Troy Corser maintained Foggy PETRONAS Racing’s recent progress with a promising first day of qualifying for the penultimate round of the World Superbike championship at Imola, Italy.

The Australian former world champ was seventh fastest in the afternoon session, on the team’s first day of action at the challenging circuit. Troy sliced 2.5 seconds off his best morning time to post a fastest lap of 1:50.752, within two seconds of provisional polesetter James Toseland.

Troy said: “I am only really starting to get used to the track again. We just made small adjustments to the suspension from this morning to soften the bike, as the track is very bumpy. The set-up we found was not bad and, although the bike is still moving around a little bit, you would expect that on a bumpy surface. I will change the offset for tomorrow to see if it will hold the line better. It’s encouraging that we are closer to the front runners on a Friday than we have been for a while.”

Team-mate James Haydon also made headway on his first visit to Imola since 1996. And, although he suffered a frustrating afternoon, there were signs that his luck had taken a turn for the better. James said: “I was so lucky on my final lap of the morning session. I was going flat out in fifth gear into the double right-hander and as soon as I hit the brakes a squirrel ambled onto the track. At first I thought it was a dog because its tail was up and it was looked so big. There was no way I could move because I was so hard on the brakes, and Neil Hodgson was right behind me as well. It would have been a massive crash if I had hit it. I haven’t been so freaked out by something like that for ages. We made a step forward in the afternoon, but not enough. I know I could have been in the 53s but a mechanical problem meant that I could not improve my time on a qualifying tyre. My injured hand is sore when I am off the bike but is not slowing me up.”

Friday qualifying times, World Superbike championship round 11, Imola, Italy:
1 Toseland (HM Plant Ducati) 1:49.011; 2 Laconi (NCR) 1:49.472; 3 Xaus (Ducati Fila) 1:49.505; 4 Hodgson (Ducati Fila) 1:49.538; 5 Walker (HM Plant Ducati) 1:50.145; 6 Lavilla (Alstare Suzuki) 1:50.570; 7 Corser (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:50.752; 8 Chili (PSG-1) 1:50.859; 9 Martin (DFX) 1:50.892; 10 Pedercini (Team Pedercini) 1:51.206; 18 Haydon (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:54.02