Portimao World Superbike: Saturday (updated regularly)

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Ben Spies

PORTIMAO, Portugal (Oct. 24, 2009) – Yamaha Superbike rider Ben Spies turned in a record-setting ride in qualifying Saturday at the Portimao Circuit in Portugal. Spies won the pole and set the track record with a time of one minute, 42.412-seconds on his Yamaha R1 for the final round of the World Superbike Championship. The pole was his 11th of the season, a new single season World Superbike record, breaking the old mark set by Doug Polen set in 1991.

The pole gives Spies, the 25-year-old World Superbike rookie and three-time American Superbike Champion from Dallas, the upper hand over points leader Noriyuki Haga going into Sunday’s final pair of World Superbike races. He trails his Japanese rival Haga by 10 points with the championship battle going down to the final event. Haga, riding a factory Ducati, had a sub-par qualifying outing and will start tenth in both races Sunday.

Spies improved his qualifying time in each of the three Superpole sessions. In the first session he was third with a 1:43.532, behind Brit Jonathan Rea and Max Biaggi of Italy. In the second session Spies moved to the top of the charts, chopping nearly a second off his time, turning a 1:42.58. In the final session Spies waited until the closing lap before blazing around the 4.4–kilometer (2.7-mile), 12-turn circuit in a record-setting time of 1:42.412.

“I’m glad I was able to take the pole, it’s a good first step,” Spies said. “The team focused so much on race set up this weekend, that we were a little behind at first in Superpole. It took me a session to really get focused on holding the thing wide open. Once I got up to speed everything felt great on the bike. My pole lap wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough to get the job done.

“Winning the record for the most poles in a season is a great accomplishment, but I really can’t enjoy that right now. I’m looking at having to win both races tomorrow [Sunday] to win this championship. That’s where my focus is right now.”

Doug Polen, reached by phone, said he was happy for Spies even though his record was broken.

“That pole record held for 18 years, it was about time someone broke it,” said Polen, who like Spies also grew up in the Dallas area. “If anyone was going to break the record I’m glad it was Ben. I’ve watched him since he was racing mini-bikes and I’ve never seen a rider with the kind of work ethic he has. Ben has amazing talent on a motorcycle no doubt, but he got to where he is by working harder than his competition. I don’t feel bad at all losing a record to a guy like him.”

In addition to his single-season pole record Spies also moved into seventh on the all-time World Superbike pole wins list.

Spies explained the strategy for Sunday was simple.

“I’m hoping for a couple of clean races tomorrow,” he said. “Ideally I’d like to get out front early to avoid any problems, but that’s always a tough thing to do. I’m in a little better position with Nori having a bad qualifying session, but he’s good about getting through the field early in a race, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him working up to the front. I’m very focused on what I need to do. I’ve been in pressure situations before and I enjoy the challenge of riding my best when everything is on the line.”

When asked how the pressure of tomorrow’s races compares to 2007 when Spies trailed Mat Mladin going into the final race and the AMA Superbike Championship amounted to a single-race showdown.

“There’s no comparison,” Spies said somewhat surprisingly. “I felt much more pressure in ’07 than I do now. I’m not sure why, but I really haven’t felt much pressure at all coming into this weekend. I think coming in here as a rookie and accomplishing what I’ve been able to accomplish, knowing where I’m going next season, being very comfortable with my team, the motorcycle, this track, all of that has made me a lot more relaxed now than I was then.”

This could be the final World Superbike race for Spies. He recently signed a two-year contract to race with Yamaha in MotoGP.

In the U.S. both legs of World Superbike from Portimao will be shown back to back tomorrow (Sunday, Oct. 25) starting at 3:00 pm Eastern on SPEED.

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

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Stiggy Racing Honda

Stiggy Racing Honda rider Leon Haslam secured a strong fifth place on the second day of qualifying for the ultimate round of the World Superbike Championship at Portimao in Portugal today.

Leon who started the weekend at a strong pace encountered technical issues in the last minutes of qualifying yesterday and didn’t get enough laps out around the 4.592km track on his CBR 1000RR, finishing in a 10th place. Luckily Leon quickly found his pace again in today’s sessions and worked his way up through the afternoon’s three12-minute Superpole shoot-outs to finally take a second row start for tomorrow’s 22-lap races.

Leon Haslam - P5 - 1′43.523s:
“I am pretty happy and we made some good progress through the weekend. We are lacking a little bit in the high RPM, so we are losing 0.1 or 0.2 seconds per lap, but we have only been 0.1 or 0.2 off the quickest all weekend. In that last Superpole we were frustrated because we ended up going back to the old qualifying tyre. It had dropped off a bit but it was still better than the new one. But I’m still quite happy to be fifth and on the second row.”

