Troy misses Superpole by the narrowest of margins. Yukio disappointed.

Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser made a small mistake on his Superpole lap and missed out on pole position by just 73/100ths of a second! He had been up on his first split, but then a small error on the back straight lost him time and another Superpole win. Lorenzo Lanzi (standing in for Regis Laconi who was injured in Assen) surprised everybody by taking Superpole on the factory Ducati. Third quickest is Chris Vermeulen (Honda), with James Toseland (Ducati) fourth. Yukio finished with the ninth fastest lap, and was disappointed because his time was very close to a second row grid place.

Troy - 2nd, 1:39.092
I could have had Superpole, but I didn't and it was my fault. My first sector was good, but on the back straight I went from fifth to third gear instead of going into second. I ran wide and lost some time and that was enough to push me down to second place. But, I'm on the front row and that's what counts. I normally make good starts, so I'm pretty confident of getting away pretty well. Today we ran a race distance as a test of the tyres and I'm very happy with how the front behaved. I hope the rear works as well, but the races are long tomorrow and a lot will depend on the last eight or so laps. Lausitzring is not a particularly good place for overtaking, so I'll be wanting to be in the lead or the top three or so right from the start. There are a lot of bumps on the track, so 24 laps round here times two is going to be pretty physical. Tomorrow is going to be tough, for sure.

Yukio - 9th, 1:40.191
I am disappointed to be on the third row, because my times were so close to Haga and he's on row two. It is going to make life difficult for sure, but I usually make good starts so I am hoping to be in touch with the leaders straight from the start. A lot depends on the rhythm of the leaders in the early laps. If they go off very fast, they may open out a gap and then it will be very hard to catch them again. I want good starts, good fights and good results.

-tas-