Motorcycles and news

The Australian lapped the sun-scorched 4.06km San Marino circuit in a time of 1:35.016 - a fraction behind fellow countryman Troy Bayliss as team mates Yukio Kagayama and Fabien Foret finished in ninth and 16th places.

Troy Corser - 2nd, 1:35.016:
“Second quickest is ok, considering I wasn’t chasing a lap time. We’re trying to find a good set-up and that’s what we’ve been working on today. We made some changes to the bike after Silverstone and this has been my first chance to try them out. In some areas the bike feels stronger and in other areas a bit weaker, so now we’ll try and find a good balance. I had a little tip-off this morning when the bike went into neutral going into the first left-hander, but fortunately I didn’t hurt myself. Because of my recent attack of chicken pox and the high temperatures today, my energy levels are bit down now, but it’s no problem when I’m on the bike.”

Yukio Kagayama - 9th, 1:35.561:
“I’m happy today because I am enjoying riding the bike much more. The clutch feeling is better and I have more control of the bike which means I can rider harder and still stay consistent. So much more fun!  My hand gets a bit sore after many laps and also my back. My back is a bit of a problem in the long turns and the chicanes but I only notice the discomfort after I get off the bike. But this is my life and it’s no problem when I am on the racetrack.

Fabien Foret - 16th, 1:36.037:
I was very happy after our Brno tests because we found what we thought was a good solution. We started with that set-up here, but the characteristics of this track are different and that set-up didn’t work as well as we had expected. We’ve been trying to modify the set-up today and I’m sure we’re going in the right direction. I know I can improve tomorrow and my first aim is to make sure I qualify well for Superpole. ”