Nurburgring World Superbikes: Troy Bayliss back to his best in Germany

Troy Bayliss bounced back from a difficult day yesterday to take provisional pole position with a stunning 1min 56.598sec lap in the dying minutes of the hour long session.

Bayliss looked to be having difficulty in improving the set-up of his Xerox Ducati early on and was one of the few riders unable to improve his lap time, but with less than ten minutes remaining he clearly found an improved setting and posted two laps, both of which would have been fast enough to secure pole.

Bayliss’ time nudged local hero Max Neukirchner off the top spot, but the German’s lap time set early on in the session remained good enough for him to keep his place on the provisional front row in second spot.

Max Biaggi showed that he could be a major threat at the Nurburgring after qualifying in third place. Biaggi has largely recovered from the hand injury that affected him last time out and showed yet again what he is capable of when he is fully fit.

Noriyuki Haga jumped up to fourth place and apart from suffering with muscle fatigue in his shoulder, showed no ill effects from his recently pinned and plated collarbone.

Yesterday’s pole man Troy Corser was once again fast but couldn’t find the killer pace that saw him dominate yesterday and ended up in fifth place 0.652 seconds behind Bayliss’ pole time.

Ten Kate Honda’s Carlos Checa had a difficult session in and out of the pits trying to improve his lap time. On his final circulation he bettered his time from Friday but it was still only good enough for 12th spot.

Nurburgring World Superbike qualifying two results:
 
1 Troy BAYLISS AUS Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098 F08 1’56.598
2 Max NEUKIRCHNER GER Team Alstare Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’57.124
3 Max BIAGGI ITA Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’58.311 1’57.185
4 Noriyuki HAGA JPN Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Yamaha YZF-R1 1’57.252
5 Troy CORSER AUS Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Yamaha YZF-R1 1’57.463 (1’57.257)
6 Sebastien GIMBERT FRA Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 Yamaha YZF-R1 1’57.287
7 Ruben XAUS ESP Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’57.312
8 Michel FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098 F08 1’57.579
9 Lorenzo LANZI ITA R.G. Team Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’57.597
10 Regis LACONI FRA Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’57.660
11 Yukio KAGAYAMA JPN Team Suzuki Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’57.714
12 Carlos CHECA ESP Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1’57.717
13 Fonsi NIETO ESP Team Suzuki Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’57.921
14 Karl MUGGERIDGE AUS D.F. Racing Honda CBR1000RR 1’57.973
15 Ryuichi KIYONARI JPN Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1’58.399 1’58.024 1’58.024
16 Jakub SMRZ CZE Guandalini Racing by Grifo’s Ducati 1098 RS 08 1’58.852 1’58.034 1’58.034
17 David CHECA ESP Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 Yamaha YZF-R1 1’59.313 1’58.180 1’58.180
18 Gregorio LAVILLA ESP Ventaxia VK Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1’58.322 1’58.421 1’58.322
19 Shinichi NAKATOMI JPN YZF Yamaha Yamaha YZF-R1 1’59.642 1’58.512 1’58.512
20 Kenan SOFUOGLU TUR Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Jr.Honda CBR1000RR 1’59.675 1’58.542 1’58.542
21 Makoto TAMADA JPN Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’58.568 1’58.591 1’58.568
22 Ayrton BADOVINI ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’58.654
23 Russel HOLLAND AUS D.F. Racing – Bertocchi Honda CBR1000RR 1’59.427
24 Shuhei AOYAMA JPN Alto Evolution Honda SuperbikeHonda CBR1000RR 1’59.918 (1’59.488)
25 Roberto ROLFO ITA Hannspree Honda Althea Honda CBR1000RR 1’59.812 (1’59.690)
26 Vittorio IANNUZZO ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’59.789
27 Jason PRIDMORE USA Alto Evolution Honda SuperbikeHonda CBR1000RR 2’00.465
28 Loic NAPOLEONE FRA Grillini PBR Team Yamaha YZF-R1 2’01.062