World SBK Results from day two at Phillip Island

Day Two
Haslam takes his first ever Superpole win

In a new look Superpole, with the top 20 riders trying to go through all three sectors of Superpole in sessions which last 14, 12 and 10 minutes respectively, Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) beat all the others to pole position with a best time of 1’31.229, securing his first ever WSBK Superpole win.

Superpole 3
Eight riders fought it out for the first two grid places, with Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) just 0.016 seconds behind Haslam with a 1’31.245, Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) and Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) slotting in behind Fabrizio.

The second row will feature Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare), Jakub Smrz (Pata B&G Racing Ducati), Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) after ten minutes of close final competition sorted out the leading riders.

Superpole 2
The eight riders who missed final Superpole qualification were, in reverse order, Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) who was 16th overall, Ruben Xaus (BMW Motorrad Motorsport), Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki Racing Team), Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport), Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia), Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), and Lorenzo Lanzi (DFX Ducati).

Superpole 1
At the very start of the Superpole sessions, Roland Resch missed out on participation on his BMW Reitwagen machine after a big crash in qualifying, but of the 19 riders who competed in Superpole one, only his team-mate Andrew Pitt, Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati) and Max Neukirchner (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) did not progress to Superpole 2. Byrne was still battered after his big crash yesterday but battled through Superpole.

Race date
There will be two 22-lap Superbike races on Sunday 28th, the first at noon local time in Victoria, the second at 15.30.

Leon Haslam: “You can get caught out quite easily in Superpole so we went out to go fast early in each session. We used a soft option race tyre for the first Superpole, didn’t have any slides and felt really comfortable. When I put my first qualifier in I was sliding, so I was not sure which tyre to use in the final session, but we managed to go out there put a qualifier in and we put in a little bit of a quicker time. Sitting in the pit garage watching these guys go out to try and beat my time was probably more nerve-wracking than being out on the track. But it all ended up good and I got my first Superpole win.”

Michel Fabrizio: “The second qualifying tyre we used worked the best of all the ones we had been trying and that was the one I scored the best time with. I am fairly happy in the hot conditions if that is the way things turn out on raceday.”

Cal Crutchlow: “We made a good final lap but we made a small mistake in the second session, which made me run off the track. I had to use the two qualifying tyres we are given, which we could have used in the finals session. I then had to use a soft race tyre and we made it work, but I was pushing, no doubt about that. I hope I can maintain that position in the race and a front row start always helps.”

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World Supersport: Lascorz the top man after qualifying

Spanish rider Joan Lascorz started his and his Provec Motocard.com team’s season off in perfect style with a pole position performance at Phillip Island, scorching round the 4.445km circuit in a new best lap of 1’33.847. He left his best effort for last, and put his fastest lap down to making the best use of a good machine set-up. Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was second fastest with a 1’34.116, while Sofuoglu’s team-mate Michele Pirro slotted into third. Eugene Laverty will complete the front row for the 21-lap race on Sunday 28th, after qualifying fourth on his Parkalgar Honda. Katsuaki Fujiwara sent his official Kawasaki machine to the head of the second row and David Salom (despite losing the first day of track action) was top Triumph rider in sixth, on a ParkinGO BE1 Daytona 675 triple.

—  Ducati Report

The first Superpole of the 2010 World Superbike season took place this afternoon at a breezy Phillip Island, and Ducati Xerox rider Michel Fabrizio was undoubtedly one of the protagonists, putting in a strong and consistent performance to snatch second place on tomorrow’s grid, and missing out on pole by just a fraction of a second. Team-mate Noriyuki Haga had a more difficult time, qualifying in tenth place for the opening races of the year. Of the first ten bikes on tomorrow’s grid, five are Ducati 1198s, yet another a demonstration of the bike’s competitiveness.

