Portimao Friday Qualifying

                                                         
GeeBee                                                                                             GeeBee

Muggas who is standing in for injured Ruben Xaus with the Castrol Honda Ten Kate Team here at Portimao at the final round of the World Superbike Championship was having a tough first day around the track and also getting familiar with the different machinery.

Nevertheless, Muggas was improving his times lap by lap and is confident for finding some time tomorrow.

Karl Muggeridge – P20 1m46.116s

It was a hard day and I’m still a little lost on the track to be honest. It’s been a while since I rode here and I just need some more time and laps to get my head around the place. The bike’s also new and I haven’t ridden on Pirellis for a while, so I guess it’s OK. I’m rushing things, instead of letting the time come – it’s like I’m late for a dinner appointment. Everywhere! The bike’s working well and I’m getting used to it but I need to calm down and work it all out. It should be under control tomorrow after a good night’s rest, when I’ve had a chance to process all that information.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager

For Karl, it was always going to be difficult to step in at short notice on completely different machinery – especially on this roller-coaster circuit at Portimao where he hasn’t ridden for a long time. But he’s constantly getting faster so we’ll work hard to get him into Superpole tomorrow.

2011 World Superbike championship, round 13 – Portimao, Portugal

First qualifying results:

1 Carlos Checa (ESP) Ducati 1m43.579s

2 Eugene Laverty (IRL) Yamaha 1m43.666s

3 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Ducati 1m43.860s

4 Jonathan Rea (GBR) Castrol Honda 1m43.895s

20 Karl Muggeridge (AUS) Castrol Honda 1m46.116s