World Superbike 2009 - Round 14 - Portimao

World Superbike 2009 - Round 14 - Portimao - Day Two

Spies takes Superpole #11 at Portimao, Haga starts from row 3

The final Superpole session of 2009 went the same way as ten others this season as Ben Spies made it 11 out of 14 for the Yamaha World Superbike team, an outright record for the series, at the Algarve Circuit in Portugal. The Texan’s lap time of 1 minute 42.412 seconds was almost one second under last year’s best lap set by Troy Bayliss. Spies thus becomes the number 1 favourite for the race wins tomorrow, seeing as his chief rival for the title, points leader Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) will only start from row 3 of the grid with the tenth quickest time, after not making the cut in Superpole 2. Partial consolation for Ducati came from the performance by privateer Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) and Haga’s team-mate Michel Fabrizio, who were in second and third place respectively. The front row was completed by Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda).

Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda) overhauled Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) at the end of the session to take an excellent fifth place, after the Italian had crashed out in the pre-Superpole free session. Fonsi Nieto (DFX Ducati) and Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad) will line up alongside on the second row, while WSB newcomer Sylvian Guintoli made an excellent debut with eleventh place on the Suzuki Alstare machine.

Ben Spies: “We’ve been working under the radar all weekend on a lot of different things. Superpole was good for us, we kept pushing as hard as we could. Unfortunately Nori is back on the third row but we need anything we can get for track position. But it’s not just about me and Nori tomorrow, there are other guys, we’ll just run our own race and give it everything we’ve got to try and win both these things.”

Shane Byrne: “I’m delighted to be back on the front row, it seems like it’s been forever. We actually used both of our qualifying tyres before the last section and then a 42.99 came up on my dash and I was so tired that I closed the throttle on the straight and I had one more lap to go! Hopefully we can have a good weekend here and see what happens for next year.”

Michel Fabrizio: “It was very hot and difficult in qualifying today. For the race I think the bike is OK, but in qualifying it was not so good. My race pace is quite similar to Ben Spies’s but I know he is very fast. Hopefully also Shane can get into the battle. It’s very important for me to do a good race for Ducati tomorrow and for sure I’ll try and give a hand to my team-mate.”

Jonathan Rea: “Twelve months ago I made my Superbike debut here and I didn’t like the track. I think I must be getting worse because I was third on the grid last year. But we’ve had a good weekend so far and I’ve got a really good feeling with the bike.”

Supersport

Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) scored the first pole position of his Supersport career at the Portuguese team’s home circuit. The Irish rider needed to put together a blistering lap to keep Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) at bay, and he did just that with a time of 1 minute 44.836 seconds, a new circuit record. The points leader however was less than a tenth behind the man he will be trying to outpace tomorrow for the title.

Italian Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini) put in a great run for third on the grid, his second best result of the season following pole at Misano. The front row is completed by Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who held off Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com) by just four-thousandths of a second. Once again Garry McCoy produced another positive performance, taking the Be1 Racing Triumph to the second row, which also includes home favourite Miguel Praia (Parkalgar Honda) and Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport).

SBK Superpole

1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'42.412
2 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'42.996
3 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'43.015
4 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'43.126
5 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'43.523
6 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'43.526
7 10 Nieto F. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'43.553
8 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'44.719
9 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'43.240
10 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'43.377
11 50 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'43.406
12 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'43.461
13 22 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'43.671
14 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'43.717
15 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'44.050
16 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'45.439
17 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'44.453
18 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'44.458
19 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'44.483
20 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'44.851
21 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'44.978
22 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'45.153
23 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'45.518
24 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'45.676
25 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1 1'46.006
26 88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'46.596

SS QP2

1 50 Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1'44.836
2 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1'44.909
3 51 Pirro M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'45.087
4 54 Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1'45.157
5 26 Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'45.161
6 24 McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 1'45.366
7 117 Praia M. (POR) Honda CBR600RR 1'45.436
8 99 Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'45.742
9 8 Aitchison M. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1'45.886
10 77 Veneman B. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 1'46.052
11 1 Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1'46.072
12 21 Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'46.216
13 55 Roccoli M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'46.443
14 23 Davies C. (GBR) Triumph Daytona 675 1'46.514
15 36 Cardenas M. (COL) Honda CBR600RR 1'46.614
16 25 Laverty M. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1'46.953
17 16 Lowes S. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1'47.145
18 101 Coghlan K. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1'47.467
19 199 Four O. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1'48.256
20 5 Pradita T. (INA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'48.429
21 9 Dell'Omo D. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'48.438
22 28 Vos A. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 1'48.500
23 88 Guerra Y. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 1'48.899
24 40 Gentile F. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'49.247
25 122 Walkowiak M. (POL) Yamaha YZF R6 1'50.233
26 22 Muresan R. (ROU) Triumph Daytona 675 1'50.284

-- Ducati Report

Championship contender Noriyuki Haga and his Ducati Xerox squad experienced a difficult day, and a difficult Superpole, at the Portimao circuit today, closing in tenth position, while Michel Fabrizio and his Ducati 1198 had more success, qualifying on the front row, alongside Spies (Yamaha), Byrne (Ducati) and Rea (Honda), for tomorrow’s crucial races.

