Assen World Superbikes: Troy Bayliss takes pole in crash strewn qualifying

Troy Bayliss continued his dominance from the opening session to take provisional pole position for Sunday’s two World Superbike races in Assen.

Onboard the Xerox Ducati, Bayliss was the only man to dip into the 1min 39secs bracket with a lap time 0.3 seconds faster than his closest rival Noriyuki Haga.

Haga bounced back from a crash early in the session when he lost the front to go second fastest and now looks back to his race winning best.

Fellow Japanese rider and friend Yukio Kagayama proved his pace and the speed of the Suzuki to take fourth with surprise package Jacob Smrtz putting his Guandalini Ducati on the provisional front row despite a crash in the final seconds of the session.

Fonsi Nieto took fifth ahead of a resurgent Makoto Tamada onboard the PSG-1 Kawasaki.

Ryuichi Kiyonari took the accolade of top Honda rider, but was still down in ninth place with one of the pre race favourites Carlos Checa ending the opening day a disappointing 13th spot.

Max Biaggi made big steps during the hour long session to jump up to 11th spot but he’s still a full second off Bayliss’ pole time.

The first qualifying session was also characterised by a number of heavy crashes starting with Haga, Lorenzo Lanzi and then Regis Laconi which brought out the red flags. During the restart Smrtz crashed his Ducati and Lanzi high sided on dropped oil and was taken to the medical centre clutching his wrist.

Assen World Superbikes qualifying one results:

1 Troy BAYLISS AUS Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098 F08 1’39.677
2 Noriyuki HAGA JPN Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Yamaha YZF-R1 1’40.009
3 Yukio KAGAYAMA JPN Team Suzuki Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’40.036
4 Jakub SMRZ CZE Guandalini Racing by Grifo’s Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’40.064
5 Fonsi NIETO ESP Team Suzuki Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’40.195
6 MakotoTAMADA JPN Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’40.278
7 Michel FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098 F08 1’40.375
8 Max NEUKIRCHNER GER Team Alstare Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’40.409
9 Ryuichi KIYONARI JPN Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1’40.496
10 Lorenzo LANZI ITA R.G. Team Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’40.520
11 Max BIAGGI ITA Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’40.673
12 Karl MUGGERIDGE AUS D.F. Racing Honda CBR1000RR 1’40.695
13 Carlos CHECA ESP Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1’40.745
14 David CHECA ESP Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 Yamaha YZF-R1 1’40.746
15 Troy CORSER AUS Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Yamaha YZF-R1 1’40.778
16 Shinichi NAKATOMI JPN YZF Yamaha Yamaha YZF-R1 1’40.817
17 Ruben XAUS ESP Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’40.837
18 Ayrton BADOVINI ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’40.839
19 Gregorio LAVILLA ESP Ventaxia VK Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1’40.919
20 Regis LACONI FRA Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’40.997
21 Sebastien GIMBERT FRA Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 Yamaha YZF-R1 1’41.156
22 Roberto ROLFO ITA Hannspree Honda Althea Honda CBR1000RR 1’41.279
23 Kenan SOFUOGLU TUR Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Jr. Honda CBR1000RR 1’41.561
24 Arie VOS NED Fabricom – MCT Racing Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’41.662
25 Shuhei AOYAMA JPN Alto Evolution Honda Superbike Honda CBR1000RR 1’42.289
26 Luca MORELLI ITA Alto Evolution Honda Superbike Honda CBR1000RR 1’43.030
27 Russel HOLLAND AUS D.F. Racing – Bertocchi Honda CBR1000RR 1’43.184
28 Vittorio IANNUZZO ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’43.312
29 Loic NAPOLEONE FRA Grillini PBR Team Yamaha YZF-R1 1’43.439