The two riders still in with a chance of securing the 2005 championship finished 1-2 in the first qualifying session at Imola, with Troy Corser (Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki) taking the provisional pole position from Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda). Corser’s lap of 1’49.161 outpaced his young compatriot right at the very end of the one hour session, which featured frequent rises and falls in each rider’s fortunes as the track dried after overnight rain and ultimate grip returned. Corser’s team-mate Yukio Kagayama was fifth fastest; Vermeulen’s team-mate Karl Muggeridge went ninth.

LANZI AND MARTIN IMPRESS ON DAY ONE Lorenzo Lanzi (SC Caracchi Ducati), winner of the last race in the series at Lausitzring while riding for the factory squad, returned to his SBK alma mater at Imola, but kept his hands on factory equipment all the same. He took his works machine to third sport on the early time sheets, another fine performance from the flying Italian. Steve Martin (Foggy Petronas FP-1) rode his heart out to secure fourth best time on his outgunned 900cc three-cylinder machine, mixing it with the top entrants at this fast circuit, punctuated by frequent bouts of hard braking for the track’s many chicanes.

CHILI RED HOT ON DAY ONE Pierfrancesco Chili (Klaffi Honda) looked to have taken top spot on day one, but after a string of faster laps, he was deposed to a still-impressive fifth. Suffering set-up issues at many stages this year, he found his home track very much to his and his machine’s liking. His team-mate Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda) stole 11th place in his first Superbike visit to Imola.

DUCATI REGULARS DOWN AND DOWN THE ORDER Regis Laconi (Ducati Xerox 999F05) returned to competitive action at Imola, finishing his first day of working recuperation in tenth place, two places behind his team-mate James Toseland. The Englishman fell in the latter stages of qualifying, but nonetheless qualified on the provisional second row, with the eighth best time of the day.

PITT PEAKS AS HAGA FALTERS Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) outperformed his team-mate Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) on day one, taking seventh fastest time on his R1. Haga was a disappointing 17th, splitting Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) and Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France).

KAWASAKI HITS IMOLA MOB HANDED Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki) and his team-mate Mauro Sanchini returned from injury at Imola, and found themselves joined by Fonsi Nieto on a third PSG-1 Kawasaki. Walker was second top Kawasaki qualifier on the opening day, just behind local rider Giovanni Bussei (Bertocchi Kawasaki). Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda Koji) rode to 21st place, from 34 riders.

WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) scored the provisional pole at Imola, with a lap some 1.5 seconds faster than his closest chaser, Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany). The Ducati push at Imola was as potent as expected, with two 749 machines in the top six places, led by Gianluca Nannelli (SC Caracchi Ducati) in third place. Another local rider, Michel Fabrizio was fourth on day one, with Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) fifth fastest, one place ahead of Alessio Corradi’s SL Ducati.