Foret takes pole
Added on Saturday, March 9th, 2002 by Carole Nash Editor
Foret takes pole
The Ten Kate Honda team manager was smiling again after watching Foret take a comfortable pole position in the Spanish sunshine. “I thought Foret’s lap time was very impressive,” declared Ronald ten Kate. “The conditions were quite different today compared to when we tested here just over a week ago. This meant we had to search for a new set up, and despite the less than ideal conditions Foret was still very fast.” Fabien was relaxed after the session, “I’m happy with my time,” declared Foret. “But the important thing to me is the race. Of course it is great to be on pole but I am not letting it go to my head. I will try to win the race, but the important thing for me is to finish in a good position so I can fight for the championship.”
Ronald ten Kate was also pleased with the progress of his new team member Iain MacPherson. “Iain is settling down in his new job. But we are not putting any pressure on him to go fast immediately. I am confident he will get quicker and quicker as he gets used to the Pirelli tyres, the WP suspension and the Honda CBR600FS.”
Iain confirmed his manager’s feelings, “The more I ride the bike the more I like it,” said MacPherson. “The bike Honda allows me to open the throttle much harder much earlier than I could on the Kawasaki last year. If I’d ridden that the way I can ride this Honda I would have high-sided it for sure. The tyres are fantastic and I’m very happy with the WP suspension. I’m really happy in my new job; the team is so friendly and extremely helpful. I know I will go faster as I get more laps under my belt.”
MacPherson qualified in tenth place on the grid with a best lap of 1′39.121
Final World Supersport qualifying times:
1 Fabien Foret, France (Ten Kate Honda) 1m 37.674s,
2 Stephane Chambon, France (Suzuki) 1m 38.539s,
3 Alessio Corradi, Italy (Yamaha) 1m 38.730s,
4 Stefano Cruciani, Italy (Yamaha) 1m 38.777s,
5 Jorg Teuchert, Germany (Yamaha) 1m 38.833s,
6 Chris Vermeulen, Australia (Van Zon Ten Kate Honda) 1m 38.877s,
7 Christian Kellner, Germany (Yamaha) 1m 38.877s,
8 Andrew Pitt, Australia (Kawasaki) 1m 39.013s,
9 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 1m 39.029s,
10 Iain MacPherson, GB (Ten Kate Honda) 1m 39.121s.