In this morning’s qualifying, and on a much cooler track compared to yesterday, the three fastest riders from yesterday, Checa, Fabrizio and Haslam did not manage to improve on their best times but they nevertheless held on the top three spots on the timesheet, qualifying first to third for the afternoon’s Superpole. Noriyuki, maintaining a similar pace to yesterday, preferred to work with a used tyre than change to a fresh one in the final minutes to record a fast lap, meaning that he qualified for Superpole in fourteenth place. It is interesting to note that the fastest seventeen riders lapped within seven tenths of a second of each other, a sure sign that this year’s championship will be extremely hard fought.

As expected, Superpole was a close battle between the top eight. In the first of the three phases, 14 minutes in length, Nori immediately recorded a time fast enough for him to be able to return to the garage, safe in the knowledge that he had done enough. Michel meanwhile needed a tyre change before his fastest lap propelled him up the timesheets to third place, to easily proceed to phase two along with his team-mate.

In the second mini-Superpole both factory riders went out on qualifiers, Michel making a fast lap and Nori changing tyre mid-session. What seemed to be a clean lap for Haga unfortunately failed to equate to a fast enough lap, due to an apparent lack of rear grip which meant that Haga’s Superpole finished here, with the tenth fastest time of the afternoon, although only two tenths off Michel’s pace in the same session.
Michel, who still had a qualifier left to use in the final phase, pushed to the limit and it seemed that the pole position was within his grasp, but it all came down to a fraction of a second, with Michel ultimately closing in second place, just 0.016 of a second from Haslam on the Suzuki. Lining up in the first eight on tomorrow’s grid are also the Ducati 1198s of Checa (Althea Racing) in fourth and Smrz (Team Pata B&G Racing) in sixth.

Three-time world champion Troy Bayliss is once again special guest at the Phillip Island circuit this weekend and it was he who presented former team-mate Michel Fabrizio with his Superpole trophy today. Troy will continue to work as a Ducati “ambassador” in 2010.

Michel Fabrizio
“Today’s Superpole was very difficult but I am very happy with the final result. I lost out on the pole by just a fraction of a second which is a shame, but it’s not the first time that that has happened and the important thing is that I’m on the front row tomorrow. I was happy with my flying lap, a clean lap, with no-one in front of me. Tomorrow will be an equally difficult challenge, and various riders, me, Haslam, Checa, Biaggi and Nori will surely be in contention. We know we have a good race pace and I’m feeling confident for the races.”

Noriyuki Haga
“In the second phase of the Superpole I went out on a race tyre but even though it felt like a clean lap, the time was not quick enough and unfortunately that put me out of the fight, and I finished tenth. Tomorrow I will of course need to make a fantastic start but I am confident that I am able to do that. I apologise to Ducati for the fact that I’m on the third row but I will, as ever, do my best in the races. Last year I started from 13th and won the race so I know it is possible to achieve a great result regardless of grid position.”

—  Althea Ducati

Second day of qualifications for the Althea Racing team in Australia. The morning qualifying session commenced on a dry track with grey, cloudy skies overhead in Phillip Island. Moreover this morning Carlos Checa was the fastest rider on track (1’32”227). He entered the Superpole in first position with yesterday’s fastest lap time because today’s contrary weather conditions didn’t allow Carlos to improve his yesterday’s best time. After yesterday’s big crash, today Shane Byrne showed courage and determination, ending the qualifying session in twelfth position. In afternoon free practice both Althea team riders were able to work on their bike setting and once again Checa reached first position, improving his morning best lap time (1’32”014) Shakey ended the free session in eleventh place (1’33”413).

In the first Superpole outing Checa was fourth (1’32”124) while Byrne unfortunately, did not enter the second session obtaining only the seventeenth position (1’32”823). The injury that he sustained to his back during yesterday’s qualifying session remains sore, and prevented him from performing to his maximum level. In second Superpole phase, Checa scored the third lap time (1’31”748) while in the third and final session he continued to improved his lap time (1’31”671) reaching a final fourth place. First row for him and fifth row for injured Byrne in tomorrow’s first two races of the 2010 Superbike world championship.

