New R1 Leads The Way In Qatar
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Feb 22, 2007
Yamaha’s new-for-2007 YZF-R1 demonstrated that it is a weapon to be reckoned with in world superbike competition, with Noriyuki Haga scoring provisional pole on the bike’s world championship debut in Qatar today.
The Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team rider topped the timesheets for much of the session onboard the MotoGP-inspired R1, with the Japanese rider particularly happy with his performance because he was concentrating on finding a good set-up to last Saturday’s 18-lap race rather than going for an ultimate pole position time. Haga’s 1:59.019 provisional pole time was set on race rubber and is the fastest ever superbike lap of the Losail circuit, being over half-a-second faster than Troy Bayliss’ qualifying lap last year, and a full second quicker than his own race record.
There was double delight for the Yamaha Motor Italia squad as team-mate Troy Corser also ended the day on the provisional front row. The Australian was also under Bayliss’ previous best, posting a 1:59.440 to end the day fourth on the timesheets in his debut with the Italian squad.
Having tested at the circuit just a few weeks earlier, the team arrived in Qatar with a good base setting for their R1s. Despite this, the squad still had a great deal of work to get through in order to get the best out of their machines for Saturday’s races. With track temperatures approaching 45 °C on the tarmac, tyre selection could prove critical this weekend. Corser and Haga have access to newer-specification Pirelli tyres this weekend than they had during testing, giving them a heavy programme of tyre testing in the practice sessions.
Shinichi Nakatomi ended the day 15th on the Team YZF Yamaha entry. The new squad, born out of the Yamaha Motor France-entered team of 2005 and 2006, is chiefly responsible for development of Yamaha’s YEC range of customer race parts and using the world series to test and improve the range. The Japanese rider, entering his second year in the series, posted a time of 2:01.964 to gain a provisional place in tomorrow afternoon’s grid deciding superpole session.
In today’s tight qualifying session it was British rider James Toseland (Honda) who pushed Haga closest, recording a time of 1:59.056 to take second in the overnight standings. Joining them and Corser on the provisional front row is former 250cc world champion and Yamaha MotoGP rider Max Biaggi (Suzuki), who was third fastest on his superbike debut.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) “I am surprised to be fastest because when we tested here I did not have a really good feeling with the bike. This morning I tried the set-up we left the test with but the feeling was still the same. For the afternoon we changed a few things and made a big step and I am now happy with the way the bike turns. We worked hard to find a good setting for the race and I still want to get better tyre life. For six or seven laps the tyre is very good but then we find that the rear falls away a lot on the right side. The new bike is working well. We only had our shakedown tests a few weeks ago but luckily we are able to carry forward many of the parts and knowledge from the previous R1 so we already have a very good base to work from. “
Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) “I’m fairly happy with that. The track feels different from when we tested here and that’s had an effect on how the bike is performing. We need to improve the front end tyre feel and there are quite a few little things for us to try out tomorrow. For sure it would have been nice to have had a few more tests before the first race but we’ve got a good base to work from and fourth is a pretty decent start. “
Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) “No so bad! We made an improvement of two-and-a-half seconds between the morning and afternoon and I hope we can make some more improvement as we learn more about the set-up of the new machine. “
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) “We tested here a few weeks ago because we understood the importance of being competitive from the very first race. We found a good base setting at the test and, but for a few small changes, only the tyre options are different. We’re happy with how it’s gone today but it is hard to really judge how competitive we can be on race day at this moment. Both riders have been able to complete around 11 to 12 laps on the tyres but we still have to do some more endurance testing tomorrow. “
Circuit Length: 5380 Temp: 25 Weather: Dry
Temp: 25
Weather: Dry
2007 WSB Qatar 22/02/2007
Qualifying 1
Pos.- Rider- Manu.- Nat. -Total- Time
1- Noriyuki Haga- Yamaha- JPN- 1’59.019
2 -James Toseland -Honda- GBR- 1’59.056
3- Max Biaggi- Suzuki- ITA- 1’59.369
4- Troy Corser- Yamaha -AUS- 1’59.440
5- Lorenzo Lanzi -Ducati- ITA- 1’59.459
6- Troy Bayliss- Ducati -AUS -1’59.507
7 -Yukio Kagayama- Suzuki- JPN- 1’59.805
8 -Ruben Xaus- Ducati- ESP- 2’0.244
9- Roberto Rolfo -Honda- ITA- 2’0.258
10- Fonsi Nieto- Kawasaki- ESP -2’0.309
11- Michel Fabrizio- Honda- ITA -2’0.467
12- Max Neukirchner- Suzuki- GER- 2’0.626
13- Regis Laconi -Kawasaki- FRA- 2’0.733
14- Joshua Brookes- Honda- AUS -2’0.936
15- Shinichi Nakatomi- Yamaha- JPN -2’1.948
