BMW Motorrad PR:

BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders Toy Corser and Ruben Xaus suffered some grip problems today, finishing 14th and 17th quickest respectively, but both are looking forward to improving their bike set-ups tomorrow and moving up the grid. The track was very hot in the afternoon session and that affected the grip level, but Troy and Ruben continued to put in as many laps as they could and give the team as much information as possible. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) ended the day with the fastest lap, with local favourite Ben Spies (Yamaha) second. Carlos Checa (Honda) was third fastest, with Jakub Smrz (Ducati) fourth.

Troy – 14th, 1:51.002
Miller is not such a bad track for setting up a bike, but what we are finding this year is that the track seems to have a lot less grip than last year. I know that there was a car race recently and that may have affected the grip but, whatever the reason, there is definitely less grip this year. We more or less found a tyre that works, but we have a limited number and that means we have to be careful and work out what we have to do and when. When I tried a different tyre, I was out of the seat a few times and almost crashed.

Ruben – 17th, 1:51.216
My lap time is not far from Troy and although it’s been a difficult day, it has not been a ‘black Friday’. Nobody said that this year was going to be easy, but we are all working our hardest every time out and I am happy with the way I rode today because I know that I am giving 100% on the bike. It’s always a bit hard going fast so soon when we only have two hours to get all the work done. There are some points on the bike we need to work on, but if we can sort those out, I am sure that Troy and I could finish in the top four or so for sure.

Berti Hauser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director)
First let me say that we are happy to have Troy back and after free practice we were really thankful for his feedback and information about what was happening with the bike and the track. At the moment there seems to be only one tyre that is really working with our bike and because we have a limited number we have to control this situation over the next two days. This is a bit of a new situation for us, but we have to learn how to manage it quickly and get on with our work as best we can.  We shall have to see what happens tomorrow, but for sure we have to be quicker.