Carlos Checa :”I’m happy with today’s qualifying sessions and with my Superpole, because we fought for the pole position since the last few minutes of the last Superpole session. Like the last test in Portimao, today as well I was not able to take advantage from the qualifying tires. Anyway I’m satisfied because we are close to the fastest riders, and because today I also found a fast rhythm rather quickly. Tomorrow I’ll start from the first row and this is an important result for me and for my team, I want to thank all of them for the great job they’re doing”.

Shane Byrne :”Obviously I’m really very disappointed. I had a big crash yesterday and today it seems difficult for me to find the rhythm of my previous test. In Superpole we used qualifying tires to try to get through, but something was wrong because the tires have less grip than the usual race tire. I know tomorrow’s races will be very difficult for me. I’ll be starting from the fifth row and it won’t be easy, but I’ll try to do my best and I hope to reach good results”.

Genesio Bevilacqua – General manager :”I’m very satisfied because it was the first Superpole for our team in the Superbike world championship and Carlos will start tomorrow from the first row of the grid. For sure without yesterday’s crash, Shakey could also have started from a better position as both our riders remained in the top position during all practices and qualifying sessions. This is the best reward for all our team for the great job done during the weekend. If we continue to work in this manner, I think we’ll be able to reach good results in tomorrow’s races and also in the championship standing”.

—  Yamaha Report

British riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland demonstrated the big steps forward in bike set up on the 2010 R1 today, challenging through all three Superpole sessions to take first and second row starts respectively. Both riders had used their qualifier tyres by the end of the second session, using race rubber for their final heat. In an amazing turn of speed Crutchlow put in an incredible 1’31.642 to secure third whilst team-mate Toseland put his head down to secure eighth a row behind.

The qualifying session earlier in the day saw again more improvement from the Yamaha team. Without any of the chatter problems from the test to be seen the increased power on the new bike was evident. Crutchlow ended the second qualifying heat in third, just over two tenths of pole whilst Toseland defied the pain in his hand from yesterday’s highside to secure fifth, again less than three tenths off pole. These impressive performances by both riders gave an overall qualifying position of fourth for Crutchlow and sixth for Toseland prior to Superpole.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (3rd, 1.31.642)
“This morning wasn’t too bad for me, I’m pleased enough with the race pace. I think we’re struggling for the podium but that’s what I’m aiming for as always. If we can be somewhere near I’ll be happy! We managed to get a good lap out at the end of Superpole and I was pleased with that. Going into the weekend we weren’t even in the points, Yamaha has done a really good job this week and we’ve worked some stuff out. Hopefully we can keep the cooler conditions as they’ll help us tomorrow. Let’s see what we can do.”

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (8th, 1’32.019)
“I was annoyed with myself for the highside yesterday, we had some issues with the electronics which caught me out so today was damage limitation for that. The balance and the bike itself has improved a lot over the weekend but the electronics now need to catch up a bit. I hurt my hand in the fall which is quite painful, especially as this is a really physical circuit and you need your strength to get round it. I made a mistake on my first tyre in Superpole this afternoon which forced me to use the qualifier in the first session, so I had to use a race tyre for the last session. I knew if I could get into the last eight then I’d be happy with the second row. We’ve got quite a lot more to do with the bike, but to see where we were before the weekend and to now be Cal on the first row and me on the second just shows you what a good job the team has done. They’ve put us in a position where we can have a go.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“We have made a really good improvement over the last few days. In the beginning we were struggling but we’ve found a way to solve everything. Slowly we’ve been improving the performance with both bikes. To achieve the first two rows for the first race of the season with new riders, especially Cal coming from Supersport, is a great result. Tomorrow we’ll have to see the weather forecast and decide which tyres we want to use for the race. We are satisfied for today!”

—  BMW Report

Both BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders Troy Corser (AUS) and Ruben Xaus (ESP) qualified for the inaugural 2010 World Superbike Superpole. Troy finished the Qualifying Practice as 13th, Ruben set the 19th fastest time. In Superpole, both riders made it to Superpole 2 and set their fastest laps on race tyres respectively. While Troy qualified for starting position 13, Ruben qualified 15th.

