Day Two
Remarkable as it sounds, six time Superbike World Championship race winner Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) scored his first career pole today at Monza, holding off a field packed with potential pole men at his home race. His best Superpole lap was a new track best 1’42.121, putting him on pole for the first time in his four year Superbike World Championship career. His average lap speed for his new record lap was 203.653 km/h. Biaggi also set the fastest top speed in WSB history today, hitting a recorded 330.2 km/h.
Max, cheered on by a vocal local support, was followed by Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) on a 1’42.154, only 0.033 from topping the pre-race rankings. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) and Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) finished off the first row, with the second row headed by championship leader Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare). Ruben Xaus (BMW Motorrad), who fell late in the session, James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) completed the top eight riders. Sykes gave Kawasaki its best qualifying performance for some time and with slipstreaming ruling the races at Monza, the Englishman is keen to get to grips with tomorrow’s races. Crutchlow had set a new best mark in Superpole 2 with a 1’42.255, until Biaggi improved it still further in Superpole 3.
Daisaku Sakai (Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team) was 21st in qualifying at a track that is new to him and his entire team. A fall in practice hurt his right shoulder, which also held him back when it came to final qualifying.
Max Biaggi: “It’s been a great Saturday for us but it’s not Sunday! So far it’s the best qualifying we did ever, there are no points for Superpole but it’s the emotion that counts! I want to dedicate it to all the team, because they are working very hard. This is a big step forward for us because at the last race we started on the third row. We are running a good pace compared to Yamaha and Honda and we’re looking forward to tomorrow. A good tyre at the end of 18 laps is going to make all the difference, especially at the Parabolica.”
Cal Crutchlow: “All credit to Max, he did a good lap. We seemed to do a very good lap in Superpole 2 – a 1’42.2 on a seven lap old race tyre, then we put two qualifiers in the last session and never had any grip so I think the race tyre is better than the qualifier around here. It was a good lap and the races are going to be close and tough tomorrow.”
Michel Fabrizio: “It went very well and we are happy with this improvement, we really needed a result like this today. After three races in which we had been ‘missing’ it was vitally important to be up there. I’ve got a good chance of winning tomorrow’s races because my race pace is good, I feel like I’m down a few horsepower on the straight, I’ll have to find a rope and tie it to the closest four-cylinder bike to pull me along!”
Jonathan Rea: “I am happy because my bike is working pretty good and I am excited for the races tomorrow and it looks like we can be in a position to fight for the front. In the qualifying the other guys did a very good job and I could not match their pace but there will be some exciting races and for anyone sitting in the grandstands watching it should be cool tomorrow.”
World Supersport
Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) took his ninth career pole with a new track best of 1’47.848 in final qualifying, outpacing a late charge from Parkalgar Honda rider Eugene Laverty. Only those two went into the 1’47s, with championship leader Joan Lascorz (Motocard.com Kawasaki) third fastest. Michele Pirro from Hannspree Ten Kate Honda was a creditable fourth, and former WSS Champion Fabien Foret (Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki) fifth on his privateer machine. The best triumph on show belonged to David Salom (ParkinGO BE-1 Triumph), in sixth place.
Superpole + Grid | Supersport Final Qualifying |
1 M. BIAGGI ITA Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’45.592 1’44.314 41 1’42.121 1’42.121 2 C. CRUTCHLOW GBR Yamaha YZF R1 1’44.577 1’45.097 32 1’42.154 0.033 1’42.154 3 M. FABRIZIO ITA Ducati 1098R 1’45.134 1’43.737 35 1’42.499 0.378 1’42.499 4 J. REA GBR HANNspree Honda CBR1000RR 1’44.789 1’44.098 34 1’42.566 0.445 1’42.566 5 L. HASLAM GBR Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’45.303 1’44.537 34 1’42.633 0.512 1’42.633 6 R. XAUS ESP BMW S1000 RR 1’45.542 1’45.388 40 1’42.725 0.604 1’42.725 7 J. TOSELAND GBR Yamaha YZF R1 1’46.019 1’44.912 39 1’42.789 0.668 1’42.789 8 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’46.170 1’45.450 31 1’43.111 0.990 1’43.111 9 M. NEUKIRCHNER GER Honda CBR1000RR 1’46.402 1’44.831 32 1’43.410 1’43.410 10 L. SCASSA ITA Ducati 1098R 1’46.111 1’44.723 27 1’43.431 0.021 1’43.431 11 C. CHECA ESP Ducati 1098R 1’46.756 1’45.864 32 1’43.506 0.096 1’43.506 12 T. CORSER AUS BMW S1000 RR 1’45.234 1’44.763 29 1’43.508 0.098 1’43.508 13 L. CAMIER