Leichardt will have to take a back seat as the Italian mecca in Sydney this March 14th as Wentworth Point (formerly Homebush Bay) puts on a festival that is quintessentially Italian. The focus will be all manner of Italian automotive wonders from Ferrari and Maserati to luscious Ducati and Aprilia motorcycles but in true Italian style, there’ll be plenty of food and drink ready and waiting, supported by The Waterfront’s very own Cucina Viscontini, and Concerto eateries.

Although the theme is primarily Italian, the overall event caters to all things Mediterranean as music, food, wine and of course cars and bikes fill the Waterfront piazza with life.

There are no entry fees, just turn up and enjoy the festivities!

For all the details click here to go to the calendar.

Proudly supported by:

The Waterfront

www.thewaterfront.com.au

The Waterfront Bocce Club

www.thewaterfrontbocce.net/

BikeBiz

www.bikebiz.com.au

Concerto Restaurant

www.concertorestaurant.com.au/

Cucina Viscontini

www.cucinaviscontini.com.au/

Classic Italian Motorcycle Association of Australia

www.cimaa.asn.au/

Ducati Owners Club NSW

www.docnsw.org.au/

Italian Made Social Motoring Club

http://imsmc.blogspot.com/

Ferrari Owners Club

www.fca.org.au/

Fiat Club of NSW

www.fiatclub.com.au/

Alfa Romeo Owners Club of NSW

www.alfaclubnsw.org.au/

The Scooter Community

http://scootercommunity.com.au/

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- Promotion -

Hyosung has announced its ‘More for less’ promotion.

For a limited time only, Hyosung is offering a staggering $1000 cash back offer on its ever popular GT250R.

Offering ‘More bike for less bucks’ than its competitors, this amazing offer is only available until 30th April 2010, so get in quick to take advantage of this deal.

Hyosung are also offering $500 cash back on it’s GV250, GT250, GT650, GT650R & GT650S road bikes.

This offer is also only until 30th April, so see your participating Hyosung dealer for details or visit www.hyosung.com.au.

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- Promotion -

Suzuki is offering a $500* factory CashBack on selected models from its popular DR-Z range from now until the end of April.

Australia’s number one selling off road motorcycle in 2009**, the Suzuki DR-Z400E is included in the CashBack offer along with popular variants, the DR-Z400S and DR-Z400SM Super Motard.

Suzuki’s generous $500* offer also applies to the popular DR-Z250, for all new models purchased and delivered between 1 March and 30 April 2010.

This offer gives riders even more bang for their buck within the reliable and low-maintenance DR-Z range, with all of the selected models featuring four-stroke, DOHC, engines that produce plenty of power and torque.

Giving riders the ultimate versatility for road or off-road use, these selected models from the DR-Z range are 100% street-legal and qualify for the Learner Approved Motorcycle Scheme (LAMS), making them perfect for both work and play.

For further information and pricing details on Suzuki’s DR-Z range, interested customers should visit their local Suzuki dealer, who can be found through the Dealer Locator on www.suzuki.com.au.

* CashBack value includes GST.


** ERG retail industry data, Jan-Dec, 2009

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Last year, BRP brought the Spyder RS experience to over 3000 test riders making it an extremely successful and popular event. For 2010 they will be packing up the truck and hitting the road again with the 2010 Can-Am “Spyder experience” demo tour, this time with the all new Spyder RT tourer to show the masses a completely different and exciting side to touring.

Starting in Perth on March 19th 2010, The Spyder Experience travelling road show including the Spyder hospitality truck will visit cities all over Australia. Participants will get the opportunity to experience the Spyder’s many features and benefits including Vehicle Stability System, reverse gear, dynamic power steering, plus test the Spyder’s performance and magnetic cornering.

The “Spyder experience” offers participants a two-hour introduction to the vehicle which includes rider training and technical overview prior to putting the Spyder roadster through its paces on the open road and feeling first hand its unique riding sensation. Then grabbing a coffee in the Spyder hospitality truck, participants can discuss their experience with like minded adventurers, dealers and experts from the Can-Am team.

To find out where and when you can register to try the Can-Am Spyder RS and RT, visit: www.spyderexperience.com. The demo tour is free. Register early, spots are limited.

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- Promotion -

Suzuki is continuing to assist owners of the iconic Boulevard cruisers or Bandit sports tourers get their dream machines on the road, by extending its $500* contribution towards registration on new models purchased before the end of April, 2010.

