After dominating the two WSBK qualifying sessions, Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) powered to the same result in Superpole with his second success in two races. The 24 year-old Texan lapped the 5.380 km Losail desert circuit in a time of 1 minute 57.280 seconds, almost eight-tenths of a second quicker than Troy Corser’s best mark from 2008. The starting-grid was similar to the opening round in Australia, but this time Jakub Smrz on a customer Guandalini Ducati 1098R placed second, a fraction of a second behind Spies, and ahead of Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) in third. The front row of the grid was completed by Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), who managed to move up to a fourth place slot following two below-par qualifying sessions.
Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike): “The most important thing is being on the front row with this many fast guys. I almost ruined my lap but we eventually got the job done. Race pace is looking promising, which is important but I feel sure it’s going to be a hard race tomorrow. You still have to search for the speed and find the limit in Superpole, I don’t know anything different, it’s the only one I’ve done but it’s working well for me so far.”
Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati): “We have made a really good weekend, now we still have the race to do, but we have a good set-up and for us the times are very positive. I was also working well in Superpole because there wasn’t much traffic, I didn’t catch anyone and I was able to do my best.”
Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing): “I’m very happy again to be fighting for the pole position, I think we did a very good job today. We tried to find the best set-up on both bikes, and I’m going to chose the one that feels the most comfortable. I have already made my tyre choice and feel quite comfortable so thanks again to my squad, they are great guys.”
Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox): “It was a much better Superpole for me than in Australia and I am very happy to be on the front row of the grid. We had a little problem today but managed to sort that and now I am sure that tomorrow we will go very well in the races.”
With fifth place on the grid, Tom Sykes (Yamaha World Superbike) confirmed that the four-cylinder Japanese R1 machine is proving to be a very competitive machine indeed this year, and the British rider will start tomorrow’s two 18-lap races with Japan’s Shinya Nakano (Aprilia Racing), Spain’s Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) from the UK alongside.
The new Superpole format again produced a few surprises. The first run saw the elimination of two of the stars of Phillip Island, Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare) and Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who will now start from row 5; while neither Ruben Xaus and Troy Corser (BMW) nor Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) made the final cut after the second knock-out session.
SBK QP2
1 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’58.886 |
SBK Superpole
1 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’57.280 |
— Yamaha Report
The second day of qualifying for round two of the 2009 Superbike World Championship again saw the new Yamaha YZF-R1 set the pace in qualifying and Superpole. Topping the rankings already in the morning session, Ben Spies took his second ever World Superbike Superpole later today with a flawless run and a time of 1″57.280, improving the Losail WSB lap record by almost 0.8 seconds. This adds to his pace-setting achievement at Phillip Island two weeks ago. Team-mate Tom Sykes proved he had the speed as well to run with the front pack today, fighting down to the final eight Superpole session and setting a 5th time of 1″57.878 which puts him on the second row of the grid when the lights go out tomorrow. Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager — Suzuki Report Team Suzuki Alstare Brux riders Yukio Kagayama and Max Neukirchner both had problems in the new Superpole qualifying system and will have to start from the fourth and fifth rows of the grid at tomorrow’s second World Superbike Championship round in Qatar. Neither riders were able to find good set-ups for their bikes in practice and regular qualifying and struggled to get into Superpole 1. Neukirchner didn’t make it into Superpole 2 but Kagayama managed it by setting the eighth-quickest time in the session. But Superpole 2 was as far as he got as his lap of 1:59.134 was only the 14th fastest time of the session. American Ben Spies (Yamaha) won Superpole with Jakob Smrz (Ducati) second, Max Biaggi (Aprilia) third and series leader Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) fourth. Yukio Kagayama – 14th, 1:59.134: Max Neukirchner – 19th, 1:59.926: — Ten Kate Report Carlos Checa will start tomorrow’s second round 2009 World Superbike races in Qatar from the second row of the grid after setting the seventh fastest time in today’s final Superpole session at the Losail circuit. The Spanish rider has been near the top of the timing sheets for most of the first two days at the 5.38km circuit, but his Ten Kate Honda team-mates, Jonathan Rea and Ryuichi Kiyonari, were unable to convert qualifying speed into grid positions in the new format Superpole. Second fastest after regulation qualifying, Rea went out in the first Superpole session on soft race rubber, on which he was unable to match his earlier times, resulting in the 22-year-old being eliminated. Kiyonari meanwhile, who has been running top five for the first two days of the meeting, crashed in the second Superpole session, ending up 12th fastest. Carlos Checa – P7, 1’59.090 Ryuichi Kiyonari – P12, 1’59.055s Jonathan Rea – P17, 1’59.177s Ronald ten Kate – team manager — Ducati Report After another challenging day on track at the International Circuit of Losail in Qatar, the Ducati Xerox rider Noriyuki Haga earned a well-deserved place on the front row of tomorrow’s grid, concluding a closely fought Superpole with the fourth fastest time of the day on board his factory Ducati 1198. Yamaha’s Ben Spies dominated today’s sessions to take the Superpole, closely followed by Smrz on Team Guandalini’s Ducati 1098 and by Biaggi (Aprilia) who has done well at this track in the past. Noriyuki’s Italian team-mate Michel Fabrizio will line up in tenth position on the grid after having made a small mistake during what needed to be his fastest lap in the second Superpole session. Both Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki and Michel continued to struggle throughout today’s sessions with major problems due to lack of rear grip. Nevertheless, in the second qualifying session this morning, Michel was able to improve slightly on the time he set