WSB Brno: Haga dominates day one for Ducati, Corser airlifted to hospital

Xerox Ducati rider Noriyuki Haga was the surprise fastest man at the end of the first qualifying session at Brno. Haga is not known for his pace in qualifying and during the 2010 season has often struggled to set fast one off lap times, which have compromised his grid position and race results.

But despite scorching 58 degree track temperatures the Japanese rider was in impressive form to finish the day 0.294 seconds faster than second place man Cal Crutchlow.
Crutchlow used a new set of tyres to jump up the leader board with his final lap of the day to finish ahead of Haga’s team-mate Michel Fabrizio in third.

Carlos Checa picked himself up from a crash when he lost the front of his Althea Ducati to set the fourth fastest time of the day.

Max Biaggi made his traditional slow start to the weekend, but began to up his pace in the final ten minutes of the session where he posted four fast laps onboard his factory Alitalia Aprilia.

Spaniard Ruben Xaus backed up his positive testing results at Imola last week to go sixth quickest ahead local hero Jacob Smrz who made his first appearance on the Aprilia RSV4 after switching from Ducati.

Jonathan Rea benefited from a new spec front tyre which helped his performance and reduced chatter to end the day in eighth. Rea piped Sterilgarda Yamaha rider James Toseland who looks to be in much better form following his tough weekend in Misano and in testing at Imola.

Shane Byrne held sixth in Free practice but dropped to 13th with Leon Camier doing a good job of learning the track in 16th.

Leon Haslam endured a torrid day after suffering with the same engine braking problems that plagued him at Misano finishing 17th. Haslam persevered with one bike and will need to find a solution quickly if he wants to get his weekend back on track.

Troy Corser saw his hopes of repeating his Misano podium take a massive blow after he crashed his BMW S1000RR in the final minute of the session. Although nobody saw the crash he is believed to have high sided exiting turn eight. The 38 year old suffered concussion and was complaining of chest pains and was airlifted to Brno hospital for further x-rays and a CT scan. He is expected to stay in hospital overnight for observation.

1 41 N. HAGA JPN Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 1’59.277
2 35 C. CRUTCHLOW GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda Team Yamaha YZF R1 1’59.571
3 84 M. FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 1’59.730
4 7 C. CHECA ESP Althea Racing Ducati 1098R 2’00.153
5 3 M. BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2’00.174
6 111 R. XAUS ESP BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 2’00.273
7 96 J. SMRZ CZE Team PATA B&G Racing Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 2’00.348
8 65 J. REA GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2’00.442
9 52 J. TOSELAND GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda Team Yamaha YZF R1 2’00.451
10 99 L. SCASSA ITA Supersonic Racing Team Ducati 1098R 2’00.463
11 57 L. LANZI ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 2’00.475
12 11 T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 2’00.508
13 67 S. BYRNE GBR Althea Racing Ducati 1098R 2’00.534
14 76 M. NEUKIRCHNER GER HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2’00.701
15 50 S. GUINTOLI FRA Team Suzuki Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 2’00.739
16 2 L. CAMIER GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2’00.745
17 91 L. HASLAM GBR Team Suzuki Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 2’01.003
18 66 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX 10R 2’01.026
19 77 C. VERMEULEN AUS Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX 10R 2’01.497
20 23 B. PARKES AUS ECHO CRS Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2’01.805
21 15 M. BAIOCCO ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 2’02.239
22 95 R. HAYDEN USA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 2’02.684