Ducati Xerox's Troy Bayliss (Photo: Ducati Corse) » More Photos

THE DUCATI XEROX TEAM MAKES A STRONG START TO THEIR QUEST FOR A HOME WIN AT MONZA

The Ducati Xerox Team made a strong start to the weekend's proceedings in the first qualifying session this afternoon at Monza, with Troy Bayliss and Michel Fabrizio attaining respectively the second and seventh fastest times. Bayliss and his factory squad were able to clock up some consistently fast laps during both this morning's free practice and the afternoon's qualifying while Fabrizio spent time learning how best to approach the track on board the Ducati 1098 F08.

Troy Bayliss 1m46.3s

"It's gone pretty well today yes. We made a few changes for the qualifying session this afternoon. I did more than race distance on the front tire this morning and nearly race distance on both tires this afternoon, and times were very consistent which is good news. We'd like to improve further tomorrow, with a few different things to try out. Several people are going strong of course, just as we expected. Max (Neukirchner) is going well today but he didn't do as many consistently fast laps as we did this afternoon. Anyway, we're very happy for the time being and will see if we can go faster again tomorrow."

Michel Fabrizio 1m46.8s

"I'm pretty content overall with the work we've done today. I of course know the track very well but riding the Ducati here is new for me and it seems like certain points of the circuit require a bit of a different approach. Today I had some problems for example at the Parabolica where I lost a few tenths. I'm feeling quite confident about the performance of the tires and the bike set-up so it's really just a matter of learning how to ride the F08 at this particular track. Physically I feel ok - my arm hurt a bit by the end of the afternoon session but that was to be expected - I'd say it's all going ok for the moment."