Checa wins Superpole at impressive pace
Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) took his second pole of the 2011 season by posting the fastest lap of the weekend in Superpole three, a 1’28.099. Local rider Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) will line up behind Checa at Leon’s home track, with another British rider, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) third. The last spot on the front row will be taken by Czech star Jakub Smrz (Effenbert – Liberty Racing Ducati).
Carlos Checa: “What can I say? Everything is working so well here at Donington, we expected to go well and we did it. Our progress from yesterday to today was quite comfortable, basically today the tyres were working well with these conditions and this cold. With one lap to get going it was not easy to get confidence but I was able to get a good enough time to get the pole and that’s important for tomorrow.”
Leon Haslam: “Donington is my local circuit and me and Tom have had some great battles in the past in BSB, I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. We got a front row start which we wanted. I’ve definitely made some good progress from Australia to this event so hopefully it’ll be a dry day tomorrow and I can try and beat Carlos this time.”
Tom Sykes: “I’m really happy now with this good starting slot for tomorrow’s races. I think that’s the hardest part of the weekend because qualifying is always important. We had a little problem in SP2 and had to waste a qualifying tyre but for SP3 we went out on a race tyre. The second row was guaranteed but to squeeze onto the front row was something unexpected.”
Jakub Smrz: “Donington is one of my favourite races. I had a crash this morning at the very fast Craner Curves, where I have crashed before in the past but I was OK. I am satisfied with my front row position and I have a good set-up for the race, I would have liked to go a bit better in qualifying but the front row is good for me.”
Noriyuki Haga (Pata Racing Team Aprilia) and Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) completed the top six, while an Aprilia trio was finished off by Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) with Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) the final rider on the second row, making it four British riders in the top eight places.
The hot track action warmed up the enthusiastic local crowd as the temperatures dipped from the highs of Friday, with the track temperatures dropping to single figures for Superpole.
Leading contender Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) just missed out on the final Superpole session and will start Sunday’s races from ninth place and on row three. Haslam’s team-mate Troy Corser lapped his way to tenth, ahead of lone Suzuki force Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki Alstare). The Kawasaki Racing Team entry put its second rider into the top 12 when Joan Lascorz completed row three.
A huge crash in the first Superpole session for Melandri’s Yamaha team-mate Eugene Laverty kept him on row four, alongside Sylvain Guintoli (Effenbert – Liberty Racing Ducati), Maxime Berger (Supersonic Ducati) and Ruben Xaus (Castrol Honda).
World Superbike Combined Qualifying Results
1. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 1min 28.794s
2. Marco Melandri ITA Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 1min 28.841s
3. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R 1min 29.194s
4. Eugene Laverty IRL Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 1min 29.379s
5. Jakub Smrz CZE Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R 1min 29.397s
6. Jonathan Rea GBR Castrol Honda CBR1000RR 1min 29.438s
7. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 29.472s
8. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 29.476s
9. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki RTS ZX-10R 1min 29.580s
10. Maxime Berger FRA Supersonic Ducati 1098R 1min 29.588s
11. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 1min 29.612s
12. Ruben Xaus ESP Castrol Honda CBR1000RR 1min 29.613s
13. Joan Lascorz ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1min 29.637s
14. Noriyuki Haga JPN PATA Aprilia RSV-4 1min 29.782s
15. Michel Fabrizio ITA Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000 1min 29.843s
16. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R 1min 30.008s
17. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia S1000RR 1min 30.169s
18. Roberto Rolfo ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 30.680s
19. Mark Aitchison AUS Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 31.117s
20. Chris Vermeulen AUS Kawasaki RTS ZX-10R 1min 31.485s
World Superbike Superpole Results
1. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R 1min 28.099s
2. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 28.365s
3. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki RTS ZX-10R 1min 28.556s
4. Jakub Smrz CZE Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R 1min 28.561s
5. Noriyuki Haga JPN PATA Aprilia RSV-4 1min 28.673s
6. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 1min 28.702s
7. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 1min 28.737s
8. Jonathan Rea GBR Castrol Honda CBR1000RR 1min 39.514s
9. Marco Melandri ITA Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 1min 28.803s
10. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 28.836s
11. Michel Fabrizio ITA Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000 1min 29.135s
12. Joan Lascorz ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1min 29.422s
13. Eugene Laverty IRL Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 1min 29.312s
14. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R 1min 29.879s
15. Maxime Berger FRA Supersonic Ducati 1098R 1min 30.002s
16. Ruben Xaus ESP Castrol Honda CBR1000RR 1min 30.076s
World Supersport
Two Yamaha ParkinGO machines locked out the front two places on the starting-grid for tomorrow’s World Supersport race, with Italian Luca Scassa on pole followed by his Welsh team-mate Chaz Davies. Sam Lowes (Parkalgar Honda) was third but an early session crash hampered his efforts to go for pole and the WSS find of 2011 was unable to improve on his Q1 time.