In second qualifying this morning both Noriyuki and Michel continued to work to improve the rear setting of their Ducati 1198 machines, with both able to improve on yesterday’s qualifying times despite an apparent lack of rear grip. Michel recorded the second fastest time of the session, ducking under the 1m44 barrier several times, to be beaten only by Jonathan Rea (Honda) while Noriyuki concluded the session in fifth place, improving on yesterday’s performance and securing himself safe passage into the afternoon’s Superpole.

Early afternoon free practice passed without incident, Michel and Noriyuki finished in second and eighth place respectively. Noriyuki and Michel then exited in the first mini-Superpole sessione on race tyres, thw two factory riders doing enough to progress easily on to the second phase, having closed phase one in tenth (Michel) and eleventh (Nori) position. Qualifying tyres were then mounted for the second session and in his first exit Michel registered the fifth fastest time. He didn’t re-exit and so his fifth position dropped to eighth. Noriyuki, having consistently lost time in the third split throughout today, was unable to put together a fast lap in this second Superpole with his best time leaving him in tenth place, which positions him on the third row for tomorrow’s all important races. Michel, with a new qualifier ready for the final Superpole phase made one very fast lap to project himself into first position, a position he maintained until the last minute when both Yamaha’s Spies and Byrne on the Ducati lapped faster, meaning third place on the grid for the Italian rider tomorrow.

Michel Fabrizio 1m43.0s
“Of course I’m satisfied to be on the front row but it wasn’t easy this afternoon. Ben really got the best out of the qualifying tyre while I found it more difficult to work with; there are also many strong guys out there this weekend. Anyway, I’ll start from third and, bearing in mind that the championship is at stake, I will do everything to get ahead of Ben tomorrow, to help my team-mate Nori in the fight for the title. It will be hard for him, starting from the third row but we will see tomorrow; he is an extremely strong and expert rider. For me it might be difficult to stick with Ben, especially in the first laps, but I feel prepared. There’s also another Ducati on the front row; it’s good to have Shakey here too and I hope that he can be part of tomorrow’s battle for the win.”

Noriyuki Haga 1m43.3s
“Of course it is a disadvantage to be on the third row of the grid but I’ve won races from that position in the past and I know that anything can happen on race day. The problem is that all day today I’ve had trouble turning and, at the same time, I’m not happy with the level of rear grip. We used the two qualifying tyres in the second Superpole session and they gave me better grip but didn’t help me to move the bike into the corners any more easily. So I’m consistently losing time in the final split and that’s the real problem. We must change something for tomorrow so I’m talking to my engineer and we’ll see tomorrow morning if we’ve found a solution that will enable me to fight for the race and title wins.”

-- BMW Report

Team Motorrad Motorsport riders Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus had mixed fortunes in Superpole qualifying at Portimao today. Troy easily qualified for Superpole 2 and 3, but Ruben was unable to progress any further than Superpole 1 and now faces a difficult start from the fifth row of the grid. Troy suffered hardly any of yesterday’s grip problems and passed from Superpole 1 into Superpole 2 and then into 3 without any drama. But then, a small crash in Superpole 3, effectively ruined his chances of a front row grid place and he will now start on row two. Ben Spies (Yamaha) took his eleventh Superpole victory of the season, with a lap of 1:42.412, over half a second ahead of his nearest rival, Shane Byrne (Ducati). Third quickest today is Michel Fabrizio (Ducat), with Jonathan Rea (Honda) fourth.

Troy - 8th, 1:44.719
Today, we didn’t have anything like the problems with grip we had yesterday and I was able to push a lot harder. We shortened the wheelbase to put a bit more weight on the rear end and also made some changes to the rear shock. The bike worked a lot better than yesterday and maybe part of yesterday’s problems might just have been tyre-related. So today, when everything started to work properly, I was happy and able to lap pretty quickly. On race rubber, I know I can run a good pace, so I’ve got to make good starts tomorrow and keep with the leaders. I had a little crash this afternoon in Superpole 3, when I pushed the front a bit too much and that cost me some time. I had already used my allocation of qualifying tyres so I knew that the second row was as good as it was going to get. But, I have made quick starts from further dow the grid before, so I am hopeful of good results tomorrow.

