Clear weather conditions allowed for a successful second qualifying session for the Kennedy International North West 200 today (11 May) with HM Plant Honda rider John McGuinness qualifying his Dunlop-shod Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade on pole. His team mate Steve Plater heads the second row of the grid in fourth.

In the supersport class Morecambe-based McGuinness qualified in third, however his good fortune was not replicated in the Superstock class. McGuinness did not have the opportunity to put in a qualifying time on his Superstock machine, as the session was red flagged and then cancelled. A decision as to where he will line up on the grid will be made with the officials.

Plater, who was fastest for the two thirds of the Superbike session, was a little disappointed with his second row start, but the Woodhall Spa-based rider knows that it can be a very different story on race day and is confident that his HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade will deliver him a strong result in Saturday’s race.

John McGuinness: I’m over the moon. Everything just went perfect out there and I was just looking for that lap. I was a bit flustered at the start but I came in and changed one little thing and went back out. I then changed a tyre and I was a bit fresher, I put one clean lap in, which was absolutely perfect, I hit all the apexes, and nicked pole, fantastic! I’m over the moon as we have worked hard for it. The team has put in a lot of time and effort and I want to repay them with some success. I’m a little bit disappointed with the Superstock situation. We had the whole session timed perfectly; I got four laps in on the Supersport bike and was ready to go out on my Superstock when the session was cancelled. So I imagine that I’m going to be quite far back on the grid. But we are on pole for the big one and front row for the 600.

Steve Plater: Obviously I’m disappointed that I’m on the second row, especially after I led the timesheets for a fair bit of the session. They only start three on a row here so a fourth place means second row, disappointing but I will just have to get my head down in the race and get the job done.

The roads close at 10am on race day, Saturday 13 May, with the first race commencing at 11am with the DeWalt Performance Tools Superbike race.

Superbike qualifying for Thursday evening - grid to be decided.

1. John McGuinness 4:24.537 2. Bruce Anstey :25.214 3. Michael Rutter 4:25.678 4. Steve Plater 4:26.654 5. Ryan Rainey 4:30. 045

6. Alastair Seeley 4:30.644 7. Les Shand 4:31.371 8. Ian Lougher 4:31.382 9. Ian Hutchinson 4:31.646 10. Guy Martin 4:32.790 11. Martin Finnegan 4:33.617 12. Adrian Archibald 4:34.002

Supersport qualifying for Thursday evening - grid to be decided

1. Bruce Anstey 4:37.160 2. Ian Hutchinson 4:38.279 3. John McGuinness 4:39.517 4. Rob Frost 4:41.312 5. Alastair Seeley 4:44.711

6. Guy Martin 4:44.815 7. Les Shand 4:45.346 8. Denver Robb 4:46.741 9. Raymond Porter 4:46.766 10. Darran Lindsay 4:46.821 11. Chris Palmer 4:49.604 12. Nigel Beattie 4:49.90

(this article was taken from insidebikes.com)

The word from Ducati, looking ahead to WSB at Monza;

DUCATI XEROX TEAM ARRIVES AT MONZA ON CREST OF A WAVE

Monza (Italy), Thursday 4 May: The Ducati Xerox Team riders Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi come to the legendary Autodromo Nazionale di Monza on the crest of a wave following sensational results in the recent round 3 of the World Superbike Championship at Valencia.

The 37 year-old Australian Troy Bayliss racked up a full haul of points at the Spanish Round to increase his lead over reigning champion and fellow Aussie Troy Corser (Suzuki) to 22 points. He returns to Monza with two double wins and two fourths already under his belt at the high-speed parkland circuit.

Last time I was at Monza I had a double win! declared Troy. I’m very fond of the place and I just love racing there. Out of all the races I’ve done, I’ve done six at Monza and I’ve always had great results there. It’s going to be very important for me to do a good job this weekend and it’s not going to be easy. Every race is difficult but I’d like to shine there.

Things are going quite well so far this year, although strange to say, I feel the season has been a little bit below expectations. Judging how well the tests went in the winter the first two races were a little bit of a reality check actually and we expected a little bit more. We’ve always been right at the front but we haven’t done exactly what we thought we’d do.

His 24 year-old Italian team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi kicked his 2006 season into gear at Valencia with two gritty races that earned him two third places and his first podiums of the year.

The two races at Valencia were very positive, and we came back on form in a big way declared Lorenzo. The two podiums, especially the one in race 2, gave me a lot of satisfaction. Now we are here determined to do well, just like in every race, because we know that I can run up at the front with the leaders.

Monza is a place that I like, I’ve always had a good rapport with this track. The variante Ascari is my favourite point of the circuit, but you have to work to get a good setting for the entire track because at Monza it’s difficult to get a break and get away. You get the classic group of the quickest riders, and the second group of those who are unable to keep the slipstream. I want absolutely to stay with the leading group so as to be able to fight it out for the win at the end.

THE CIRCUIT. Name: Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Length: 5.793 km. Pole Position: left. Corners Left/Right: 5/8. Longest straight: 1195 metres.

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after 3 of 13 rounds). Riders - 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 125; 2. Corser (Suzuki) 103; 3. Toseland (Honda) 86; 4. Haga (Yamaha) 64; 5. Barros (Honda) 62; 6. Pitt (Yamaha) 58; 7. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 47; 8. Abe (Yamaha) 40. Manufacturers - 1. Ducati 126; 2. Suzuki 113; 3. Honda 91; 4. Yamaha 84; 5. Kawasaki 40; 6. Petronas 4.

STATISTICS. Best lap: Hodgson (Ducati) 1m46.981s (2003). Lap record: Bayliss (Ducati) 1m47.434s (2002). Superpole: Hodgson (Ducati) 1m46.981s (2003). Race distance: 2 x 18 laps/104.256 km.

2005 RESULTS. Race 1: 1. Corser (Suzuki); 2. Kagayama (Suzuki); 3. Toseland (Ducati Xerox). Race 2: 1. Vermeulen (Honda); 2. Laconi (Ducati Xerox); 3. Corser.

TV COVERAGE. Eurosport (Pan European): Sunday 7 May, 1400 Race 1 (as live); 2300 Race 2 (delayed). La7 (Italy): Sunday 7 May, 1615 Races 1 & 2 (as live).

(this article was taken from insidebikes.com)