Next up were the two Kawasaki ZX-6R machines of Broc Parkes and David Salom (Motocard.com), while Gino Rea (Step Racing Team), Robbin Harms (Harms Benjan Racing Team) and James Ellison (Bogdanka PTR Honda) took the next three places for Honda. Fabien Foret (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who again injured his hand in a crash yesterday, struggled on regardless to qualify 12th. Foret’s team-mate Florian Marino improved to go ninth overall, while Massimo Roccoli posted tenth on his Kawasaki Lorenzini by Leoni machine.
1. Luca Scassa ITA ParkinGO Yamaha YZF-R6 1min 31.232s
2. Chaz Davies GBR ParkinGO Yamaha YZF-R6 1min 31.250s
3. Sam Lowes GBR Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR 1min 31.368s
4. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki Motocard.com ZX-6R 1min 31.645s
5. David Salom ESP Kawasaki Motocard.com ZX-6R 1min 31.963s
6. Gino Rea GBR Step Racing Honda CBR600RR 1min 32.080s
7. Robbin Harms DEN Harms Benjan Honda CBR600RR 1min 32.136s
8. James Ellison GBR Bogdanka PTR Honda CBR600RR 1min 32.153s
9. Florian Marino FRA Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR 1min 32.210s
10. Massimo Roccoli ITA Lorenzini Kawasaki ZX-6R 1min 32.338s
11. Vladimir Ivanov UKR Step Racing Honda CBR600RR 1min 32.694s
12. Fabien Foret FRA Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR 1min 32.707s
13. Roberto Tamburini ITA Bike Service Yamaha YZF-R6 1min 32.917s
14. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Lorenzini Kawasaki ZX-6R 1min 32.935s
15. Alexander Lundh SWE Cresto Guide Honda CBR600RR 1min 33.187s
16. Danilo Dell’Omo ITA Suriano Triumph Daytona 675 1min 33.527s
17. Ondrej Jezek CZE SMS Honda CBR600RR 1min 33.528s
18. Ronan Quarmby RSA Suriano Triumph Daytona 675 1min 33.587s
19. Pawel Szkopek POL Bogdanka PTR Honda CBR600RR 1min 33.658s
20. Miguel Praia POR Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR 1min 33.711s
21. Jack Kennedy IRL Colin Appleyard/Macadam Yamaha YZF-R6 1min 33.836s
22. Robert Muresan ROM PTR Romania Honda CBR600RR 1min 33.906s
23. Balazs Nemeth HUN Team Hungary Toth Honda CBR600RR 1min 34.192
24. Bastien Chesaux SUI Moto-Academy Honda CBR600RR 1min 34.316s
25. Mitchell Pirotta AUS Kuja Honda CBR600RR 1min 34.574s
26. Imre Toth HUN Team Hungary Toth Honda CBR600RR 1min 35.183s
27. Marko Jerman SLO MD Jerman Triumph Daytona 675 1min 35.829s
28. Luca Marconi ITA Bike Service Yamaha YZF-R6 1min 36.846s
– Yamaha Report
Donington park today saw a frustrating and challenging Superpole session for the Yamaha World Superbike riders, Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty. Bitterly cold weather conditions and a track temperature of over 19 degrees less than yesterday’s first Qualifying session saw all 16 riders on the track struggle to complete the Superpole in ideal times.
Melandri completed the first heat of Superpole in fifth position, just over three tenths of a second from pole. The second heat saw Melandri put in a series of impressive times on his YZF – R1, unfortunately he was obstructed on his flying lap by another rider and subsequently ended the session in ninth position overall, just missing out on his chance to participate in the third and final heat. As a result he starts tomorrow’s two World Superbike races on the third row of the grid in ninth position.
Team mate Laverty was victim of a cold track losing the front end of his bike on turn three of his out lap. The Superbike Rookie luckily walked away unhurt and managed to get back out with five minutes to go and push back up from 16th to 12th position. Unfortunately he missed out on the opportunity to partake in the second heat of Superpole by just one place after being bumped to 13th in the dying seconds.
Marco Melandri, Yamaha World Superbike Team / 9th, 1’28.803
“I’m disappointed to be starting on third row of the grid tomorrow, but that’s what happens in Superpole. I’m just sorry that it was another rider’s fault. Biaggi showed his true professionalism today, he cut in front of me even though he clearly had seen me and that’s not how a World Champion should be riding. I’m going out there tomorrow even more determined than ever and I believe our race pace is good. “
Eugene Laverty, Yamaha World Superbike Team / 13th, 1’29.312
“It wasn’t an ideal Superpole today, Phillip Island went problem free and we finished fifth there so we were hoping to do much better here. We saw how cruel Superpole can be sometimes, we are starting from 13th on the grid tomorrow, however I’m confident I can get through the pack. Marco is just ahead of me on third row and he’s strong on the first lap so I’ve got to tuck in behind him and slice through together. Whatever set up we choose I feel confident I can ride the track to its maximum.”
Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager – Andrea Dosoli
“It’s definitely not the starting positions we were hoping for after the impressive times we had in free practice and qualifying practice. Unfortunately Eugene lost the front end and had a significant crash and lost some valuable time, luckily he was unhurt. He wasn’t confident to go back out on the qualifier so he used the race tyre and that didn’t provide a fast enough lap to get him through to Superpole two. I believe if Marco and Eugene can get off the grid well then they can definitely provide a good race. The weather conditions are extreme and after the sunshine yesterday we are back to the typical British weather for this time of year. It’s due to be cold again tomorrow and maybe we should try to avoid racing in the future in such cold conditions.”