Ruben - 19th, 1:44.483
We definitely improved some things from yesterday and on soft tyres or race rubber I can make pretty good lap times. But when I tried a qualifying tyre, although the grip improved a bit, the bike got upset and it became very risky to push harder. We’ll look at the telemetry and try and work out how or why this happened and then see if we can make some adjustments. We had a little problem with one bike this afternoon and that cost me some time. Here I am trying to understand the recent things the guys have done to the bike, work out how they are affecting it and then how I must ride it. At the end of the work, there is always improvement, but these are the kind of things we have to do because this is the first year with the bike. Considering all this, I am very happy about the progress we are making and the potential that is still to come.

Berti Hauser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director)
The recent steps the team have done and the new engine spec have given us all something to thing about. But this is the way we progress and I am satisfied that we are continuing to go in a forward direction. I am happy that Troy did not suffer with the same problems as yesterday and for a while he made us dream that we would finally get a front row grid place. But we know what kind of starts he can make from down the grid, so we are all hopeful he has two good races tomorrow. Ruben is obviously not yet 100% physically and this track is very demanding, but we have had absolutely no complaint from him about when he is on the bike. There is no pressure on him this weekend and we hope that he has two safe races, comes away unhurt and with results we can all be happy about.

-- Triumph Report

Team ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing reaffirmed their goal for tomorrow, that of ending the season with a great performance.

Garry McCoy finished qualifying in sixth place and was even the quickest in the second half of the circuit. He is confident for tomorrow' s race despite having some doubts about what tyres to use.

Chaz Davies partially fixed his problems, which prevented him from performing at his best, but he is still slowed down by an issue in the last corners of the track.

Warm up will therefore be crucial for both riders tomorrow morning, when a few solutions will be tried out in order to improve the machine for the race.

GARRY McCOY | Triumph Daytona 675 | 6th in 1'45.366: "We got a very good setup which allowed me to put down a time almost as good as the pole position. We need some more grip in the back though because we're not as fast in the first part of the track as we are in the second split. I'm confident I can score a good result and hopefully I'll be able to keep my eighth place in the standings".

CHAZ DAVIES | Triumph Daytona 675 | 14th in 1'46.514: "If I can fix the issue that is slowing me down in the last two corners, I'm sure I can ride a good race. I now have a better feeling with the bike and the track, but in that particular section of the circuit I am eight tenths of a second slower than my teammate, who paradoxically is the fastest. However, we're on the right path and thanks to the telemetry data and tomorrow morning's warm up we can definitely improve".

Superstock 1000
With a new lap record of 1 minute 46”316 seconds, Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda) clinched the pole position, his second of the season, in the Superstock 1000 qualifying session. The Frenchman managed to hold off the attacks from the newly-crowned champion Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox), who was just 56/1000ths off the pace. The other two riders on the front row are Austrian Renè Mahr (TKR Suzuki) and Frenchman Sylvain Barrier (Garnier Yamaha). Claudio Corti (Suzuki Alstare) is in fifth place on the grid, with another of the protagonists of the season Javi Fores (Kawasaki Pedercini) alongside.

Times: 1. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'46.316; 2. Simeon X. (BEL) Ducati 1098R 1'46.372; 3. Mähr R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'46.516; 4. Barrier S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'46.943; 5. Corti C. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'47.363; 6. Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'47.379; 7. Baz L. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R11'47.417; 8. Lammert D. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'47.622

Superstock 600
Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Trasimeno) and Vincent Lonbois (MTM Yamaha) will start from the front row, with the other title challengers Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda) on row 2 and Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno) on row 3. These four riders will fight it out for the European Superstock 600 title tomorrow. Pole position, the first of the season, went to Eddi La Marra (Ten Kate Honda), while fourth place went to Norway’s Fredrik Karlsen (VD Heyden Yamaha). Young French talent Florian Marino (Race Junior Honda), winner at Magny-Cours, set the seventh quickest time.

Times: 1. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'48.445; 2. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'48.481; 3. Lonbois V. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 1'48.497; 4. Karlsen F. (NOR) Yamaha YZF R6 1'48.820; 5. Morelli N. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'48.923; 6. Guarnoni J. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'49.112; 7. Marino F. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1'49.272; 8. Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1'49.292

Images from World Superbike Testing - Gallery A - Gallery B - Gallery C - Gallery D - Gallery E

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