Fujiwara ends Foret?s pole run
Added on Friday, August 30th, 2002 by Carole Nash Editor
Fujiwara ends Foret?s pole run
Prior to coming to Oschersleben it looked like Frenchman Fabien Foret was going to make pole position his permanent address. He?s qualified pole five times this year, and four of them came in a row. But Fujiwara put in a stunning lap to claim the Breil pole-winner?s watch this weekend. Foret ended qualifying second on the grid riding his Ten Kate Honda.
?The most important thing is the race,? Foret said. ?OK, I always like to make it into pole position but I am on the front row and that?s important here. I made some mistakes on my two fastest laps, which cost me time, I think I would have claimed pole without them. My race set up is very good, as always my Ten Kate Honda CBR600FS is very fast but the race will be close again. I will try to conserve my tyres and my energy for a strong finish in the race.?
Fujiwara?s team mate Stephane Chambon put another Suzuki on the grid qualifying third just in front of Christian Kellner on a Yamaha R6. Chris Vermeulen was fifth, Iain MacPherson and Karl Muggeridge eighth. All three ride bikes with Ten Kate power, making it four Ten Kate bikes in the top eight. Christian Cogan put his BMK Honda between them in seventh.
Final World Supersport qualifying times: 1 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 1m 29.920s, 2 Fabien Foret, France (Ten Kate Honda) 1m 29.963s, 3 Stephane Chambon, France (Suzuki) 1m 30.037s, 4 Christian Kellner, Germany (Yamaha) 1m 30.164s, 5 Chris Vermeulen, Australia (Van Zon Honda TKR) 1m 30.280s, 6 Iain MacPherson, GB (Ten Kate Honda) 1m 30.334s, 7 Christophe Cogan, France (Honda) 1m 30.346s, 8 Karl Muggeridge, Australia (Honda) 1m 30.464s, 9 Andrew Pitt, Australia (Kawasaki) 1m 30.522s, 10 Robert Ulm, Austria (Yamaha) 1m 30.541s.
