World Superbike Donington: Saturday (updated regularly)

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Yamaha

Yamaha World Superbike superstar Ben Spies showed more of his unbeatable talent today, flying through the three Superpole sessions with ease. Despite rain drops starting to fall as the third and final session got under way, the American rider hit the track with an incredible display of speed and put down a pole grabbing lap less than two tenths off the Best Lap record put down in the dry by Fabrizio in the previous session. He was the only rider to drop under the 1.30 mark in the final session. Spies enjoyed a good qualifying session earlier in the day, perfecting his race set up and tyre choice, and finishing in third, just two tenths from session leader Fabrizio. Spies time was just 1.1 seconds off Valentino Rossi’s 2007 qualifying time in the 2007 Donington MotoGP.

Team-mate Tom Sykes continued to show his potential today as he spent the majority of the second qualifying session in the top three, only dropping to sixth as the session drew to a close. Sykes started the Superpole sessions well, and went through to the second with ease. The second session saw him take what was thought to be a safe fifth place, only to be dropped to tenth at the last minute. With not enough time to get back out he missed out on the third and final session.

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1st, 1′29.846)
“It was a good Superpole session for us, we almost got caught out as I think I was the last one to leave the garage. As soon as I came out of the pit lane I could see the drops start to come so I had to really attack the warm up lap. I told myself to nail the first sector so I could relax a little bit in the back half in case it rained a bit more. The first sector was brilliant, in the second and third rain drops were coming so I wanted to be careful not to touch any paint down. It was good to get up there to the front as it’s a short start to turn one so it’s a good position for us. The bike is working great on race tyres as well so I’m looking forward to what will be an exciting race.”

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (10th, 1′30.229)
“A bit of a shame, obviously I’m not impressed, on the qualifier I ran wide on lap one a little bit and didn’t make it happen. It’s especially frustrating as looking at the times in Superpole three a front row start was definitely on the cards for me. We messed up a bit in session two, really disappointing as race pace is up there and I wanted a good clean start for tomorrow. We’re on row three so let’s see what happens. I’m going to have to dig deep and make some passes. The qualifying session was ok, we definitely have a fast race pace, if we can get away clean we are in with a good chance tomorrow.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“Another Superpole is great, it just gives us more confidence for tomorrow with Ben. Tom has also been making great improvements compared to the last races. I think tomorrow the results will depend a lot on the weather, it could be wet or dry. I really hope it’s dry as its always better to have a dry race, but whatever happens we are ready for both conditions.”

Circuit Length: 4023
Fastest Lap Ever: 1′29.846 (Ben Spies, 28/06/2009)
Last Years Winner: Ryuichi Kiyonari
2009 WSB Europe - Donington Park 27/06/2009
Superpole
Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time
1     Ben Spies     Yamaha     USA     1′29.846
2     Max Biaggi     Aprilia     ITA     1′30.080
3     Shane Byrne     Ducati     GBR     1′30.535
4     Shinya Nakano     Aprilia     JPN     1′30.671
5     Michel Fabrizio     Ducati     ITA     1′30.734
6     Noriyuki Haga     Ducati     JPN     1′31.023
7     Carlos Checa     Honda     ESP     1′31.342
8     Jakub Smrz     Ducati     CZE     1′34.797
9     Leon Haslam     Honda     GBR     1′30.159
10     Tom Sykes     Yamaha     GBR     1′30.229
11     John Hopkins     Honda     USA     1′30.272
12     Jonathan Rea     Honda     GBR     1′30.387
13     Gregorio Lavilla     Ducati     ESP     1′30.612
14     James Ellison     Yamaha     GBR     1′30.816
15     Troy Corser     BMW     AUS     1′30.916
17     Leon Camier     Yamaha     GBR     1′31.176

Qualifying 2
Pos.     Rider     Nat.     QUAL I     QUAL II
1     Michel Fabrizio     ITA     1′30.775     1′30.493
2     Noriyuki Haga     JPN     1′31.760     1′30.671
3     Ben Spies     USA     1′31.294     1′30.695
4     Jonathan Rea     GBR     1′32.103     1′30.782
5     Leon Haslam     GBR     1′31.191     1′30.803
6     Tom Sykes     GBR     1′31.838     1′30.957
7     Lorenzo Lanzi     ITA     1′31.705     1′30.961
8     Gregorio Lavilla     ESP     1′31.401     1′31.028
9     Max Biaggi     ITA     1′31.913     1′31.243
10     Shane Byrne     GBR     1′31.436     1′31.311
11     Ruben Xaus     ESP     1′32.186     1′31.352
12     John Hopkins     USA     1′32.007     1′31.382
13     Leon Camier     GBR     1′31.454     1′31.808
14     Shinya Nakano     JPN     1′32.188     1′31.457
15     James Ellison     GBR     1′31.890     1′31.476
29     David Checa     ESP     1′34.259     1′32.811

