PARKALGAR HONDA’S Eugene Laverty was fourth quickest in opening practice for Sunday’s 10th round of the World Supersport Championship at Brno in the Czech Republic and remains upbeat that he can win the race on Sunday.
Miguel Praia set a time 1.1secs faster than his best in 2008 to finish 10th and in buoyant mood for the rest of the weekend. The 5.403km Brno circuit is both picturesque and demanding of all riders because of its changes in elevation. Qualifying comes after another practice session tomorrow before the race takes place at 1325CET on Sunday, July 26th.
Eugene: “Brno is a different track to Imola and our starting position with the bike following the Imola test has proved not to suit. I really didn’t expect it to be so far away. It means we are a session down on the riders that tested here but I worked and pushed hard and we now know exactly the direction we want to go in. I had a similar crash to what happened at Donington on my third lap out. The rear slid out on me – basically the shock is not using its entire stroke and is quite rigid, so we have fixed that. I am fine; I picked my Parkalgar Honda up and only lost about 20-seconds of track time. My target remains the win and if we have two dry sessions tomorrow then we will catch Cal up.”
Miguel: “We are pretty happy; already I am faster than last year. It is a strong start to the weekend. My preparation for this round has gone well and the team has done a fantastic job of preparing my Parkalgar Honda, I feel much more comfortable than last year. The engine on my bike is strong which makes the job easier on the long straight, but we need to improve the chassis and concentrate on producing more consistent lap times.”
Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: “The team has worked very well. Miguel followed Eugene and set a quick time that shows him the way forward for the rest of the weekend. Eugene’s side have worked hard and they know what they need to do to lift the pace. It hasn’t been a bad session but we have work to do. Cal has banged in a very quick time but it wasn’t long ago he dominated at Assen and we still beat him – and we will be doing all we can to beat him here as well, for us there is nothing to lose by going for the victory.”
Practice Times
1 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 2′02.334
2 Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 2′03.777
3 Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 2′03.997
4 Laverty E. (IRL) PARKALGAR HONDA CBR600RR 2′04.089
5 Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2′04.256
6 West A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2′04.332
7 Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2′04.359
8 McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 2′04.394
9 Vizziello G. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 2′04.646
10 Praia M. (POR) PARKALGAR HONDA CBR600RR 2′04.785