The class-leading Boulevard range puts advanced sportsbike technology into six, value-packed, head-turning cruisers.

Various engine capacities are available in either classic ‘C’ styling or aggressive and muscular ‘M’ styling among the popular fleet, from the 800cc Boulevard C50 and M50, through to the massive 1,800cc Boulevard C109R and M109R.

Like the Boulevard, Suzuki’s Bandit range offers an impressive combination of technology and style in the ultimate value for money sports tourer.

With a big-bore, 1,255cc, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected engine, a six-speed transmission, comfortable riding position and large, 19-litre fuel tank, the Bandits perform effortlessly as a weekend tourer or a daily ride.

Naked, half-faired and an ABS variant make up the Bandit range, with models meeting all tastes and rider preferences.

From 1 March until 30 April 2010, inclusive, every new Suzuki Boulevard or Bandit purchased and delivered will come with $500* towards registration costs.

For further information and pricing details on Suzuki’s Boulevard and Bandit ranges, interested customers should visit their local Suzuki dealer, who can be found through the Dealer Locator on www.suzuki.com.au or www.suzukiboulevard.com.au.

* Registration assistance value includes GST.

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- Promotion -

Honda Australia Rider Training (HART) are celebrating their first birthday at the Somerton Centre in Melbourne’s north, and to spread the cheer anyone who enrols in a Motorcycle Learner’s Permit course during the month of March will receive 20% off.

HART offers one day and two day Learner Permit courses and testing. The two day course is designed for students who have never ridden before, whilst the one day course requires that students have previously ridden.

Riders who have already passed their “L’s” and are attempting their licence course also now have the opportunity to retest for free on the same day should they happen to not pass the first time.

“The free retest is proving to be very popular,” said HART Victoria Manager, Grant Carr.

“Some people make simple mistakes during tests; it’s easy to do, so having the ability to undertake the test again on the same day is very handy for people who don’t want to have to come back at another time.”

Free retests are also now available at the HART Kilsyth centre in Melbourne’s east.

To find out more about course availability and pricing, call (03) 9270 1377.

HART has long been considered the preeminent provider of rider training and licensing in Australia. Highly qualified instructors deliver state-of-the-art teaching methods to over 17,000 riders each year nationally.

HART is fully owned and run by Honda Australia who, apart from being a subsidiary of the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, is also one of the world’s largest trainers of motorcyclists.

www.hartridertraining.com.au

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The Isle of Man TT is fast becoming a must attend event for both spectators, manufacturers and team owners alike and in 2010 we will see Austrian manufacturer KTM take part for the very first time with Redline Motorcycles and James Edmeades. The delectable KTM RC8R Superbike will take part in the Superbike, Superstock and Senior TT Races.

Already doing the business in the Austrian and German Superbike Championships, KTM have been steadily grown as a manufacturer with serious road racing intentions.

The man given the task of riding the bright orange bike will be Loughborough’s James Edmeades. The 26-year old is no stranger to the TT having ridden in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 events. The former Virgin R6 Cup rider narrowly missed out on his first 120mph lap in 2007 and has already picked up two bronze replicas from his nine races whilst he also took a strong fifth in last season’s RC8 Super Cup Championship.

In addition to the TT outing, Edmeades will campaign the bike in this year’s British Superbike Evo Championship and he is eagerly looking forward to his return to the Mountain Course.

“The opportunity to become the first KTM rider at the Isle of Man TT Races is a tremendous honour for me and after the three great years I enjoyed between 2006 and 2008, I can’t wait to get back on the Island. The KTM RC8R is a superb bike and I’m sure it will perform well around the course with its excellent handling qualities.

He continued:

“I was carrying an injury when I was last at the TT and didn’t perform as I would have liked which is something I’m keen to put right this year. I’m sure both myself and the team will give a good account of ourselves and further prove the capabilities of the KTM Superbike machine.”

KTM will join Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki with their official manufacturer supported efforts at this year’s TT whilst discussions with other leading manufacturers not currently represented at the TT are close to being finalised.

Hon Martyn Quayle, MHK, Minister for Tourism and Leisure, Isle of Man Government commented:

“It will be fantastic to see KTM competing for the first time on the Isle of Man and how appropriate that they will be lining up on the grid with Suzuki who are celebrating their 50th anniversary of racing at the TT. It shows the continued strength and enduring appeal of the TT Races and I hope that KTM will have a long and successful TT history.”

