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World Superbike 2009 - Round 14 - Portimao - Day One |
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World Superbike 2009 - Round 14 - Portimao - Day One |
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| Jonathan Rea (Hannspree
Ten Kate Honda) set the quickest time in
today’s opening qualifying session at the
Portimao circuit in Portugal. The Northern
Ireland youngster grabbed the provisional
pole from Jakub Smrz in the final stages of
the session, with a time of 1 minute 43.786
seconds, eight-hundredths faster than the
Guandalini Ducati man. Third quickest time went to Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) who was four tenths quicker than his title rival Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), only ninth fastest. The provisional front row was completed by Rea’s team-mate Carlos Checa, while the first two slots on the next row went to Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) and Fonsi Nieto (Ducati DFX) in an overall result that saw the private Ducatis lap quicker than the factory machines. Seventh place in fact went to Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), just four-hundredths ahead of fellow Italian Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing). Things looked positive in Suzuki Alstare, with Yukio Kagayama up amongst the front-runners for much of the session and Sylvain Guintoli less than one second away from his team-mate on his WSB debut. The two BMWs of Ruben Xaus and Troy Corser were twelfth and thirteenth respectively, with the two Kawasakis of Broc Parkes and Makoto Tamada making up the top 15. Supersport Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was quickest in Friday’s Supersport free practice session, the Turkish rider going to the top of the timesheets right at the very end with a time of 1 minute 45.355 seconds. The two contenders for this year’s title, Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) and Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) were right behind, with the opening salvo going to the points leader, just a fraction ahead of his rival. Mark Aitchison (Honda Althea) was fourth quickest and the only other rider to lap under the 1’46” mark. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com) was fifth quickest, ahead of Garry McCoy, who took a competitive Triumph to sixth. Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport) and Miguel Praia (Parkalgar Honda) were next up, the Portuguese rider going particularly well at his home track. |
| SBK QP1 | SS FP1 |
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1 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'43.786 |
1 Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1'45.355 |
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-- Team Reports -- Honda Reports Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea earned himself a provisional front row start by setting the fastest time in today’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s title-deciding World Superbike championship finale at Portimao in Portugal. Rea lapped the 4.92km circuit in a time of 1’43.786s – one thousandth of a second under Troy Bayliss’s 2008 lap record – while title rivals Ben Spies and Noriyuki Haga set the third and ninth fastest times respectively in this afternoon’s hour-long qualifying session. Carlos Checa also took a provisional front row start by setting the fourth fastest time with a lap of 1’43.945s. The Spaniard is confident of further improvement in tomorrow morning’s second qualifying session, to be followed by Superpole at 14.00h local time to determine final grid positions for Sunday’s two 22-lap races. Jonathan Rea – P1, 1’43.786s That was a good first day and we’ve found a good balance with the bike. We’ve been trying to put some distance on race tyres and we only used three tyres today. I’m finding more confidence on the bike each time I go out and the team is working really well. We’re not getting ahead of ourselves though, and know that we need to go out and attack tomorrow, just like we did today. This is quite a technical track and I felt like I really gelled with it for the first time during that session. That’s not all down to me, but also to the hard work the team has been putting in recently. Carlos Checa – P4, 1’43.945s It seems that we have a base setting that works really well at places like Brno, Nurburgring and here, while it is more critical at other tracks like Imola and Magny-Cours. Here, we are again on the pace, even though there are still some areas we need to work on. Today, I tested both bikes and the two tyre options and, although the setting’s were quite different, the lap times were similar. We will try to push for tomorrow and make some longer runs on the tyres, but I think we are already nearly ready. Ronald ten Kate – team manager That was a very good start to the weekend and it’s easy to see now the progress and improvements that have been made to the Honda CBR1000RR during this year, since the pre-season tests at Portimao, where the unique