Ocschersleben: Ten Kate Racing first qualifying report

Ten Kate Honda start Oschersleben weekend on top.

Karl Muggeridge took his Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR straight to the top of the timesheets in the first qualifying session in Oschersleben ahead of Sunday's round five of the World Supersport championship.

The Australian was straight back into top form again but it wasn't all plain sailing getting into provisional pole.

"We've worked hard on the set up already," said Muggeridge after qualifying in provisional pole. "The track is bumpy and it's a challenge to get a set up that suits the turns and yet deals with the bumps. Both Pirelli Tyres and WP Suspension are working overtime with us trying to get the bike to work here."

His team mate and fellow Australian Chris Vermeulen finished the session fourth, a creditable position given that he's still carrying a nasty injury to his right thumb.

"This circuit is much more physical than Monza," explained Vermeulen, "my thumb is better than it was but here it is doing more work. We tried a few things on set up to try to cope with the bumps but we went in the wrong direction. But at least we know that now and I'm confident for the rest of the weekend."

While yet another session has finished with a Ten Kate Honda on top, team manager Ronald ten Kate claims it isn't as easy as it looks. "Maybe we are making it look easy but believe me, we're having to put a lot of effort into this," he said. "The nature of the track, in particular the bumps, are making life difficult for the team and riders. On Karl's machine we have made good progress since this morning, and Chris' his thumb is still not 100%. We will now analyse the data we collected today and work hard again before Saturday's sessions. I am sure we have more improvements we can make."

World Supersport Championship
Round Five, Oschersleben
30 - 31 May, and 1 June 2003

Friday Qualifying
Fastest Times

1, K Muggeridge, AUS, Ten Kate Honda, 1'30.250
2, S Chambon, FRA, Suzuki, 1'30.314
3, S Charpentier, FRA, Honda, 1'30.397
4, C Vermeulen, AUS, Ten Kate Honda, 1'30.469
5, K Fujiwara, JPN, Suzuki, 1'30.506
6, P Riba, ESP, Kawasaki, 1'30.599
7, J VD Goorbergh, NED, Yamaha, 1'30.637
8, R Ulm, AUT, Honda, 1'30.781
9, W Daemen, BEL, Honda TKR, 1'30.823
10, A Corradi, ITA, Yamaha, 1'30.827

-tkr-