All four of the riders in front of him today raced here at Monza last weekend in the Italian Championship, so had a wealth of knowledge on which to draw, so it’s no surprise that they were ahead of the young Belgian. Claudio Corti (Yamaha) set the day’s fastest lap, with a time of 1:49.468. Second is Michele Pirro (Yamaha), with Michele Magnoni (Yamaha) third and Chris Seaton (Suzuki) third.

Xavi - 5th, 1:49.808
Considering the four in front of me raced in the Italian championship here last week, I’m pretty happy with fifth place today. I think I was 12th, this morning, so to improve seven places in the afternoon also made me happy. My lap times were pretty consistent today and although my engine didn’t feel as if it had full power, I know that there’s more to come tomorrow. It’s important to get a good bike set-up if you want to go fast here and that’s what I intend to do. Once we’ve got a good set-up, there’s no reason why I cannot challenge for a podium place.

Friday qualifying
1 Corti (I-Yamaha) 1:49.468, 2 Pirro (I-Yamaha) 1:49.523, 3 Magnoni (I-Yamaha) 1:49.760, 4 Seaton (Aus-Suzuki) 1:49.797, 5 Xavi Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki) 1:49.808, 6 Smrz (CZ-Ducati) 1:49.812,