Scuderia Triumph-SC Secure Top Ten in Phillip Island

vendredi 29 février 2008

McCoy ran as high as third place during the 45 minute stint having put his extensive knowledge of the spectacular Phillip Island circuit to good use.

Due to heavy overnight rain and damp conditions McCoy only completed a hand full of tentative laps in the opening Free Practice session, but posted 14 laps in the afternoon’s first qualifying with positive results.

Team-mate Ilario Dionisi had a difficult day after a technical problem prevented him from setting a competitive time as he was only able to complete three flying laps during qualifying and ended up down in 36th place.

The team are currently waiting for new parts to arrive, which should put them in a stronger position for Saturday’s final qualifying session and Sunday’s 21 lap race.

Garry McCoy said: “The bike feels ok around here. The times aren’t as fast as when we tested here for anyone and I think that’s because of the wind and that there seems to be a few more bumps than before. By the end of the day it was starting to work well and we’re in the ball park. I lost a bit of time trying some different tyres options, which meant I wasn’t able to get a final lap in to try and push for a time. I feel that I was fairly fast but I didn’t really get into it. I’m reasonably happy with tenth place mainly because I know I can go a lot quicker. If the conditions are better I’m sure the times are going to come down and hopefully we’ll be able to go faster than we did in the test which should put us right up there.”

Ilario Dionisi said: “The Phillip Island race track is the best circuit I have ever ridden. It’s not just the track itself but also the surrounding area and location. Unfortunately in qualifying I only got three laps but from this morning the set-up and suspension felt good. From racing in Qatar last week I feel that I have learned a lot and I’m confident we can improve a lot tomorrow.”