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World Superbike Warm-up:

Let’s ‘av’ it: led by Jonathan Rea, the Superbike field chomps at the white line to get Warm-up underway.

World Superbike action started with a bang, followed by a dust cloud from the Turn 1 – Doohan Corner – gravel trap, kicked up by a works Ducati and BMW skittering across it, with  Noriyuki Haga and Ruben Xaus cartwheeling in pursuit. Xaus had drafted Haga down the straight and was just inside his line when the Japanese pilot tipped in. A desperate lunge for the brakes by Xaus folded his front wheel, and the falling S1000RR collected Haga’s rear wheel, knocking the Ducati over the highside. It was Xaus’ fourth crash of the weekend, and his last. On doctor’s advice, he elected to withdraw, joining Roland Resch, who broke a collarbone in a qualifying crash yesterday, on the bench.

Shakey Byrne was the only other faller in warm-up, laying his Althea Ducati down at Lukey Heights in the last five minutes of the session, after setting the 12th-fastest time, an improvement on the 18th-best time he set in qualifying, and the last time in the 1:32 bracket, which also includes both the factory Yamahas, both Suzukis, and the the Aprilia pairing of Max Biaggi and Leon Camier. After a none-too-spectacular qualifying – 11th for Biaggi, 16th for Camier, the two of them topped the warm-up timesheet, both lapping faster than they did in Superpole yesterday – Camier, for one, picked up a whole six tenths. Whatever the Aprilia team did overnight would appear to have worked.

Carlos Checa takes a shortcut down pitlane in World Superbike Warm-up.

Race 1:

Leon Haslam got a red-hot start from pole and was never headed, always a handy half-dozen bikelengths in front from the pursuing pair of Xerox Ducatis of Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga, who flew in formation, give or take the odd polite pass. It was only towards the very end of the race that Fabrizio found some extra speed, closing enough on Haslam to attempt one of Phillip Island’s trademark draught-passes out of Turn 12. The young Italian got so close he celebrated the finish as a win, finding out on his return to the pits that he’d lost the closest finish in the history of World Superbike at Phillip Island – 0.004 seconds separated him from Haslam.

Haga motored home in a safe third, no doubt pleased that he was able to erase his poor qualifying position – he leapt from the tenth spot on the grid to the front by the end of the straight on the first lap, and there he stayed, finishing  seventh tenths behind the sudden battle for the win, and over nine seconds clear of Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea, who spent most of the race in an almighty four-way fight for four place with Aprilia’s Max Biaggi, Haslam’s team mate Sylvain Guintoli and Carlos Checa on the Althea Ducati. Starting from eleventh, Biaggi was also able to overcome his poor qualifying, and his Aprilia’s speed down the straight – Biaggi’s 316kph was the fastest of the race – helped out with the rest of the pack he was in taking turns to barge past him on the brakes into the Turn 4 and MG corner hairpins.

Further back, things got somewhat strung out. with only Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes and Shakey Byrne on the other Althea Ducati coming home locked together, fighting for thirteenth place. It was not where either wanted to be, especially Byrne, who got off to a storming start from eighteenth on the grid, but then ran off down the Turn 4 escape road on the second lap.

He had better luck with Turn 4 than either Chris Vermeulen or Cal Crutchlow, who both exited stage left from the race there – Vermeulen on Lap 4, Crutchlow on Lap 6. Once he came to a stop, the Englishman ran to his fallen Yamaha, but there was no continuing – the bike had tumbled acros s the grass, snapping controls. Vermeulen’s crash was neater, but damage to the cooling system released a huge steamcloud across the Phillip Island infield and ensured the Australian couldn’t even limp home.

It was an unhappy race for recent MotoGP riders. James Toseland also DNF’d, going out on the second lap, and giving Sterilgarda Yamaha no points from the opening race of the 2010 Championship.

Troy Corser, spinning the lone factory BMW propeller after Xaus’ retirement, had a fittingly lonely race to ninth, a full 20 seconds down on the winners, and another six up on the top-ten tailender, Lorenzo Lanzi on the DFX Ducati. Jakub Smrz, on the other privateer Ducati, was a good four seconds up on Corser in eighth.

Leon Camier was another to take to the Turn 4 escape road. He’d been running with the Rea-Biaggi-Guintoli-Checa battle until the mistake. He brought the second Aprilia home in eleventh, just far enough ahead of Max Neukirchner – 0.4 sec – for the German not have been a worry for him. Behind the Sykes-Byrne battle, Andrew Pitt came away with the sole remaining point on the Reitwagen BMW.