Johan Stigefelt - Team Manager:
“I am really happy and it is fantastic to come to the end of the season and make it into the final Superpole, and Leon finished fifth, which is great. We were hoping for a front row but the second qualifying tyre he used in the last section was not good enough so he did his best time on a used qualifier. We are looking forward to tomorrow as Leon is very strong, one of the most consistent riders, and I’m sure he can challenge for the podium.”

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Ducati Xerox

Portimao (Portugal), Saturday 24th October 2008: championship contender Noriyuki Haga and his Ducati Xerox squad experienced a difficult day, and a difficult Superpole, at the Portimao circuit today, closing in tenth position, while Michel Fabrizio and his Ducati 1198 had more success, qualifying on the front row, alongside Spies (Yamaha), Byrne (Ducati) and Rea (Honda), for tomorrow’s crucial races.

In second qualifying this morning both Noriyuki and Michel continued to work to improve the rear setting of their Ducati 1198 machines, with both able to improve on yesterday’s qualifying times despite an apparent lack of rear grip. Michel recorded the second fastest time of the session, ducking under the 1m44 barrier several times, to be beaten only by Jonathan Rea (Honda) while Noriyuki concluded the session in fifth place, improving on yesterday’s performance and securing himself safe passage into the afternoon’s Superpole.

Early afternoon free practice passed without incident, Michel and Noriyuki finished in second and eighth place respectively. Noriyuki and Michel then exited in the first mini-Superpole sessione on race tyres, thw two factory riders doing enough to progress easily on to the second phase, having closed phase one in tenth (Michel) and eleventh (Nori) position. Qualifying tyres were then mounted for the second session and in his first exit Michel registered the fifth fastest time. He didn’t re-exit and so his fifth position dropped to eighth. Noriyuki, having consistently lost time in the third split throughout today, was unable to put together a fast lap in this second Superpole with his best time leaving him in tenth place, which positions him on the third row for tomorrow’s all important races. Michel, with a new qualifier ready for the final Superpole phase made one very fast lap to project himself into first position, a position he maintained until the last minute when both Yamaha’s Spies and Byrne on the Ducati lapped faster, meaning third place on the grid for the Italian rider tomorrow.

Michel Fabrizio 1m43.0s
“Of course I’m satisfied to be on the front row but it wasn’t easy this afternoon. Ben really got the best out of the qualifying tyre while I found it more difficult to work with; there are also many strong guys out there this weekend. Anyway, I’ll start from third and, bearing in mind that the championship is at stake, I will do everything to get ahead of Ben tomorrow, to help my team-mate Nori in the fight for the title. It will be hard for him, starting from the third row but we will see tomorrow; he is an extremely strong and expert rider. For me it might be difficult to stick with Ben, especially in the first laps, but I feel prepared. There’s also another Ducati on the front row; it’s good to have Shakey here too and I hope that he can be part of tomorrow’s battle for the win.”

Noriyuki Haga 1m43.3s
“Of course it is a disadvantage to be on the third row of the grid but I’ve won races from that position in the past and I know that anything can happen on race day. The problem is that all day today I’ve had trouble turning and, at the same time, I’m not happy with the level of rear grip. We used the two qualifying tyres in the second Superpole session and they gave me better grip but didn’t help me to move the bike into the corners any more easily. So I’m consistently losing time in the final split and that’s the real problem. We must change something for tomorrow so I’m talking to my engineer and we’ll see tomorrow morning if we’ve found a solution that will enable me to fight for the race and title wins.”

TIMES: 1. Spies (Yamaha) 1’42.4; 2. Byrne (Ducati) 1’42.9; 3. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1’43.0; 4, Rea (Honda) 1’43.1; 5. Haslam (Honda) 1’43.5; 6. Biaggi (Aprilia) 1’43.5; 7. Nieto (Ducati) 1’43.5; 4….. 10. Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1’43’3

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World Superbike

The final Superpole session of 2009 went the same way as ten others this season as Ben Spies made it 11 out of 14 for the Yamaha World Superbike team, an outright record for the series, at the Algarve Circuit in Portugal. The Texan’s lap time of 1 minute 42.412 seconds was almost one second under last year’s best lap set by Troy Bayliss. Spies thus becomes the number 1 favourite for the race wins tomorrow, seeing as his chief rival for the title, points leader Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) will only start from row 3 of the grid with the tenth quickest time, after not making the cut in Superpole 2. Partial consolation for Ducati came from the performance by privateer Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) and Haga’s team-mate Michel Fabrizio, who were in second and third place respectively. The front row was completed by Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda).

Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda) overhauled Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) at the end of the session to take an excellent fifth place, after the Italian had crashed out in the pre-Superpole free session. Fonsi Nieto (DFX Ducati) and Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad) will line up alongside on the second row, while WSB newcomer Sylvian Guintoli made an excellent debut with eleventh place on the Suzuki Alstare machine.

Ben Spies: “We’ve been working under the radar all weekend on a lot of different things. Superpole was good for us, we kept pushing as hard as we could. Unfortunately Nori is back on the third row but we need anything we can get for track position. But it’s not just about me and Nori tomorrow, there are other guys, we’ll just run our own race and give it everything we’ve got to try and win both these things.”

Shane Byrne: “I’m delighted to be back on the front row, it seems like it’s been forever. We actually used both of our qualifying tyres before the last section and then a 42.99 came up on my dash and I was so tired that I closed the throttle on the straight and I had one more lap to go! Hopefully we can have a good weekend here and see what happens for next year.”

Michel Fabrizio: “It was very hot and difficult in qualifying today. For the race I think the bike is OK, but in qualifying it was not so good. My race pace is quite similar to Ben Spies’s but I know he is very fast. Hopefully also Shane can get into the battle. It’s very important for me to do a good race for Ducati tomorrow and for sure I’ll try and give a hand to my team-mate.”

Jonathan Rea: “Twelve months ago I made my Superbike debut here and I didn’t like the track. I think I must be getting worse because I was third on the grid last year. But we’ve had a good weekend so far and I’ve got a really good feeling with the bike.”

Times: 1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′42.412; 2. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1′42.996; 3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′43.015; 4. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′43.126; 5. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′43.523; 6. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′43.526; 7. Nieto F. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1′43.553; 8. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′44.719; 9. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1′43.240; 10. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1′43.377; 11. Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′43.406; 12. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1′43.461; 13. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′43.671; 14. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′43.717; 15. Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′44.050; 16. Baiocco M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′45.439

Supersport
Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) scored the first pole position of his Supersport career at the Portuguese team’s home circuit. The Irish rider needed to put together a blistering lap to keep Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) at bay, and he did just that with a time of 1 minute 44.836 seconds, a new circuit record. The points leader however was less than a tenth behind the man he will be trying to outpace tomorrow for the title. Italian Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini) put in a great run for third on the grid, his second best result of the season following pole at Misano. The front row is completed by Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who held off Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com) by just four-thousandths of a second. Once again Garry McCoy produced another positive performance, taking the Be1 Racing Triumph to the second row, which also includes home favourite Miguel Praia (Parkalgar Honda) and Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport).

Times: 1. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1′44.836; 2. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1′44.909; 3. Pirro M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1′45.087; 4. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1′45.157; 5. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1′45.161; 6. McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 1′45.366; 7. Praia M. (POR) Honda CBR600RR 1′45.436; 8. Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1′45.742

Superstock 1000
With a new lap record of 1 minute 46”316 seconds, Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda) clinched the pole position, his second of the season, in the Superstock 1000 qualifying session. The Frenchman managed to hold off the attacks from the newly-crowned champion Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox), who was just 56/1000ths off the pace. The other two riders on the front row are Austrian Renè Mahr (TKR Suzuki) and Frenchman Sylvain Barrier (Garnier Yamaha). Claudio Corti (Suzuki Alstare) is in fifth place on the grid, with another of the protagonists of the season Javi Fores (Kawasaki Pedercini) alongside.

Times: 1. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′46.316; 2. Simeon X. (BEL) Ducati 1098R 1′46.372; 3. Mähr R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′46.516; 4. Barrier S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′46.943; 5. Corti C. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′47.363; 6. Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′47.379; 7. Baz L. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R11′47.417; 8. Lammert D. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′47.622

Superstock 600
Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Trasimeno) and Vincent Lonbois (MTM Yamaha) will start from the front row, with the other title challengers Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda) on row 2 and Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno) on row 3. These four riders will fight it out for the European Superstock 600 title tomorrow. Pole position, the first of the season, went to Eddi La Marra (Ten Kate Honda), while fourth place went to Norway’s Fredrik Karlsen (VD Heyden Yamaha). Young French talent Florian Marino (Race Junior Honda), winner at Magny-Cours, set the seventh quickest time.

Times: 1. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1′48.445; 2. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1′48.481; 3. Lonbois V. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 1′48.497; 4. Karlsen F. (NOR) Yamaha YZF R6 1′48.820; 5. Morelli N. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1′48.923; 6. Guarnoni J. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1′49.112; 7. Marino F. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1′49.272; 8. Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1′49.292