— World Superbike – Round Two – Donington Biaggi on song at classic Donington circuit Donington (UK), Friday 25 March 2011 – Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) scorched round the new-look Donington Park circuit in a blistering time of 1 minute 28.794 seconds to head off a challenge from Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike) as the Superbike riders concluded their first qualifying session. Biaggi’s final advantage over Melandri was just a fraction (0.047 seconds) with the two Italians the only riders into the 1’28 bracket as they duelled in the spring sunshine. Double Aussie race winner Carlos Checa was also on the pace, grabbing the lead in the middle of the session, but the Althea Racing man eventually ended up third, while Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike) completed the overnight front row in impressive style. Jakub Smrz (Effenbert – Liberty Ducati) also boomed his big twin-cylinder machine around the curves of Donington in very pleasant weather conditions to go fifth overall. The hard-fought session saw a series of surprises and changes of fortune as both Leon Haslam and Troy Corser were up amongst the frontrunners for a while on their BMW S1000RR machines, finishing sixth and seventh respectively. Ruben Xaus was top CBR rider on his Castrol Honda machine, while team-mate Jonathan Rea struggled somewhat to go 16th. Rookie rider Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) was the top Kawasaki competitor, ninth, while local man Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) went tenth. Two fallers today were Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) and Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki Alstare). The modified track layout, with the Esses now widened at the exit, brought universal praise, although exactly how much of the improvement in overall lap times is due to the new sections is still a cause for discussion. Chris Vermeulen returned to the WSBK fray today, going within 2.7 seconds of the leaders on his Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-10R, despite being not fully fit yet. 1 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 1’28.794 World Supersport Following his win in the opening round of the season, Italian Luca Scassa (Yamaha ParkinGO) continued his excellent run of form by setting the provisional pole at the end of this afternoon’s first Supersport qualifying session. His time of 1 minute 31.232 seconds was just a fraction quicker than Britain’s Sam Lowes, in second place on the Parkalgar Honda machine. The two Motocard.com Kawasaki ZX-6Rs were next up, with Australia’s Broc Parkes ahead of Spain’s David Salom. Local man Chaz Davies was fifth fastest on his Yamaha ParkinGO R6, and two more Brits were inside the top 10, with Gino Rea (Step Racing Honda) in sixth and James Ellison (Bogdanka PTR Honda) two places behind. Impressive privateer Robbin Harms (Harms Benjan Racing Team) went seventh, the last rider within a second of Scassa’s new best lap. 1 Luca Scassa Yamaha ITA 1’31.232 – Yamaha Report The second round of the World Superbike Championship got underway at Donington today with Yamaha World Superbike Team riders Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty taking provisional front row starts from the first qualifying session. Both riders spent today’s free practice and subsequent qualifying session working through further electronic set up possibilities with their Yamaha YZF-R1s, focusing on the rear of the bike. Melandri was on competitive form for his first experience of the Donington track with a Superbike. The Italian rider moved up to the top of the time sheets with five minutes to go, dropping to second at the end of the session just 0.047 seconds from the front and one of only two riders to go below the 1’29 second mark with a 1’28.841. Melandri’s teammate Laverty was on similar form, the young rider from Northern Ireland focusing on set up for the majority of the sessions before switching to a softer tyre in the last minutes. Laverty then climbed to fourth on the standings for a provisional front row ahead of tomorrow’s second qualifying session and Superpole heats, just 0.585 from the front of the pack. Marco Melandri, Yamaha World Superbike Team / 2nd, 1’28.841 (24 laps) Eugene Laverty, Yamaha World Superbike Team / 4th, 1’29.379 Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager – Andrea Dosoli Yamaha ParkinGO Team riders Luca Scassa and Chas Davies got straight down to business today in the first of the weekend’s two World Supersport qualifying sessions. Both riders were focused on small changes to the rear set up of their bikes. The championship leader Scassa took up where Cal Crutchlow left off in 2009 taking the Yamaha YZF-R6 straight to the top of the time sheet to take provisional pole ahead of tomorrow’s second qualifying heat. Teammate Chas Davies was not far behind, wrapping up the session just of the front row with fifth place in the timings. The British rider is determined to deliver in front of his home crowd after an unfortunate end to the season opening race in Phillip Island a month ago where a flat tyre prevented a potential podium finish. – BMW Report Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport had an encouraging start to the second round of the FIM Superbike World Championship 2011 at Donington (GBR). Works rider Leon Haslam (GBR), who lives near the race track, dominated the first half of the first qualifying session, setting a string of fastest times. In the second half of the session his teammate Troy Corser (AUS) was second for a long time. In the end Leon finished qualifying today in sixth and Troy in seventh. Both riders’ crews continued their work on chassis and mapping setup for the BMW S 1000 RRs. Leon Haslam: Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:30.566 min (P4)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:29.472 min (P6) Troy Corser: Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:30.970 min (P11)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice: 1:29.476 min (P7) Rainer Bäumel (Head of Race Operations): “I am very happy that both our riders were able to ride on top. This proves we have made another step forward with our bike. We are there and now we will see what happens tomorrow – and what the weather will be like. If you want to be in the position to fight at the front in the races, you need to qualify in the first two rows. So this is our aim for the third superpole session. I would be happy if we could achieve that.” – Castrol Honda Castrol Honda’s Ruben Xaus set the eighth fastest time in today’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s second round of the 2011 World Superbike championship at Donington Park in the UK. The Spaniard continued the improvement in form shown in race two at the opening round in Australia last month as he continues to familiarise himself with his new team and the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade. After missing out on Donington last season, the Castrol Honda team joined the rest of the 2011 field on the 4.023km (2.5 mile) circuit, which was drenched in Spring sunshine as Max Biaggi set the qualifying pace. Xaus’s Castrol Honda team-mate, Jonathan Rea, could only manage the 16th fastest time, after going P3 in this morning’s initial Free Practice session. The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland could not get his preferred rear tyre to work at all this afternoon. Ruben Xaus – P8 Jonathan Rea – P16 Ronald ten Kate – team manager |