Frankie Chili tumbles out of the Australian WSBK

Raceline Photography
By blue2bikes
April 2 2005

With Troy Corser topping the timesheets throughout the whole of the pre-race test sessions, it was not to be for Frankie Chili. In the closing minutes of the session, as he was on a fast lap, he caught a slower rider and went onto the white line - losing control of his Klaffi Honda FireBlade.

Sustaining a broken collarbone, he will now not take part in Sunday’s race, and will be travelling back to Italy to have surgery - in the hope that he can compete in the Valencia round.

Surprisingly, it was not the regulars who were the top three finishers - with the exception of Troy Corser. It was to be Max Neukirchner, a former Supersport rookie of the year last year, and in third spot it was Andrew Pitt. In the Superpole it was Yukio Kagayama’s turn to shine as he topped the table, with team-mate Troy Corser only managing fourth position, and Foggy Petronas mounted Steve Martin in second spot, only six hundredths behind Yukio.

Steve said, “When I went out I thought it was possible to finish that high, but it’s still frustrating to be just six hundredths off pole”. Yukio said, after him leading the time, “I am a little surprised. My Superpole lap was not perfect, as I had some slides, but there were not any times I thought I was in trouble. My aim was to beat or equal Troy’s time, and when I did that I was happy. I expected Troy to be faster but he is on the front row, so that’s all that matters. I am very happy at the moment, but I will be thinking of the race tomorrow - that is more important than Superpole.”

Ducati mounted Régis Laconi recorded a speed of 198mph through the speed trap, and could only manage eighth position, with his team-mate James Toseland struggling in a lowly tenth position. Noriyuki Haga, meanwhile, is struggling with chatter problems, and is unable to push his machine, and has not even figured in the top fifteen Superpole finishers - so will have his work cut out when race day comes around.

With two new boys in the top three, and the Foggy Petronas machines now coming together nicely, it may well be a race of changing fortunes for the team - especially with Gary McCoy in a very favourable seventh position on the grid.

Here are the top fifteen Superpole positions:
1 Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki)
2 Steve Martin (Petronas)
3 Max Neukirchner (Honda)
4 Troy Corser (Suzuki)
5 Andrew Pitt (Yamaha)
6 Karl Muggeridge (Honda)
7 Garry McCoy (Petronas)
8 Régis Laconi (Ducati)
9 Chris Vermeulen (Honda)
10 James Toseland (Ducati)
11 Giovanni Bussei (Kawasaki)
12 Norick Abe (Yamaha)
13 Chris Walker (Kawasaki)
14 Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha)
15 José Luís Cardoso (Yamaha)