TROY MISSES THE FRONT ROW BY A WHISKER IN VALENCIA WORLD SUPERBIKES
10/04/2010 21:18:19

Troy rode superbly in practice, qualifying and then Superpole today and was on course for an historic front row grid place, but lost out by less than a tenth of a second in final Superpole. Troy ended with the fifth fastest time and will now start tomorrow’s pair of 23-lap races from row two of the grid just behind Superpole winner Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha).

Second quickest today is local favourite Carlos Checa (Ducati), with Max Biaggi (Aprilia) third and Leon Haslam (Suzuki) fourth. Troy’s fifth place means that his BMW is one of five different manufacturers filling the top five positions on the grid.

Troy - 5th, 1:34.059

Finally, I feel really comfortable with bike and I can do a whole lap without having to think about every corner. This is the biggest thing for me. We made a good step at the recent Portimao tests and made further progress yesterday and today here and now I feel much more confident about my prospects. Most of the work has been on the electronics - traction control, clutch and engine-braking, but now I’ve got the bike the way I want and I can just go out and ride. I have had to change my riding style for this bike and that’s not an easy thing to do, but it is necessary in order to get it round the track quickly. Changing your riding style is a big thing and when you are in the middle of doing it, your confidence can drop, so now that I am comfortable on the bike, I already am feeling more confident. Many times recently, I have been riding within myself, but now I feel much more in control. The telemetry is working better and we can understand more about what’s going on and then decide what to do. Working with it is also helping us get a better level of grip and the electronics now help maintain the grip so, with all this working well, I feel I will be able to push harder in the second part of the race. I’m looking forward to the two races tomorrow and hope that all these recent improvements and hard work will bear fruit and we can finish with two very good results.

Final Qualifying Results

1 Crutchlow (GBR-Yamaha) 1:33.615, 2 Checa (ESP-Ducati) 1:33.840, 3 Biaggi (ITA-Aprilia) 1:33.860, 4 Haslam (GBR-Suzuki) 1:33, 5 TROY CORSER (AUS-BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1:34.059