layout makes it such a joy for the riders. Having two bikes on the provisional front row is testimony to the hard work that the riders and their crews have been putting in during the year. There is still some more work to do, of course, and we will start to put that in this evening to see where we can make some improvements for tomorrow. Stiggy Racing Honda´s sole rider Leon Haslam opened the first day at the ultimate round of the 2009 season at Portimao today in good shape by setting the fifth fastest lap time in free practice. In the afternoon qualifying session Leon managed to improve further on his previous fastest lap time but due to a technical problem in the ultimate minutes of the session Leon didn't get a change to squeeze in any more laps. He finished in a provisional 10th place for Sunday’s races, with one more qualifying session and then Superpole taking place tomorrow. Leon Haslam -P10- 1'44.324s "We started off qualifying pretty strong, we changed both front and rear suspension settings and we went a bit wrong in the rear but then managed to get the front working in a better way. We put in reasonable times for four or five consecutive laps but unfortunately didn't get many more as we ended up with some technical problems towards the end of the session. We have a good sense of direction for tomorrow and I’m only a few tenths off the quickest so I'm sure it will be good.” Johan Stigefelt - Team Manager: “A pretty decent day. We tested a couple of different things between our number one and number two bike. Leon seemed to like the direction of one of the bikes and we went in that direction, but unfortunately in qualifying we didn’t get so many laps in because we had a technical problem with one of the engines. So he had to stop early. The most important thing is that we know what settings we have to improve, so we should be OK for tomorrow.” Kenan Sofuoglu set the fastest time at a warm and sunny Portimao this afternoon as practice for Sunday’s final, championship-deciding World Supersport race got underway. The Turkish rider saved his best until last, after overcoming one or two technical issues during the session. Sofuoglu lapped the undulating 4.59km Portuguese circuit in a time of 1’45.355s, three tenths faster than series leader Cal Crutchlow, who tested at the circuit last week. Sofuoglu’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Andrew Pitt, was tenth fastest this afternoon as rear grip problems restricted the Australian outgoing World Champion to a lap time of 1’46.894s. Kenan Sofuoglu – P1, 1’45.355 I was not able to put more than two or three laps together this afternoon. First we had some brake problems and then, when I went out on the other bike, there were a couple of suspension settings to try. The bike is really strong going into downhill turns but I honestly expected to be maybe a second slower than the championship leaders because they tested here last week. We have developed a strong set-up in the last three races and it’s working here. It was only at the end that I was really able to push and the time came quite easily, so I am confident for the rest of the weekend. Andrew Pitt – P10, 1’46.894s I really struggled with rear grip from the word go this afternoon. It’s just as bad on entry as it is on exit so we’ll have to look closely at the data to see if we need to put a bit more weight on the rear of the bike. Kenan doesn’t seem to have an issue with it, though, so we’ll overlay our data on his and see if there’s a clear direction we need to go in. Ronald ten Kate – team manager Not such a bad start to the weekend, in which we have to be on top of our game to help Honda secure its seventh manufacturers’ title in World Supersport. Kenan couldn’t get into much of a rhythm this afternoon but still put in a good time at the end. Andrew has some more issues, but we should be able to work through those this evening and aim to get him up to speed tomorrow. -- Ducati Report The 2009 World Superbike Championship finale opened today under clear, sunny skies at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao, the duel between championship title contenders Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) and Ben Spies (Yamaha) getting underway with a closely fought first qualifying session. Michel Fabrizio, already assured of third place in the final championship standings, closed qualifying in seventh position, with Noriyuki in ninth; both riders are confident ahead of Sunday’s showdown. In the opening free practice session of this weekend’s season finale, championship contender Noriyuki Haga immediately demonstrated his determination by putting himself at the top of the timesheets early on in the session. He remained consistently fast throughout the hour, and was the only rider to complete several laps in under 1m45, including a fastest lap of 1m44.9s registered during a mini long-run. His quickest lap left him in second position overall when privateer Ducati rider Smrz made a flying lap in the latter stages of the practice. Team-mate Michel Fabrizio worked to improve rear grip and overall feeling