QUALIFYING 1 REPORT     27/06/2009
More pain for Crutchlow as he sets sensational pole
Yamaha World Supersport rider Cal Crutchlow set out to repeat his fortunes of Friday’s free practice in qualifying today, losing the front end at Mcleans for a spectacular crash. Undeterred the British rider stopped long enough to change leathers before heading out again and going straight back to the top of the time sheet. Crutchlow’s time was topped briefly by Laverty at the end of the session, however as the flag dropped he crossed the line to take pole back, setting a new Best Lap in the process.

Team-mate Fabien Foret had a less successful day. Having finished the morning’s free practice session in third position the French rider struggled to improve his time in qualifying, and was also held up on a couple of hot laps by other riders. As the session ended he had to settle for tenth on the grid and a fight ahead of him in tomorrow’s race.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1st, 1′31.701)
“It was a good enough for me to take pole. I went down in the session which was disappointing but other than that it was a good job. I think I could have gone a bit quicker to be honest but I was unlucky with other riders and the crash obviously held me up a bit! I’m going to relax now for the day and hopefully come out tomorrow fighting. Eugene is going to be a big threat again tomorrow so let’s see what happens.”

Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (10th, 1′33.182)
“The qualifying went not so well for me, I was in my hot lap and got blocked by another rider which annoyed me and really held me up. I’m starting from tenth tomorrow which is not ideal, but I’ve changed my approach to starting the sessions this weekend a bit so I hope it will help me get a good start tomorrow and make up some places.”

Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
“It was a difficult qualifying session for us, Cal was on the pace but he crashed again on a hot lap. Finally he was able to do another 31.7 so he has pole but still he’s injured. The bike is ready to race for sure and he’s showed everyone he’s fast but the race will be tough tomorrow. I expect Eugene will be up there as well. Fabien struggled a little bit, he did the same lap times as the morning practice where he was third but as a lot of riders improved in the afternoon we knew we had to do half a second faster. Unfortunately he was blocked in a hot lap which was a shame so he’s in tenth which is disappointing as we saw what he could do in the morning.”

Circuit Length: 4023
Fastest Lap Ever: 1′31.701 (Cal Crutchlow, 28/06/2009)
Last Years Winner: Joshua Brookes
2009 WSS Europe - Donington Park 27/06/2009

Qualifying 1
Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time
1     Cal Crutchlow     Yamaha     GBR     1′31.701
2     Eugene Laverty     Honda     GBR     1′32.222
3     Joan Lascorz     Kawasaki     ESP     1′32.481
4     Kenan Sofuoglu     Honda     TUR     1′32.818
5     Mark Aitchison     Honda     AUS     1′32.846
6     Garry McCoy     Triumph     AUS     1′32.879
7     Massimo Roccoli     Honda     ITA     1′33.062
8     Katsuaki Fujiwara     Kawasaki     JPN     1′33.120
9     Anthony West     Honda     AUS     1′33.143
10     Fabien Foret     Yamaha     FRA     1′33.182
11     Michele Pirro     Yamaha     ITA     1′33.283
12     Gianluca Nannelli     Triumph     ITA     1′33.365
13     Miguel Praia     Honda     POR     1′33.455
14     Danilo Dell’omo     Honda     ITA     1′33.476
15     Andrew Pitt     Honda     AUS     1′33.544
16     Hudson Kennaugh     Yamaha     RSA     1′33.590
29     Yannick Guerra     Yamaha     ESP     1′36.273

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Superbike World Championship

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) soon got back to his Superpole winning ways with his eighth pole of the year in nine races at Donington Park in the UK. The 24 year-old Texan was the only rider to dip under 1’30” in the final run, which was conditioned by a light rain shower that prevented his rivals from responding, and he ended up in the top slot with a time of 1 minute 29.846 seconds. After a difficult weekend at Misano, the Aprilia Racing team had a superb qualifying day, with both of their riders getting onto the front row, Max Biaggi in second and Shinya Nakano in fourth. The final front row slot went to British rider Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati), who also had the satisfaction of being the first Ducati 1098 on the grid.