Vittorio Ianuzzo won the battle of the cash-strapped privateers down the back, ahead of the Pedercini Kawasakis of Baiocco and Hayden. Josh Brookes, who had to pit early to correct a mechanical problem with his ECHO CRS Honda, rejoined the race to get more track time on the underdeveloped bike and finished five laps down.

Sayonara, suckers. Leon Haslam (91) bolted from red light to chequered flag in Race 1, although a late banzai charge by Michel Fabrizio (84) almost paid off – the Italian lost by only 0.004 seconds in the closest finish in World Superbike at Phillip Island.

Results, Race 1:

Race 2:

Well, this was more like it. After the tense, but – four-way battle for fourth notwithstanding – processional Race 1, Race 2 served up a classic World Superbike fight-to-the-finish, won by Carlos Checa, who fought his way from the back of the leading pack to decisively pass Leon Haslam into MG Corner on the last lap, and open up a four-tenth lead by the finish line.

This time, the four-bike battle was for the win, not fourth place. Sylvain Guintoli, whose sixth place in Race 1 was already none too shabby for a World Superbike newcomer, ran right with, and plenty often enough ahead of his Race 1-winning team mate. Michel Fabrizio, pumped by his Race 1 podium and near-victory, was also right in the mix, routinely going side-by-side with both the Suzukis.

Checa started out at the tail of this battle, accounting first for Noriyuki Haga, then setting after the red-vs-blue battle between Fabrizio’s Ducati and the pair of Alstare GSX-R’s. The dogfight lasted for the full race, culminating in Checa’s victory and a none-too-happy Haslam on the podium in second. Fabrizio, often running second, had to settle for third once Checa made his charge. Haga dropped off from the battle towards the end, finishing 3.7 seconds down in fourth. His third and fourth place finishes come with a handy haul of points to take away from the first round, expecially considering some of the bad luck further down the field.

Behind Haga, Johnny Rea, who was in the lead group until he and Haga came together on entry into Turn 4 early in the race, led home a procession of bikes strung out by gaps of between half a second to a second and a half – just far enough to lose the tow in a race. Immediately behind Rea’s white Ten Kate Honda was the black-blue-and-white BMW of Troy Corser, who improved his fastest race lap by a full six tenths compared to Race 1, and finished eight seconds closer to the leaders – 12 seconds down, not 20. A second down on Corser, Max Biaggi paid for a trip into the grass in Turn 4 with an eighth-place finish.

Almost a second and a half down on Biaggi, the Sterilgarda Yamahas of Crutchlow and Toseland crossed the line three tenths apart to close out the top ten, an incremental improvement from their early exits in race 1.

Chris Vermeulen would likely give a lot for some of that incremental improvement. After crashing out of a packed mid-pack in Race 1, the Australian found the gravel trap at Lukey Heights on the sixth lap in Race 2, then kept going to wedge himself up to his waist under the tyre wall. The culprit – gearbox failure.

Kawasaki’s rotten luck didn’t stop there. Vermeulen’s team mate Tom Sykes and Matteo Baiocco of Team Pedercini also crashed out, with the sole finishing Kawasaki being that of Roger Lee Hayden, last in eighteenth place, behind the privateer Honda of Ianuzzo and, crushingly, the factory Honda of Max Neukirchner, who finished outside the points.

Carlos Checa was on a mission in Race 2. Before he could mug Leon Haslam for the win three corners from the flag, he had to get through his team mate first. Running right in front, and leading Haslam for much of the race, Sylvain Guintoli just missed out on a podium, finishing fourth.

Results, Race 2:

Championship after Round 1:

World Supersport Warm-up:

Hondas to the left of me, Hondas to the right: Fabien Foret (#99) was the charger in Warm-up, with the fifth-fastest time, five up on his grid position from yesteray.

Joan Lascorz continued to lead the depleted World Supersport field in morning warm-up, but the chasing Ten Kate Hondas of Kenan Sofuoglu and Michele Pirro are now right on his tail, less than 0.04 and 0.2 seconds back. Lascorz’ team mate, Katsuaki Fujiwara was fourth, some 0.4 seconds back – again, closer than the qualifying gap from yesterday.