with his Ducati 1198 and although he closed in eighth position, he was only two tenths of a second off Noriyuki’s pace. Later in the day and on a hotter track (38°C) with respect to the morning, both factory Ducati riders worked with their technicians to improve both grip and absorption over the uneven track surface. Both Noriyuki and Michel were lapping with consistently fast times but, with the first ten riders all within half a second of each other, the Ducati Xerox men closed this closely fought first qualifying session in seventh (Michel) and ninth place (Noriyuki), Michel just a tenth of a second faster than his Japanese team-mate. The Ducati 1198 machines in the hands of Smrz (Guandalini Racing), Byrne (Team Sterilgarda) and Nieto (DFX Corse) also demonstrated their potential today, closing in second, fifth and sixth position respectively. Michel Fabrizio 1m44.1s “For now I’d say we have things under control. Today we worked mainly with the hard tyres to improve feeling on the track surface. I don’t yet have total faith in the front of the bike and the asphalt was not in the best condition, which meant I couldn’t really push as hard as I wanted to. Tomorrow we’ll make some more changes, testing some different tyres and hopefully I’ll be able to improve significantly on my time.” Noriyuki Haga 1m44.2s “The lap times today were faster than those recorded during testing earlier this year. In general we haven’t had any real problems but we are working to find the optimal setting and we’ll continue this work tomorrow. I would like to find more grip but apart from that I am pretty confident, I know we are fast and that we can be very competitive here.” -- Suzuki Report Team Suzuki Alstare riders Yukio Kagayama and new boy Sylvain Guintoli ended the first day of practice and qualifying at the Portimao World Superbike 14th round in Portugal with the 11th and 22nd fastest laps respectively. Kagayama suffered rear suspension problems, but is confident that he and the team will improve the bike tomorrow so that he can attack Superpole and be in a good position for Sunday's races. For Guintoli, today was all about learning the bike, learning a new track and working with his new team. He worked hard in both sessions and is now looking forward to tomorrow and making significant progress. Jonathan Rea (Honda) set today's fastest lap, with Jakub Smrz (Ducati) second, Ben Spies (Yamaha) third and Carlos Checa (Honda) fourth. Yukio Kagayama - 11th, 1:44.674: "Today was not so bad and I am a bit happy because the front suspension is working well and I am getting a lot of feedback from it. This means that I can push the front much harder and attack more. Now we have to do more on the rear because, at the moment, the feeling is not so good. We can improve this for sure, but we just need more kilometres. I tried a soft tyre at the end of qualifying today, but for me, the grip was no better than race rubber. I am a bit sad, because this weekend will be my last race with Suzuki Alstare and so I want to qualify well and say thank you to the team by ending with a good result." Sylvain Guintoli - 22nd, 1:45.508: "Considering that today was my first time on this bike and my first time at this track, I am pretty happy with what we did. Although I raced a GSX-R1000 Suzuki in the British Superbike Championship this year, the Suzuki Alstare bike feels very different and that means I have to learn about it. Also, this was my first time at this track and I can tell you that it is a very technical track and very demanding. On TV, you don't get a true impression about the elevation changes and this track is a real roller-coaster! I am happy because I think we found a good base set-up today and I am very happy about how well I have got on with this new team. Already I feel part of it and this makes it easy to look forward to tomorrow and making further progress." -- BMW Report Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders Ruben Xaus and Troy Corser made a steady start on the opening day of qualifying at Portimao today. Ruben ended 12th fastest and Troy 13th, but both are confident of improvement tomorrow. They and the team will look at today’s data and then make adjustments to the bike in time for tomorrow morning’s timed qualifying session. Briton Jonathan Rea (Honda) set today’s fastest lap, with Jakub Smrz (Ducati) second, Ben Spies (Yamaha) third and Carlos Checa (Honda) fourth. Ruben - 12th, 1:44.822 Today is the first time this bike has been at this track, so I spent most of the time working with the bike and trying to find a good set-up. The team have made a few changes to the engine spec since the last race, so this was another thing for me to understand today. This track is very physical, so my body took a bit of battering, but I didn’t have any problems in and I don’t even notice any discomfort when I am on the bike. I am looking forward to tomorrow, understanding the bike better and making progress. Troy - 13th, 1:44.830 My biggest problems today was grip - or perhaps I should say, lack of grip. We made many changes to the bike but strangely, we