Ben Spies: “It was a good session for us, but we almost got caught out. I was one of the last to leave the garage and as soon as I went out of pit-lane I could see the drops starting to come, so I had to really attack the warm-up lap to make sure I got around and get relaxed in case it started raining. The first sector was brilliant, but then the rain started to come and I had to be careful not to touch the paint. It was good to get pole, this circuit has a short start for turn one so it’s good positioning. The bike’s working well on race tyres so we need a good start tomorrow.”

Max Biaggi: “In the last session I was really lucky because no one expected any drops and then it really started to rain. I started soon because I had nothing more to learn after what I had done in free practice and I thought I must put my head down and go as fast as I can. Second place is good for us, for tomorrow I’m quite OK, maybe not exactly the way I wanted to be but OK. It’s great to be here, I like this track, my bike could be a little bit better but I think I can go well tomorrow.”

Shane Byrne: “I think we got a little bit lucky because the bad weather came in quickly. Fortunately we got through the first Superpole session without using qualifying tyres, but I was kind of hopeful of a good result anyway. We’ve been doing a lot of work on both bikes this weekend and we ended up with them going in different directions, but I’m happy with the direction that we’ve been going since America and Misano. I’m delighted with getting the first front row of the season for myself and the team.”

Shinya Nakano: “Like Max said we had some luck today, but so far this is my best qualifying performance in Superbike. On Friday we were struggling but things went much better today and I am looking forward to racing here at the Donington Park track.”

The factory Ducati Xerox team had to settle for the second row, with Michel Fabrizio qualifying ahead of Noriyuki Haga in fifth place. In the second Superpole run the Italian powered to a new Donington Superbike best lap with an amazing time of 1 minute 29.664 seconds. The first Honda on the grid was the Hannspree Ten Kate version of Carlos Checa, who almost didn’t make it into Superpole after taking twentieth place in qualifying. Riders who failed to make the final session cut included Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda), by just 0.003 seconds, Tom Sykes (Yamaha World Superbike), the rapidly improving John Hopkins (Stiggy Racing Honda), and Misano winner Jonathan Rea Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). Both BMW men, Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus, easily made it into Superpole and will start from row 4, while British Superbike points leader Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha) had a disappointing session and could only qualify in 17th place.

Times: 1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′29.846; 2. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′30.080; 3. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R   1′30.535; 4. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′30.671; 5. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′30.734; 6. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1′31.023; 7. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1′31.342; 8. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1′34.797; 9. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′30.159; 10. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′30.229; 11. Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′30.272; 12. Rea J. (GBR)Honda CBR1000RR 1′30.387; 13. Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1′30.612; 14. Ellison J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′30.816; 15. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′30.916; 16. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1′31.12

World Supersport

Not even two crashes and a bone fracture in his left ankle following Friday practice could stop Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) from notching up his sixth pole position of the year in nine races. The points leader did not get off to the best start in this afternoon’s qualifying, crashing out for the second time this weekend, but he returned to the pits and a few minutes later was out on the track again to make his decisive move. The result was a new Donington Supersport circuit record in 1 minute 31.701 seconds. Such was Crutchlow’s domination that his nearest rival for the title, Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda), was half a second behind, with an excellent Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Provec) seven-tenths off the pace and the final front row man Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) over one second behind. Mark Aitchison (Honda Althea) was well up the grid in fifth place, ahead of Garry McCoy with the first of the Triumphs and Massimo Roccoli (Honda) once again up at the front on the Intermoto Czech Honda. Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport) could only manage the third row, while 2007 champion Andrew Pitt’s below-par weekend continued as the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda man starts from row 4.