Fabien Foret, on the third Kawasaki ZX-6R in the field, pushed hard in warm-up, running off the track at Turn 4 before sticking the bike into the weeds at the Hayshed on the same lap, but he was the only rider to come close to his qualifying time, and clocked in fifth, a big improvement on his tenth position on the grid. David Salom, absent from Friday’s sessions, mirrored his qualifying position with the sixth-best warm-up time. He remains the top Triumph runner, ahead of Chaz Davies and Jason DiSalvo in seventh and ninth. In the midst of that gaggle of Daytona 675’s sits Eugene Laverty’s Parkalgar CBR600RR, who’ll be starting fourth.

Race:

Last reported sighting of Eugene Laverty by the rest of the field in the World Supersport race. The Irishman bolted from both starts of the incident-interrupted race, winning by over four seconds.

There were two World Supersport races held at Phillip Island, the first an abortive three-lapper, ended by red flags after Massimo Roccoli’s CBR600RR exploded in a cloud of burning-hot oil mist at the Hayshed. Rather than run a shortened race, the organisers elected to give the crowd its money’s worth and re-ran the full 21-lap race.

That was lucky for Turkey’s Kenan Sofuoglu, who had a shocking opening lap of the first attempt at the race, running off at Turn 4 and rejoining so late that, on the second lap, he was battling for position with championship newcomer Paola Cazzola right down the back of the grid. After tha restart, the former champion was right in the mix.

If Sofuoglu was lucky to have the restart, Eugene Laverty, starting from second place, didn’t care either way. He shot off into the middle distance on both occasions and came away with a crushing 4.3 second victory, making irrelevant the 0.3 second qualifying advantage carved out by Joan Lascorz on the Team Motocard Kawasaki. For his part, Lascorz would’ve probably preferred to have done without the restart. Rather than be left in peace to try to figure out what he would do about Laverty up ahead -way ahead – he spent the entire restarted race fending off Sofuoglu, finally shaking him off with a draught-pass down the straight. Immediately behind their battle, their team mates, Michele Pirro and Katsuaki Fujiwara, were doing the same, at least until they tangled at Turn 4 and went down eight laps from the flag, with only Fujiwara rejoining to finish eleventh, 40 seconds down on the winner.

Behind the podium finishers, David Salom took fourth on the top-finishing of the four Triumphs in the field, five and a half seconds ahead of Fabien Foret on the Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki.

There were yawning, multi-second gaps down the rest of the field, with the only battle, between Miguel Praia and Gino Rea, for ninth place, behind American Jason Di Salvo, who raced for a Triumph team with tape over the Yamaha livery on the leathers he brought with him from AMA.

In an encouraging sign for her, Paola Cazzola, racing this far afield and in a World Championship for the first time, finished and banked two points.

After the restart, This went on all race long behind Laverty. Joan Lascorz (37) edged out Kenan Sofuoglu (54) for second after a draft-pass down the straight on the penultimate lap.

Results, World Superport:

Anyway, on to the pics.

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Austrian Roland Resch didn’t even get that far. He just scraped into the top 20 (new rules for Superpole last year, remember) with a Q2 time of just over 1:32, but then end-over-ended his Reitwagen BMW S1000RR into the gravel trap at Siberia, breaking a collarbone as he cartwheeled after the bike. He won’t be starting tomorrow – a disappointing start to his World Superbike experience.

Behind Haslam on the grid tomorrow will be a brace of unlikely helmet liveries – Michel Fabrizio in second place notwithstanding. Cal Crutchlow has picked up where Ben Spies left off on the factory Yamaha, and scored himself a front-row start in his first World Superbike Superpole. He’ll have his team mate over his right shoulder – James Toseland could manage no better than eighth-fastest  in final Superpole on his debut for Sterilgarda Yamaha.

Like Crutchlow, Carlos Checa wouldn’t appear to have had much trouble getting used to the Ducati after several seasons on Hondas. He’s fourth. Fellow championship debutant Sylvain Guintoli’s fifth spot on the grid could be taken as having come with an unfair advantage in this company; he’d raced a GSX-R1000 in British Superbike – when he wasn’t laid off with major injury, that is.

Noriyuki Haga’s 1:32.229 in Superpole 2 was not enough to get him into the top eight and Superpole 3 – or top nine, for that matter. He starts from tenth, with Lorenzo Lanzi ahead and Max Biaggi behind him. The Italian veteran had another of his unhappy Superpoles, but rare has been race where a midfield start has kept him from slicing and barging his way towards the front for too long. His best regular-qualifying time of 1:33.637 is in the wrong bracket, though. Some nine riders banked times in the 1:32’s. It remains to be seen what the team can do for Biaggi and team mate Leon Camier, who starts from 16th, in tomorrow’s warm-up.

Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus continue to wring extra speed from their BMW’s. Both improved on their Q1 times from yesterday by big margins – something riders of the caliber of Haga or Biaggi didn’t manage on the cold, windy track this morning (yesterday’s sunshine and still air were ideal go-fast conditions). They started from too low a base, though. The hard work by the riders and the team could only secure 13th (Corser) and 15h (Xaus) for what remain the most striking-looking machines in the field – the cameras love them.

Sandwiched between the factory BMW’s is Australia’s Chris Vermeulen, riding for the other manufacturer yet to see a payoff in results for its development work – Kawasaki. Edged out by team mate Tom Sykes in the Kawasaki-furthest-from-the-back-of-the-grid stakes, Vermeulen remains upbeat. The bike appears much more controllable that last year’s rear-wheel-steering wheelie machine. Joan Lascorz and Katsuaki Fujiwara in World Supersport were pulling bigger power wheelies out of MG corner so far this weekend than the factory ZX-10R’s! The improved engine management is likely not to have filtered down to the satellite operation of Team Pedercini – their riders, Matteo Baiocco and Roger Lee Hayden, fill the last two spots on the grid, behind Vittorio Ianuzzo’s underfunder privateer Honda, and Australia’s Josh Brookes, who’s riding a privateer Honda which isn’t even his!

The most disappointed with his grid placing is likely to be Max Neukirchner. On the always-fast factory Honda, the German starts from a lowly 17th. His regular qualifying time indicates he can run in the 1:32’s, which should put him in the mix come race time tomorrow.

Results, Superpole 3:

(bold = quicker qualifying time. If the rider doesn’t better his regular qualifying time in Superpole, the regular qualifying time counts)

Results, Superpole 2:

Results, Superpole 1:

Not qualified for Superpole:

In World Supersport, Triumph pilot David Salom returned to action after missing yesterday’s sessions and proceeded to put his Daytona 675 onto the second row of the grid – a full second behind pole-setter Joan Lascorz. The Spanish Kawasaki rider found an extra eight tenths from the time he set yesterday to secure a clear view down Gardner Straight tomorrow; he’s over two tenths clear of Kenan Sofuoglu and his Ten Kate CBR600RR.

Going by the form shown by the field so far, tomorrow’s race is likely to feature the Motocard.com Kawasakis of Lascorz and Katsuaki Fujiwara, who qualified fifth, and the Hondas of Sofuoglu, Michel Pirro and Eugene Laverty doing a lot of lapping of slower traffic, with the tail-enders in the field, Sweden’s Alexander Lundh and the Italian duo of Danilo dell’Omo and Paola Cazzola over three, four and five seconds down on the pole time.

World Supersport Qualifying results:

More when the real action gets underway tomorrow. Stay tuned.

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Phillip Island’s signature winds and variable weather stayed away for the first day of action as the 24 Superbikes got off to a cautious start on Friday. All teams tested at the track only a week ago and most of the riders posted times over half a second faster than they managed – or bothered; there’s Superpole to think about  – on the first day of the championship’s opening round.

Switching to a satellite Ducati from a Ten Kate Honda, Carlos Checa improved his fifth-best free practice time of 1:33.218 by over a second to bank a provisional pole-setting 1:32.155 on the 11th of his 24 qualifying laps before crashing on the 20th.  Behind him, Michel Fabrizio on the factory Xerox Ducati overcame a crash in morning practice to improve even more, going from eleventh-fastest in practice to second in qualifying.

The pair of factory-supported Ducati teams almost had the provisional front row sewn up, with Checa’s team mate Shane “Shakey” Byrne fourth with a time in the 1:32.6’s, and the veteran Noriyuki Haga less than a tenth of a second back in fifth.

Leon Haslam, making his debut for Alstare Suzuki, spoiled the Ducati party by posting the third fastest time. He also topped first practice, showing how well the combination of baby-faced Englishman and a Francis Batta-built GSX-R1000 has been working. Haslam’s team-mate, and WSB newcomer, Sylvain Guintoli, has also started out strong, recording the eighth-quickest time. His 1:32.902 is only abot half a tenth slower than the 1:32:869 he recorded in testing last week. Haslam is also right on the pace he showed in testing, indicating the Alstare Suzukis are working well.