didn’t find any differences and, at the end, I still didn’t have any grip. Maybe it’s to do with what the team have done to the bike recently and it’s just a case of looking at all the info and then making the necessary adjustments for tomorrow. Considering today’s problem with grip, 13th, on day one at a track the bike has never been to, is not so bad. Berti Hauser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director) Today’s finishing positions were not as good as we hoped for on the bikes with the new settings and engine specs. It seems that these particular settings are causing grip problems and that is something we will have to sort out for tomorrow. We’re working hard with Pirelli and they are giving us good support, so hopefully we’ll solve today’s problems and be higher up the order tomorrow. -- Triumph Report World Supersport has reached its final stage as Garry McCoy and Chaz Davies took to the track for the first practice session at Portimao today. Both riders continued where they left off ten days ago, when they tested for two days. Garry McCoy managed to improve his time and, at the same time, got a good feeling with the track which enabled him to set the sixth fastest time, while Chaz Davies still has to find the right setup in order for him to perform at his best. The team's goal will therefore be to qualify in the first two rows with both riders and ride a good race on Sunday. GARRY McCOY | Triumph Daytona 675 | 6th in 1'46.464: "I made my debut with ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing, in the last race of 2008. I was then coming back from a serious injury I had suffered at Brno and finished thirteenth. We have done great things since then. Today we also improved the time I had set in testing despite the track not having a very good grip. However, we can only improve, we tested a few solutions, some of which were effective and hopefully we'll be able to prepare two highly competitive machines for the race". CHAZ DAVIES | Triumph Daytona 675 | 14th in 1'47.433: "I'm making my debut on this circuit. Here trajectories and under braking are both fundamental. I don't have a good feeling with the bike but we looked into the telemetry data and we fixed the problems and tried out some possible solutions in order for me to have a good qualifying session tomorrow". |
| Superstock 1000 The opening free practice session saw two riders hit the top, newly-crowned champion Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox) and Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda). Both men exchanged a sequence of fastest laps throughout the session, the Belgian getting the better over his French rival in the final stages with a time of 1 minute 47.588 seconds over Berger’s 1’47.642. The rest of the field were over one second off the pace, with seven riders in the space of half-a-second. Third quickest was Frenchman Sylvain Barrier (Garnier Yamaha), followed by Austrian René Mahr (TKR Suzuki). Javi Fores (Kawasaki Pedercini) was also well up in fifth, ahead of Claudio Corti (Suzuki Alstare), who is fighting to hold on to the runner-up slot this weekend. Times: 1. Simeon X. (BEL) Ducati 1098R 1'47.588; 2. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'47.642; 3. Barrier S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'48.814; 4. Mähr R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'48.856; 5. Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'48.999; 6. Corti C. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'49.016; 7. Lammert D. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'49.068; 8. Barragan S. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'49.111 Superstock 600 Italian riders took the top three places in the opening free practice session for the final round of the European Superstock 600 Championship, but the title challengers were some distance away from each other. Best time went to Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Trasimeno), with Eddi La Marra (Honda Lorini) three-tenths off the pace. Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno) was over one second behind, Vincent Lonbois (MTM Yamaha) 1. 6” and points leader Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda) almost 2.5” behind in sixth. Frenchman Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Yamaha) was just ahead of Rea in fifth, while Magny-Cours winner Florian Marino (Race Junior Honda) again went well with eighth quickest time. Times: 1. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'48.464; 2. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'48.704; 3. Petrucci D. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'49.575; 4. Lonbois V. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 1'50.032; 5. Guarnoni J. (FRA)Yamaha YZF R6 1'50.297; 6. Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1'50.852; 7. Morelli N. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'51.130; 8. Marino F. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1'51.215 |
Images from World Superbike Testing - Gallery A - Gallery B - Gallery C - Gallery D - Gallery E