Times: 1. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1′31.701; 2. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1′32.222; 3. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1′32.481; 4. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1′32.818; 5. Aitchison M. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1′32.846; 6. McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 1′32.879; 7. Roccoli M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1′33.062; 8. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1′33.120

Superstock 1000

The changeable weather conditions turned the Superstock 1000 qualifying session into an exciting affair. A rapidly drying track caught out several teams and riders and there were a number of illustrious victims, including two of the title favourites Claudio Corti (Alstare Suzuki) and Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda), who failed to come into the pits to change from wets to slicks. The Italian and the Frenchman will line up side-by-side on row 6 of the grid for a race that promises to be an uphill struggle. Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox) did make an early tyre change and was rewarded with pole position, his third in a row. The Belgian is favourite for the win tomorrow and has a chance to pull ahead in the title battle. Alongside Simeon can be found Frenchman Loris Baz (MRS Yamaha), Sylvain Barrier (Garnier Yamaha) and Javi Fores (Kawasaki Pedercini), while Italian Davide Giugliano was sixth quickest on the MV Agusta.

Times: 1. Simeon X. (BEL) Ducati 1098R 1′38.120; 2. Baz L. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′39.723; 3. Barrier S. (FRA)Yamaha YZF R1 1′39.860; 4. Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′40.690; 5. Lussiana M. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′41.248; 6. Giugliano D. (ITA) MV Agusta F4 312 R 1′41.280; 7. Schouten R. (NED) Yamaha YZF R1 1′41.664; 8. Black G. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′41.766

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Yamaha World Superbike

Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies got straight down to business at Donington today, with some rain falling in the second session. His track knowledge gained at last year’s MotoGP clearly paid off as he ended the first free practice session of the day at the top of the time sheets ahead of British Superbike wildcard Leon Camier on the Airwaves Yamaha. The qualifying session saw Spies using old tyres from the morning’s free practice while he worked on a good set up for the weekend. He finished the first qualifying session of the weekend in third, just half a second behind leader Fabrizio.

Team-mate Tom Sykes was clearly happy to be on a circuit he knows well and was regularly in the top five in the free practice session whilst setting up his Yamaha R1 for the Donington circuit for the first time, eventually finishing in eighth position. The afternoon’s qualifying session saw him repeatedly in the top three however a change of set up in the last ten minutes to try different settings saw him drop to end the session in 11th.

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (3rd, 1′31.294)
“today went well for us. We started out with a good first session. The second session started out wet, we tried a very different set up to the one we used in Misano and straight away we were quick, when the track was wet we were second quickest which was good. When it dried out we put on tyres that we had used in the first free practice session and put race distance on them. They were heat cycled and already had a lot of laps on them from this morning and we were still right there and running 1’31s easily so the bike’s working really well. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (11th, 1′31.838)
“today we’ve made big steps, but I was a little bit annoyed that we made the top three in the qualifying session then with ten minutes to go I came in to make some changes which didn’t work. By the time I was back out I didn’t want to come back in so I put my head down and tried my best. I knew if I’d stayed with the setting from before I think we could have improved by at least 5/10ths plus. It’s not where I wanted to be in first qualifying so I’ll have to put my head down in qualifying tomorrow for a few laps just to put a good time in. overall I think things are progressing and I certainly think we’ll be there at the end of the weekend.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“Pretty good for the first day. For sure the rain compromised it a bit, so we were unable to try some things we had planned but in the end we finished close to the front so we are still confident we can do another good result. Let’s see what the weather brings tomorrow, both riders are confident and keen to get back on the track in the morning.”

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Stiggy Racing Honda

Leon Haslam opened the first day of provisional qualifying second fastest in his chase to secure a front row start for his home race at the 4.023km Donington Park.

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Ducati Xerox

Donington Park (UK), Saturday 28th June: today was once again conditioned by the British weather and unfortunately the Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio had to complete the final phase of today’s Superpole under a light rain. For tomorrow races the two Ducati men, on board their Ducati 1198s, will line up on the grid next to each other in fifth (Fabrizio) and sixth (Haga) position.

Although the Superbike riders woke up to another grey and cloudy day, the weather fortunately did not impede them in the morning’s first qualifying session and all of the strongest players were able to improve on yesterday’s lap times. Michel Fabrizio, the only rider to duck under 1m31 yesterday, continued to progress today and closed the session at the top of the timesheets, three tenths of a second faster than the best time he recorded in first qualifying. Today’s forty-five minute session also proved to be more positive for Haga who, after the problems experienced yesterday, got back on the right road this morning and, mid-session, put in a few very fast laps to record in the process the second fastest time, just two tenths off team-mate Fabrizio’s pace.