yesterday to qualify in seventh place for the afternoon’s Superpole. Team-mate Noriyuki fought a losing battle during the morning and concluded the qualifying sessions in fifteenth position, making up for this however in the Superpole that followed. Noriyuki Haga 1m57.8s Michel Fabrizio 1m58.9s — BMW Report Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders Ruben Xaus and Troy Corser were two of many riders who suffered in the new Superpole system and so will start tomorrow’s pair of 18-lap races from the fourth row of the grid. Once again Troy had performed superbly in regular qualifying and had finished 8th in the first session and tenth in the second. He then followed that up with the fourth fastest lap in Superpole 1, but that lap time was wiped away for the 16 riders who lined up for Superpole 2. He used the same type of qualifier for Superpole 2, but the tyre didn’t work as well, causing the front end of the bike to chatter. This problem was enough to prevent Troy from getting into Superpole 3 and a possible place on the second row of the grid. Ruben improved his lap times by over three seconds from first practice and was happy to qualify for Superpole 1. He managed to get into Superpole 2, but no further. As a result he will line up on the fourth row of the grid with Troy alongside. American Ben Spies (Yamaha) won Superpole, with Jakob Smrz (Ducati) second, Max Biaggi (Aprilia) third Ruben – 15th, 1:59.435 Troy – 16th, 1:59.954 |
FIM Supersport World Championship
Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) was quickest again today in the second and final qualifying session for the World Supersport race, giving the Japanese manufacturer its first pole of the year and its second today at the Losail circuit. The 23 year-old British rider knocked one second off his Thursday mark to end up with a time of 2 minutes 01.586 seconds, almost four-tenths quicker than Fabien Foret’s best from last year. The other riders on the front row are all on Honda CBR600RR machines, with Ireland’s Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar) ahead of the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda champion pair of Kenan Sofuoglu and Andrew Pitt, the Turkish rider crashing out in the final stages of the session while chasing the pole. Fabien Foret heads the next row of the grid in fifth place on the second factory Yamaha R6, ahead of Matthieu Lagrive (Hannspree Honda Althea) and Gianluca Nannelli (ParkinGO Triumph).
Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team
“it was good today, I’m happy enough. I think if we can continue that pace for tomorrow we’ll be pleased. It’s going to be a really close race though and there’s no massive advantage, everybody is still close behind. I think there’s going to be six or seven of us fighting for the front pack positions. It’s really exciting again for me to race my first race round Losail setting off from pole position, which is a great boost although only a small advantage!”
Andrew Pitt, “Last year I was on the third row here, so to be on the front row is an improvement. I’ve never been a strong qualifier, however, a front row start is all that is important.
“The main thing is that today I had plenty of time on the good rubber that I was saving. The front tyre is always the worry here so I did a few long runs and we really made inroads to bike set-up. I’ve been pushing hard all day, and the team and I have been focusing on getting the balance of the bike better. I’m having to use a bit too much lean angle into turns, however, we tried some changes today that have helped and we are in a very good position for the race.
“In the morning warm up we won’t make any major changes but do have some small things to try. But overall, I’m very confident. We are down 2 – 3km/h on the 2009 spec CBR600Rs but I’m sure I can run in the slipstream at the front at whatever the race pace ends up, and make a move towards the end, hopefully crossing the line in first place!”
Pitt had his first World Superbike podium at Losail and rates the circuit as one of his favourites.
“I do have good memories of this track but like any race weekend, I’m here to win and that is what I focus on week-in, week-out.”
GARRY McCOY | Triumph Daytona 675 | 9th in 2’02.634: “I’ve done this session all by myself and managed to improve yesterday’s time. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish an entire lap properly and just missed row two. In the third part of the session I’ve always found some slower riders on my trajectory during the warm-up laps, after setting first two rows split times in the early part of the session. However, I’m confident I can do well, my pace is very good and the cycle part has gotten better. In tomorrow’s warm-up I just have to change the clutch which is not regular at the moment in order to avoid braking issues”.
SS QP2
1 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 2’01.586
2 Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 2’01.629
3 Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 2’01.810
4 Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2’02.266
5 Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 2’02.282
6 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 2’02.450
7 Nannelli G. (ITA) Triumph Daytona 675 2’02.497
8 Harms R. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR 2’02.592
9 McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 2’02.634
10 Aitchison M. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2’02.656
11 Pirro M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 2’02.664
12 West A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2’02.808
13 Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’02.844
14 Praia M. (POR) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.098
15 Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’03.111
16 Szkopek P. (POL) Triumph Daytona 675 2’03.163
17 Roccoli M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.178
18 Veneman B. (NED) Suzuki GSX-R600 2’03.215
19 Vizziello G. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.507
20 Günther J. (GER) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.703
21 Dell’Omo D. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.829
22 Vostárek P. (CZE) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.942
23 Vos A. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.951
24 Holland R. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2’04.333
25 Smrz M. (CZE) Triumph Daytona 675 2’04.504
26 Morillas J. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 2’04.710
27 Lai F. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 2’04.988
28 Pradita T. (INA) Yamaha YZF R6 2’05.234
29 Guerra Y. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 2’05.565
30 Geronimi S. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R600 2’06.803