Further back, Max Biaggi is the faster of the two factory Aprilias. A crash early on in qualifying kept the Italian off the track for 10 minutes. His fastest time came late in the session. Not as late as Leon Camier’s, who waited until his very last lap to set his fastest time. He’s 11th with a 1:33.296.

Current World Supersport Champion, Cal Crutchlow, was the faster of the pair of factory Yamahas, managing tenth fastest right behind Jakub Smrz’ privateer Ducati. Crutchlow’s team mate, the returning dual WSB champion James Toseland, managed only 13th fastest, edged out by Chris Vermeulen on the fastest of the four Kawasakis in the field. Like Biaggi, Toseland also crashed early in qualifying, losing 10 minutes of the hour-long session in the pits.

Both Biaggi or Toseland’s mishaps were dwarfed by the misery endured by the factory BMW team. Troy Corser, who, in 16th, is a full two and a half seconds behind pole time, tipped off at the downhill hairpin right MG Corner towards the middle of the session, just as he was going for fast laptimes. Trying to save the crash bruised the knuckles on his right hand when it was trapped under the handlebar. Ever the nonplussed optimist, Corser was confident that the improvements in suspension and engine-management settings the team were making, and which found him half a second between morning practice and qualifying in the afternoon, would put him towards the front come race day.

It was up to Corser’s team mate to serve as the real lightning rod for bad luck on the day. Ruben Xaus crashed twice at MG Corner in morning practice, heavily damaging his S1000RR on both occasions, the followed that up with another off at Phillip Island’s other slow right-hand hairpin, Turn 4, in qualifying. Low on bikes to ride, he had to sit out most of qualifying, managing to bank only four full laps, and ending up stuck in 19th.

The satellite BMW’s of Team Reitwagen shadowed their factory counterparts, Andrew Pitt one spot behind Corser in 17th, Austrian newcomer Roland Resch in 20th, less than a tenth down on Xaus.

Honda’s slimmed-down World Superbike campaign, still outsourced to the massively capable Ten Kate operation, is spearheaded by Briton Jonathan Rea in seventh. Returning to Honda after three years on Suzukis, Max Neukirchner didn’t have the best of welcomes home, crashing in morning practice and managing no better than 18th in qualifying.

Kawasaki’s decision to put MotoGP departee Chris Vermeulen and British Superbike champ Tom Sykes on their factory bikes would appear to be yielding (very) incremental improvements. After finishing last week’s test outside the top 15, both riders finished Friday inside the Superpole cutoff of 16 – Vermeulen in 12th, Sykes in 15th. Lucio Pedercini’s privateer green team, fielding AMA front-runner Roger Lee Hayden and young Matto Baiocco, has been stuck out the back. Both their men are a second down on the third-last runner, Australia’s Josh Brookes, who’s standing in for an injured Broc Parkes on the privateer ECHO CRS Honda.

World Superbike standings, after Friday qualifying:

Carlos Checa enroute to putting his Team Althea Ducati 1198R atop the Superbike timesheets in Friday qualifying.

In World Supersport, the departure of Yamaha and Suzuki has left the might of  Ten Kate Honda to be opposed by Kawasaki and Triumph, and it was Spain’s Joan Lascorz, on one of the Team Motocard.com ZX-6R, who came away with provisional pole on Friday, narrowly – by 15 thousandths of a second – edging out last year’s championship runner-up, Irishman Eugene Laverty on the Ten Kate-supported Parkalgar CBR600RR. Past runaway series champion, Kenan Sofuoglu of Turkey, was right on both their tails, less than 0.015 seconds back, with Katsuaki Fujiwara in fourth as the other slice of bread in a Honda-on-green sandwich.

Top Triumph was Briton Chaz Davies in sixth, close behind Sofuoglu’s team mate Michel Pirro.

Of the other Supersport runners, only Fabien Foret, the 2002 series winner, on the Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki, was in touch with the front of the field. Behind the Frenchman’s fastest time of 1:35.233, a half-second gap opens out to Miguel Praia in eighth, the other eight runners trickling away to the 1:38.402 banked by Danillo del’Omo and the 1:39.272 of his team mate, Paola Cazzola. Racing for a low-budget team, World Supersport’s first full-time female rider has a hill to climb tomorrow.

World Supersport standings after Friday qualifying:

Joan Lascorz is the provisional pole man in World Supersport after Friday qualifying.

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