– Castrol Honda Report
Castrol Honda rider Jonathan Rea will start tomorrow’s two second-round World Superbike championship races at Donington Park in the UK from the second row of the grid after setting the eighth fastest time in this afternoon’s Superpole qualifying sessions.
Rea’s Spanish team-mate, Ruben Xaus, was unable to progress beyond the first stage of Superpole and will start from the fourth row as his compatriot, Carlos Checa, took his second pole position of the season.
Rea improved the setting of his CBR1000RR after yesterday’s tyre problems and was fastest in this morning’s second free practice session. However, he and his crew opted to use one of his two qualifying tyres in Superpole 1, which meant he was left with no qualifier in the final shoot-out with which to improve his time.
In seeking to improve his own set up for Donington’s sweeping curves and stop-start hairpins, Xaus went the wrong way and the 33-year-old was unable to improve on his best time from yesterday.
The first of tomorrow’s two 23-lap races around the re-invigorated 4.023km (2.5 mile) Donington Park circuit will start at 12.00 local time, with the second outing at 15.30.
Jonathan Rea – P8
Today was not so bad really, although I guess we could have gone a bit faster in Superpole 1 on the race tyre so that we didn’t have to use a qualifier. But we wanted to make sure of getting into the last eight and I then had to go out on a second-hand qualifying tyre which ran out of grip pretty quickly. We’ve worked hard all day trying to cover all the bases for tyre options. With the temperature changing, we need to know which of the three combinations works best in all conditions but the track temperature tomorrow will really dictate which one we use. We still need to find some time in the final corner – I need a little bit more engine braking at the end of the turn and a bit more punch to get out. I feel OK in the first three sectors though but it’s going to be a very tactical race. The ones who’ve worked hardest over the weekend will be the ones who choose the right tyre for the race conditions. Hopefully we’ve done our homework.
Ruben Xaus – P16
For me, this weekend is like another pre-season test. We tested during the race in Phillip Island in 30 degrees and now the conditions are much colder so we must test some more things here at Donington! The way the bike behaves is completely different here to Australia. Yesterday we were OK and had some problems in the final section of the track. We tried to improve that today, when it was much colder, and we went the wrong way and I couldn’t improve. We had grip and braking problems. As the crew said: “We know the bike, but we don’t know you so well yet.” Of course, I know myself, but I don’t know the bike so well yet! I’m much happier than I was in Phillip Island though, because there we were lost. I hope tomorrow we can make two good races and get some good top ten points and go to Assen with even more good information.
Ronald ten Kate – team-manager
We’re definitely in better shape than we were 24 hours ago. It seems we have quite some pace, but tomorrow will be all about tyres so we won’t really know how much pace until the races are done. I believe we have found ourselves a race tyre so considering yesterday’s set back I’m quite satisfied with Jonathan’s second row start. On Ruben’s side, we went in the wrong direction today. Luckily we realised that and we’ll turn things around for tomorrow when the aim will still be for him to finish inside the top ten.
– BMW Report
Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport will start the second round of the FIM Superbike World Championship 2011 at Donington (GBR) from the front row. Local works rider, Leon Haslam (GBR), secured the second best qualifying result ever for the team, finishing second in today’s Superpole Qualifying. His team mate Troy Corser (AUS) will start tomorrow’s races from tenth position.
Leon Haslam: Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: 1:29.472 min (P7) / Fastest lap FP: 1:28.968 min (P2) / Fastest lap Superpole 3: 1:28.365 min (P2)
“I am really looking forward to tomorrow now. We wanted a front row start and we have got that. We definitely made good progress from Australia to this event. Hopefully it is a dry day tomorrow, and I will try to beat the others this time. In a race anything can happen, but we are making steps in the right direction. If we can get a good start and have consistent races, we will be in with a good shot.”
Troy Corser: Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: 1:29.476 min (P8) / Fastest lap FP: 1:29.861 min (P10) / Fastest lap Superpole 2: 1:28.836 min (P10)
“We had no serious issues, but there were some small vibrations in the rear tyre on the second qualifier. We are still just trying to find a good set-up. The cold weather was no problem, just a bit hard on the tyre. It seems to be tearing up quite a bit with the cold, but that is okay. Overall I am happy, but not with the qualifying result. The race tyre is quite good and consistent. We just need to get a good start and then we will see what is possible.”
Rainer Bäumel (Head of Race Operations):
“On the whole I am happy with how Superpole has turned out for us. Troy was unlucky; he was suffering from some vibration issues which prevented him from taking full advantage of the qualifying tyre and stopped him from progressing into Superpole 3. Even so, heading up the third row is not so bad. We know Troy can get good starts and his race pace is good so we are confident. With regard to Leon we are all really happy. He has good pace on a race tyre and he will be pushing for the front tomorrow for sure.”