In the afternoon the first two mini-Superpole sessions took place in the dry and both Noriyuki and Michel passed from the first to the second and then to the final phase without difficulty. Michel recorded a new lap record in the second phase, lapping in 1m29.6s. Of the eight riders remaining in the third and final session, those who exited the pits immediately gained a small advantage as the rain then began, preventing the Ducati Xerox riders from pushing without taking risks. The technicians declared themselves satisfied with the performance of Haga and Fabrizio today; the riders will line up in fifth (Michel) and sixth (Noriyuki) place on the grid tomorrow, alongside Byrne on Team Sterilgarda’s 1198 in third place, and Czech rider Smrz on the Ducati of Team Guandalini eighth.

Michel Fabrizio 1m30.7s

“It was a pity it started to rain right at that moment, in the last part of the Superpole, but I did my best and starting from the second row shouldn’t be too much of a problem. For tomorrow I’d say that we’re sorted with regard to the race tyre and as far as the qualifiers we used today are concerned it didn’t go badly. I wanted to get under 1m30 and in the second Superpole I managed that, breaking the lap record in the process. Tomorrow we have to see what the weather will do, and then based on the track temperature, we’ll decide which rear tyre we’ll use to try and get back on the podium again.”

Noriyuki Haga 1m31.0s

“We found a good solution today for the setting of my 1198 and I considerably improved my lap times. We just need to decide on the race tyre. The choice comes down to which rear, because there are two quite similar solutions, but we need to wait and see and decide tomorrow based on the track temperature. I just hope that track conditions tomorrow are not damp but either totally dry or totally wet. In the final Superpole this afternoon I could have pushed harder but to tell the truth I didn’t want to risk a crash; some of the guys made some fast laps but I preferred not to take risks and so will start tomorrow in sixth.”

TIMES (Superpole): 1. Spies (Yamaha) 1m29.8s; 2. Biaggi (Aprilia) 1m30.0s; 3. Byrne (Ducati) 1m30.5s; 4. Nakano (Aprilia) 1m30.6s; 5. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m30.7s; 6. Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1m31.0s; 7. Checa (Honda) 1m31.3s; 8. Smrz (Ducati) 1m34.7s

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Ben Spies

CASTLE DONINGTON, England (June 27, 2009) – Ben Spies won his eighth Superpole in nine events Saturday aboard his factory WSBK Yamaha R1 at the venerable Donington Park. Spies clocked a one-minute, 29.846-second lap on the challenging 2.5-mile, 15-turn circuit to secure the top starting position for both of Sunday’s World Superbike races.

Donington’s Superpole marks a return to the number one qualifying spot for Spies after having his record-setting Superpole streak of seven straight ended last week in Misano, Italy.

Coming into Donington second-ranked Spies is making every effort to close in on Ducati’s Nori Haga, who leads the championship by 48 points.

Spies was near the front in all three segments of Donington’s Superpole. After the first session he was second to Aprilia’s Max Biaggi, just 5-100ths back. In session two Michel Fabrizio topped the charts on his Ducati over Spies. In the final session, whittled down to the top eight riders, Spies came on strong and was the only rider to dip into the one minute, 29-second bracket. Spies’ 1:29.846 was two-tenths better than second-place qualifier Biaggi. Shane Byrne and Shinya Nakano round out the front-row starters.

Spies said he made his fast lap in the nick of time.

“It was great to get back to winning Superpole,” Spies said. “I got out on the track that last session a little late and started seeing raindrops on my visor. I got up to speed as fast as I could and tried keeping it off the painted lines and luckily everything worked out and I was able to get the fast time.”

Spies said the team is still seeking a little better race set up, but he feels positive on his chances to run up front Sunday.

“The crew is doing a great job,” he said. “They have a fire lit under them and are as hungry as I am at getting up there to challenge for the championship. I’m so comfortable on the bike right now. I seem to be able to put it precisely where I want it lap after lap, and that’s a good feeling. I went faster today than I did on the GP bike last year, so that gives me a lot of confidence. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going into Sunday.”

Donington is one of the few tracks on the World Superbike calendar where Spies has raced. He rode with Suzuki’s MotoGP squad in last year’s British Grand Prix.

In the U.S. both World Superbike races from Donington Park can be watched back to back on SPEED tomorrow (Sunday, June 28) starting at 3:00 pm.

Ben Spies is sponsored by Yamaha, HJC, Alpinestars, Specialized and Parts Europe.