GBR Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’46.216 1’44.327 32 1’43.530 0.120 1’43.530 14 S. GUINTOLI FRA Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’46.588 1’45.063 38 1’43.691 0.281 1’43.691 15 S. BYRNE GBR Ducati 1098R 1’47.466 1’45.306 30 1’43.813 0.403 1’43.813 16 N. HAGA JPN Ducati 1098R 1’46.451 1’45.022 36 1’43.957 0.547 1’43.957 17 J. SMRZ CZE Ducati 1098R 1’45.603 1’44.452 27 1’44.291 1’44.291 18 C. VERMEULEN AUS Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’48.191 1’45.796 33 1’44.802 0.511 1’44.802 19 L. LANZI ITA Ducati 1098R 1’46.413 1’45.511 30 1’44.878 0.587 1’44.878 20 M. BAIOCCO ITA Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’48.041 1’46.453 33 1’46.180 1.889 1’46.180 21 D. SAKAI JPN Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’47.922 1’46.679 29 1’46.679 22 R. HAYDEN USA Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’49.217 1’46.771 36 1’46.771 23 V. IANNUZZO ITA Honda CBR1000RR 1’49.958 1’46.912 27 1’46.912 24 B. PARKES AUS Honda CBR1000RR 1’48.254 1’46.914 29 1’46.914 | 1. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR 600 RR 1’47.848 2. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR 600 RR 1’47.962 3. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6 R 1’48.233 4. Pirro M. (ITA) Honda CBR 600 RR 1’48.367 5. Foret F. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’48.483 6. Salom D. (ESP) Triumph 675 Daytona 1’48.523 7. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’48.695 8. Rea G. (FRA) Honda CBR 600 RR 1’49.029; etc. |
— Ducati Report Michel Fabrizio and his team worked hard today and were rewarded with a front row place on tomorrow’s grid at the Autodromo Nazionale of Monza; Michel will line up in third position, the spot that he had already provisionally secured yesterday. This morning’s second qualifying proved to be an extremely successful session for Michel Fabrizio, on board his 1198. Despite an initially damp track, with conditions very similar to yesterday, times began to drop later in the session and, after substituting used slicks with new ones, the Italian rider was able to push hard, recording an impressive 1’43.737 on his penultimate lap to take overall first position at the end of qualifying, three tenths of a second faster than Rea (Honda) in second. By the close of the session, Noriyuki had also made progress, improving on yesterdays qualifying time by almost a second and a half, to qualify in overall twelfth position for the afternoon’s Superpole. In the early afternoon’s final free practice session, times improved once again and Michel impressed once more, ducking under the 1’43 barrier to make two very fast laps right at the end of the session, recording the fastest overall time of this practice session at the very last minute (1’42.6). Noriyuki continued to lose valuable tenths, particularly through the first sector of track, and closed in fourteenth. Superpole 1 – both Fabrizio and Haga made two exits during the fourteen-minute session. Michel chose not to use a qualifier in this first phase and closed in a solid eighth place, assuring himself of passage to the next phase. Noriyuki ,on the other hand, made his second exit with the qualifier and, like Michel, finished inside the top sixteen, in fourteenth position. Superpole 2 – Noriyuki’s technicians provided him with a new qualifier for this session but unfortunately the Japanese rider did not find the grip necessary to make a fast lap and thus concluded today’s Superpole in sixteenth position, equating to the fourth row of tomorrow’s grid. Michel, also on a “Q”, had more success and recorded a 1’42.7, enough to finish in second place, and progressing comfortably to the final phase. Superpole 3 – Michel made two fast laps, the second of which temporarily propelled him into pole position, but was subsequently beaten by Biaggi and Crutchlow in the final minute of this last phase, meaning an eventual third place finish for the Ducati Xerox rider. He will therefore line up on the front row of the grid in tomorrow’s races, in the position that he had provisionally secured already yesterday. Michel Fabrizio Noriyuki Haga — Althea Ducati Today’s sessions set tomorrow’s grid positions at Monza, the stage for this fifth round of the 2010 World Superbike Championship and the first of the three Italian events scheduled this season. On this very fast track, the 24 Superbike riders continued to battle hard and the two Althea Racing riders Carlos Checa and Shane Byrne were among the protagonists. On board their Ducati 1198 machines, both riders qualified comfortably for the Superpole. Spanish rider Carlos Checa, fourth in the overall standings, improved on the time he set yesterday by more than three seconds to close Superpole in eleventh position, securing a place on the third row of the grid with a best time of 1’43”506. “Today went a lot better than first qualifying”, said Carlos. “We’ve made some steps forward with regard to the bike’s rideability and we were able to better understand why we were having problems