BMW MOTORRAD:

Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport rider Troy Corser got tantalisingly close to a place on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s pair of 23-lap races at Magny-Cours, but missed out because of the Superpole tyre rule. He had used both of his qualifying tyres in Superpoles 1 and 2, to make sure of getting into Superpole 3, and then did not have one available for the final Superpole. But he and the team are happy that, once again, a second row grid spot has been obtained and are now looking forward to tomorrow.

Ruben continued to defy the pain barrier today and achieved his first goal of qualifying for Superpole. He then surprised everybody by qualifying for Superpole 2, but lack of race fitness probably accounted for the fact that he could proceed any further.

Ben Spies (Yamaha) once again won Superpole – his tenth of the season – with Jonathan Rea (Honda) second, Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) and Biaggi (Aprilia) fourth.

Troy – 8th, 1:39.114
Today went pretty well generally and I think we’ve got a pretty good race set-up and know which tyres we’ll use for the race. When our bike gets more grip – like when we put on qualifying tyres – it behaves a bit differently, so that’s always something to consider. The bike was spinning a bit this afternoon, so we’ll sit down and look at the telemetry and see if we can find out what the problem is and what to do about it. If I had been able to have a qualifier in final Superpole session, I think I might have got on the front row of the grid, but row two is OK and I normally make good starts, so I am not too bothered. Because of a red flag we lost fifteen minutes of the afternoon session and for us, that was valuable time lost. But we’re in pretty good shape and I’m hoping that it all works out well tomorrow.

Brembo have worked very hard since last week and I now have no complaints at all about the brakes – in fact they are probably the best they’ve ever been.

Ruben – 15th, 1:39.444
I am happy that I managed to qualify for Superpole and I’m happy that I also got into Superpole 2. On another day and with better physical condition, who knows what might have happened and I might have got on to the second row of the grid! This track has many right-handers and they, and the hairpins, are killing me. Being here for the first time on a four cylinder bike doesn’t help either, so I think I should be satisfied with what I did today. I need to find about half a second and then I think I’ll be able to have a good race for sure. I had a bit of a moment this afternoon when a gust of wind forced my hand off the handlebars and I had to go straight on at the final chicane. I would like to congratulate Troy for his good work and fast laps today and I would like to thank my team for the great job they did.

Berti Hauser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director)
Once again Troy showed what he can do with this bike and it’s just a shame that he just couldn’t manage to get on the front row. Tomorrow will be interesting for sure and we are all hoping that he gets good results. Ruben shouldn’t really be racing yet and it is difficult to know how much pain he is in. But at least we have our doctor with us today and tomorrow and so he will get the best possible treatment. This track doesn’t really suit our bike at present, but I’m sure that both Troy and Ruben will do the very best they can and hopefully our results will reflect that.