Troy Corser:
Bike: BMW S 1000 RR
Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: 1:32.684 min / Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:32.985 min /
Fastest lap Superpole 2: 1:32.430 min
“We made good steps forward with the bike’s settings today, and I feel more confident. We also slowly improved our lap times over the course of the day. We just needed to set quicker lap times as we mostly were in the 1:34s and 1:33s.In the first session of the Superpole we had to use a qualifying tyre just to make sure to stay in the competition. Actually I set my fastest time of the Superpole on race tyres. Of course, I am a little disappointed with the starting position, but if I get a good start I am confident to set good lap times.”

Ruben Xaus:
Bike: BMW S 1000 RR
Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: 1:33.396 min / Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:33.583 min /
Fastest lap Superpole 2: 1:32.842 min
“With every session this weekend we have been making positive steps forward. The championship is really tight this year with a lot of fast young riders coming through, but this only makes me try harder, and it’s good for the championship. If I get a good start tomorrow I am confident we can come away from here with a good set of results. A big Thank you to my crew. They did a fantastic job so far.”

Davide Tardozzi (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Team Manager): “We made a step ahead although today’s qualifying times don’t reflect that too much. For some reason we struggled with the qualifying tyres, and both riders set their fastest lap in today’s Superpole on race tyres. Apart from the starting position we are in a comfortable situation for tomorrow. The team will do their best to finish the races in the best possible positions.”

—  Suzuki Report

Team Suzuki Alstare’s Leon Haslam took Superpole in Australia today, to lead the grid in his debut for Suzuki in the first round of the 2010 World Superbike Championship tomorrow.

The young Briton stormed to a lap of 1:31.229, over half a second inside the lap record, in Superpole 3, ahead of Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) and fellow Briton Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha). For a while it looked as though team mate team mate Sylvain Guintoli would be joining him on the front row of the grid, but a late surge by Crutchlow relegated the Frenchman to fifth place and row two.

Leon Haslam – 1st, 1:31.229: “I am absolutely delighted to get my first Superpole victory but the results in the races tomorrow are more important. Sitting in the garage watching the other guys go round in final Superpole and seeing their times falling was more nerve-racking than being out on the track and riding and it was a great relief when it was over. When we use qualifying tyres I have to use a slightly different riding style than when I am on race rubber.

“Today once again we concentrated on getting a good race set up and did a lot of time on race rubber getting ready for race day. From previous data, we knew there was a certain way of working at this track to keep progressing and we did that rather than just chase any lap times.

“My aim is to be in the first three in the first eight or nine laps and that will put me in a good position a good position at the end of the race. It is not what you can do in the first five laps; it’s what you do in the last five laps here that is most important. Although this is my first race weekend with the team, everyone is working together fantastically well. I have felt at home here at Suzuki Alstare since the very first time we tested and the boys have made my life easy.”

Sylvain Guintoli – 5th, 1:31.696: “I thought I had done enough to get on the front row, but then I lost the position right at the end of final Superpole. It’s a bit disappointing because it would’ve been nice to be on the front row near my team mate and it would’ve been great for the team. But row two is OK, and as long as I get good starts, I think I can get good results.

“The important thing though is that I am really happy with the bike and how everything is going at the moment. I used race rubber in Superpole 1 and then qualifying tyres in Superpole 2 and 3. I feel very comfortable on race tyres and I am enjoying myself here. Today we started with the same base set-up as yesterday and just made minor adjustments throughout the day. Also, I tried to improve the way I ride the bike and get more out of it, but I am just so happy at the moment and cannot wait for the races.”

—  Ten Kate

Jonathan Rea will start tomorrow’s opening two races of the 2010 World Superbike championship from the second row of the grid after setting the seventh fastest time in this afternoon’s Superpole qualifying session at Phillip Island, Australia.