through certain sections of the track. Tomorrow will be difficult and to get into the top ten will be hard but we’ll try to take home as many points as possible.” Carlos’ team-mate Shane Byrne also made good progress today, dropping his lap time by nearly four seconds. “Shakey” finished fifteenth, with a time of 1’43”813 and will line up tomorrow on the fourth row. “To start from fifteenth will be hard but I’ll give it my all and try to make a good race”, said the English rider. “We have done some good work in the garage over these two days and tomorrow it will be important to start well and stick with the guys ahead of us.” Genesio Bevilacqua, General Manager, declared, “As I predicted, both riders improved today. Carlos wanted to wait until the last minute, for all the little problems to be resolved so that he could push to the limit and understand how to ride through the trickiest parts of the track. He has a good feeling with the bike and thanks to the team’s hard work he has the advantage of a strong set-up. Shane had a few difficulties but in the end he made good progress too and did a lot better than in yesterday’s sessions. I am confident; tomorrow we will ride a dignified race and try to limit the damage at a track that is not a real friend of ours.” — Yamaha Report Yamaha riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland put in an impressive performance in Superpole today, with Crutchlow just missing out on pole to start from the second position on the grid for tomorrow’s two World Superbike races. The young British rider passed through each heat comfortably, fastest in the second session with an impressive 1’42.255 lap on a used race tyre. The final heat saw him miss out on pole to Max Biaggi by less than a tenth of a second. Team mate James Toseland was also on form, clearing Superpole one in fifth and Superpole two in fourth, only three tenths off Crutchlow. The final heat saw him heading for a front row start until a small mistake dropped a few tenths off his time, meaning he will start from seventh on the second row tomorrow. The earlier qualifying session saw the riders work through and finalise their set ups. Toseland’s heat was disrupted with a small technical problem, forcing him to return to the pits and head out on his second bike. Crutchlow finished in tenth, Toseland in 13th. Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team, (2nd, 1’42.154) James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team, (7th, 1’42.789) Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager — BMW Report Another good Superpole result for Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport: Ruben Xaus (ESP) scored his best ever qualifying result for the team, finishing the Superpole 3 qualifying on the Monza high speed circuit in sixth. His best qualifying result so far for the team was seventh in Brno in 2009. His team mate, Troy Corser (AUS), will start Sunday’s races from 12th . Ruben Xaus: Troy Corser: Davide Tardozzi (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Team Manager): “Ruben did a fantastic job today. I am pretty happy about his result. Unfortunately we had some difficulties with Troy’s qualifying tyres and the bike set-up. We will now work on the set-up issues, as we believe that Troy can compete for the podium here.” — Suzuki Report Team Suzuki Alstare rider Leon Haslam just missed out on a front-row grid place in Superpole 3 this afternoon at the Monza World Superbike fifth round when he was baulked on his two flying laps: The first time was by James Toseland (Yamaha) and the second was by another of his fellow countrymen – Tom Sykes (Kawasaki). But for those two instances, Haslam would’ve qualified on the front row. His team mate Sylvain Guintoli struggled to find a good rhythm today and ended with the 14th-quickest time in Superpole. He now faces a difficult task staring tomorrow’s pair of 18 lap races from the fourth row of the grid. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) stormed to victory in Superpole with Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) second, Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) third and Jonathan Rea (Honda) fourth. Leon Haslam – 5th, 1:42.725: “I’m disappointed not to be on the front row but I am pretty happy with my bike and feel confident about the races tomorrow. I was on a quick lap in final Superpole, but got pushed out wide by James, so I thought I’d go for it on the second lap, but this time Tom was on my racing line and I had to go round him to get past and lost time in the process. “It’s good that the first turn is a long way from the start and as long as I get off the line well I’ll be with the front guys for sure. The first chicane is going to be tight and I hope nobody tries to do anything stupid there on the first lap. I think that a wet race might be better for the Championship, but I guess we’d all rather prefer two dry races and a lot of close-quarter racing. We’re probably going to get that anyway!” Sylvain Guintoli – 14th, 1:43.691: “Once