph 675 1’38.565

19 17 M. PRAIA POR Parkalgar Racing Team Honda CBR600RR 1’38.604

20 69 G. NANNELLI ITA Hannspree Honda Althea Honda CBR600RR 1’38.628

21 31 V. KALLIO FIN Benjan Racing Team Honda CBR600RR 1’38.659

22 147 A. RODRIGUEZ ESP L’Oreal Men Expert Laglisse Yamaha YZF-R6 1’38.666

23 24 G. MCCOY AUS Triumph – SC Triumph 675 1’38.739

24 121 A. VINCENT FRA Gil Motor Sport – Solution F Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’38.791

25 37 W.DE ANGELIS RSM Intermoto Czech Honda CBR600RR 1’38.872

26 15 G. TALMACSI HUN Factory Racing Honda CBR600RR 1’39.083

27 57 I. DIONISI ITA Triumph – SC Triumph 675 1’39.324

28 32 M. GIANSANTI ITA Berry Racing Honda CBR600RR 1’39.330

29 44 D. SALOM ESP Yamaha Spain Yamaha YZF-R6 1’39.486

30 4 L. ALFONSI ITA PMS Honda CBR600RR 1’39.578

31 83 D. VAN KEYMEULEN BEL RES Software Hoegee Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R600 1’39.661

32 75 L. NEDOG SLO CRS Grand Prix Honda CBR600RR 1’39.710

33 51 S. BARRAGAN ESP Glaner Motocard.com Honda CBR600RR 1’40.070

34 82 A. BONASTRE ESP Team Honda Merson Honda CBR600RR 1’40.431

35 199 D. DELL’OMO ITA HP Racing Team Honda CBR600RR 1’40.628

36 72 A. MAGDA HUN Factory Racing Honda CBR600RR 1’41.151