In much cooler conditions than yesterday, the 23-year-old Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider from Northern Ireland saved his allocated qualifying tyres for the final two Superpole sessions, but experienced no significant improvement in grip or subsequent lap times.

Rea’s team-mate, Max Neukirchner, was eliminated after the first Superpole session after setting the 17th fastest time, but the German rider remains positive that improvements made in his CBR1000RR’s set-up will stand him in good stead for tomorrow’s two 22-lap races around the 4.445km Phillip Island circuit.

Jonathan Rea – P7, 1’31.912s
We’ve struggled all weekend to get the most out of putting a new tyre in the bike. We had exactly the same this afternoon in Superpole when we got no more grip from the qualifiers than we had from the race tyre. Of course, I’m frustrated and quite disappointed to be starting from the second row. However, the positive thing is that our race pace has been improving steadily and I’m really excited that the racing finally starts properly tomorrow. I’m looking forward to getting amongst it, pushing to the front and seeing what we can do.

Max Neukirchner – P17, 1’32.782s
I know it looks bad, and it’s not a great starting position, but I’m actually feeling quite positive. We made some improvements this morning and I went faster as well as being able to improve on the life of the tyre. We will make some more changes to follow that direction and try these in warm-up tomorrow morning. We have two long races tomorrow and I’m feeling very fit and positive. I don’t think I can win but it shouldn’t be so bad if we can keep making the progress we made today.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager
The race pace for both riders is looking well and we’ve definitely moved forward there. On the qualifiers during Superpole we couldn’t go any faster, however, and that’s a little frustrating to deal with. For the race, with Jonathan, we should be in a position to fight for a podium. On Max’s side we’ve been changing the bike a lot – especially at the rear. For sure, tomorrow we need to try some other settings during warm-up because we’re too far off at the moment.

— Triumph Report

Team ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing is looking forward to tomorrow’s race after David Salom and Chaz Davies both qualified in the second row, while Jason Di Salvo and Sebastien Charpentier will start from row 3 and 4 respectively. As a consequence, each rider will have his own different goal for the first race of the season.

David Salom, who was forced to remain in the pit due to a bureaucratic mistake found a better feeling with the bike after the good performance displayed in this week’s test. Chaz Davies also did well and improved session after session. However, the Brit tends to perform at his best in race and the second row he took is like a springboard for him. Jason Di Salvo made some progress as well and managed to improve his time. The American , who is at his debut on both track and bike, will try to gather as much information as possible on the machine’s behaviour without setting any particular goal for the race itself.

Same goal for the two times champion Sebastien Charpentier , who is making a comeback after two years. The Frenchman is still trying to get a better feeling with the bike. Some small changes will be made and will be tested in warm up which should enable him have more sensitivity in the fast corners but the race atmosphere itself should help him overcome this obstacle.

DAVID SALOM | Triumph Daytona 675 | 6th in 1’34.873: “I’m very happy with the sixth place especially after I wasn’t allowed to race yesterday. I felt at ease on the bike right from the beginning and Phillip Island is a good track for my racing style. I had a series of fast laps and got really close to my best time so I hope to get a good start and score a good result”.

CHAZ DAVIES | Triumph Daytona 675 | 7th in 1’34.939: “I further improved my time from yesterday. I posted my fastest time with nobody on the track today, while yesterday I set my best time in the wake of Lascorz. I still have to improve my feeling with the bike’s front end but I nonetheless aim high tomorrow”.

JASON DI SALVO | Triumph Daytona 675 | 12th in 1’35.623: “I improved myself today as well but there’s still work to be done setupwise in warm up tomorrow. I am however confident I can get a good result”.

SEBASTIEN CHARPENTIER | Triumph Daytona 675 | 13th in 1’35.860 : “I don’t feel much stability in the faster sections of the track but in others I set similar times to Salom’s and Davies’. I’ll try to get more sensitivity in the faster corners in warm up tomorrow. However, I do need some time to perform at my best after two years of absence. I made some major progress nonetheless compared to the Infront Motorsports test at Portimao”.