Crutchlow and Toseland get straight onto the pace in Utah

QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 29/05/2010 Crutchlow and Toseland get straight onto the pace in Utah The wide open skies of Utah provided the perfect back drop for Yamaha Sterilgarda riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland today as they got down to business in the first qualifying session of the Salt Lake City race weekend. Crutchlow's pace was quick from the go, the rider rarely straying out of the top three and running fastest at times during the session. As the flag signalled the end of the weekend's first qualifying heat he took third with a provisional front row start, less than two tenths off provisional pole. Crutchlow's team mate Toseland put in a remarkable performance in his first riding session on the Miller Motorsports circuit. Despite no track knowledge Toseland spent a good part of the morning's free practice session in the top three riders, and continued to display consistent fast pace in the afternoon's qualifying despite a small crash near the end of the session. He ended the session in seventh position, less than four tenths of a second off provisional pole, and just two tenths off team mate Crutchlow. Cal Crutchlow Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (3rd, 1'48.682) "It wasn't too bad today, third position is pretty good. I had some issues with the brakes and was struggling to stop in some places, making it difficult to judge when to brake. We've got some new things to try tomorrow, and I have to say it's a very different riding experience on the R1 compared to the Supersport bike last year." James Toseland James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (7th, 1'48.887) "I've never been too bad at learning circuits, but it's been pretty impressive for some of the guys including Frankie my Crew Chief as it's their first time here too. To get the bike running as well as it was today is great, fair play to them. I'm a bit annoyed with myself for the crash as I don't usually make mistakes like that, I just got a bit excited as the bike was feeling so good. I thought I could go round the corner a bit faster than the package could, I think I was 17 years old the last time my enthusiasm outmatched my talent! All in all a good day, I'm pleased with the progress and it's a great track, the bike works really well round here." Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager "We made a good start today. We are improving the bike all the time and we came here knowing we had good results from last year which gave us a confident start. We didn't push too hard, and hopefully tomorrow we will make another step forward. We have a technical problem with Cal's brakes which we are looking into and will resolve for tomorrow. James had a small crash at the end of qualifying but he had no injuries at all." Circuit Length: 4905 Fastest Lap Ever: 1'48.193 (Carlos Checa, 01/06/2008) Last Years Winner: Ben Spies 2010 WSB United States - Salt Lake City 29/05/2010 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'48.517 2 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 1'48.670 3 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 1'48.682 4 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 1'48.734 5 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 1'48.742 6 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 1'48.853 7 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 1'48.887 8 Luca Scassa Ducati ITA 1'48.945 9 Troy Corser BMW AUS 1'49.040 10 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 1'49.191 11 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 1'49.281 12 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 1'49.386 13 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 1'49.443 14 Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 1'49.748 15 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 1'49.961 Yamaha Racing Communications Barentszplein 4B / 1013 NJ Amsterdam / The Netherlands T. +31 (0) 20 625 6539 E. office@yrc.nl W. www.yamaha-racing.com © Copyright Yamaha 2010 | Unsubscribe