again, I am having a problem finding a good rhythm and being here in Monza for the first time is no real excuse. It’s my job as a racer to learn tracks quickly and I have not succeeded as well as I wanted to. I’m disappointed not to have done better today and now my job tomorrow is going to be a lot harder as I will be starting from the fourth row of the grid. The other thing is that I didn’t manage to improve much when I was on qualifying tyres and that is something I will have to get used to and sort out. “We not far off where we want to be, but in this Championship not far is a like a long way off! The series is so competitive that any small slip in qualifying can push you way back down the grid. I have been practicing my starts and now I need two good ones tomorrow.” — Ten Kate Jonathan Rea will start tomorrow’s two fifth round World Superbike championship races from the front row of the grid after setting the fourth fastest time in today’s Superpole qualifying sessions at Monza in Italy. After being near the top of the timing sheets in both yesterday’s and today’s practice and qualifying, the 23-year-old from Northern Ireland was unable to repeat his Assen pole position, the honour going instead to local rider Max Biaggi. Rea’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Max Neukirchner, meanwhile continues to adapt to his CBR1000RR and improve its set-up for the historic 5.777km Monza circuit, setting the ninth fastest time today for a third row start. This afternoon’s Superpole sessions were held in dry conditions after a wet start to the day at Monza. Further rain showers are forecast for tomorrow, when the first of the day’s two Superbike races goes at 12.00 local time, the second at 15.30. Jonathan Rea – P4 1’42.566s Max Neukirchner – P9 1’43.410s Ronald ten Kate – team-manager Kenan Sofuoglu took his second consecutive World Supersport championship pole position at Monza this afternoon after setting the fastest time in the second qualifying session for tomorrow’s fifth round race. The Turkish ace fired his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR around the 5.777km Monza circuit in a time of 1’47.848s, just over one tenth of a second ahead of fellow Honda-mounted Eugene Laverty. After a wet free practice this morning, the Monza circuit dried out for this afternoon’s 45-minute qualifying session, allowing Sofuoglu’s team-mate, Italian Michele Pirro, to set the fourth fastest time for another front row start to tomorrow’s 20-lap race. Kenan Sofuoglu – P1 1’47.848s Michele Pirro – P4 1’48.367s Ronald ten Kate – team-manager |
Superstock 1000
Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) took his third pole of the year today, ending up 0.252 seconds ahead of another BMW rider, Sylvain Barrier, from the Garnier Junior team. Three Honda riders followed the leading duo with Michele Magnoni (SCI Garvie Image), Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Race Junior) and Andrea Antonelli (Team Lorini) completing the top five. Badovini set the new track best with his 1’46.092, as the sun shone on Monza once more.
Times: 1. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S 1000 RR 1’46.092; 2. Barrier S. (FRA) BMW S1000 RR 1’46.344; 3. Magnoni M. (ITA) Honda CBR 1000 RR 1’47.247; 4. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR 1000 RR 1’47.464; 5. Antonelli A. (ITA) Honda CBR 1000 RR 1’47.603; 6. Lussiana M. (FRA) BMW S 1000 RR 1’47.858; 7. Beretta D. (ITA) BMW S 1000 RR 1’47.888; 8. Mahr R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R K9 1’47.914; etc.
Superstock 600 – Race
A thrilling race between riders on three different types of machines finally went to Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Racing Yamaha) after an express train of leading speed was only derailed on the final corner. Florian Marino (Ten Kate Race Junior Honda) tried to pass leader Guarnoni but ran wide at the Parabolica, and Leandro Mercado (BWG Racing Kawasaki) was pushed wide and crashed. Marino would get going again to score third, with pole man Federico D’Annunzio (Yamaha Martini Racing) second. In the championship, Guarnoni leads on 86 points, 20 ahead of Marino. A rash of fallers in the early laps of the race ensured that only nine riders made the finish.
600 Superstock – Race Results: 1. Guarnoni J. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 15’03.324 (184,184 km/h); 2. D’Annunzio F. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 5.508; 3. Marino F. (FRA) Honda CBR 600 RR 9.972; 4. Russo R. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 10.214; 5. Casalotti S. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 14.388; 6. Le Coquen (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 14.414; 7. Calero Perez N. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R 6 19.716; 8. Covena T. (NED) Yamaha YZF R6 19.977; etc.
Points (after 4 rounds of 10): 1. Guarnoni 86; 2. Marino 66; 3. D’Annunzio 51; 4. Karlsen 47; 5. Lombardi 38; 6. Lanusse 30; 7. Calero Perez 28; 8. Fanelli 25; 9. Le Coquen 21; 10. Major 20