Monza opening day belongs to Crutchlow
The BMW Motorrad team continued to make headway in qualifying with first Ruben Xaus and then Troy Corser both lying at the top of the timesheets for a while. In the end the Australian set the fourth time, ahead of points leader Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare). Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia), who had set an astonishing record top speed of close to 327 km/h in FP1, finished seventh, while Jakub Smrz with the PATA client Ducati ended up in eighth. The last two top 10 positions went to James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) in ninth and Luca Scassa (Supersonic Ducati), who on the damp track had been as high as third.
Yoshimura WSB debut rider Daisaku Sakai had a tough baptism with the Monza track, earning himself a provisional nineteenth place together with a morning and an afternoon crash.
