World Superbike Magny-Cours: Pre-Race (updated regularly)

NEWEST AT TOP

Yamaha World Superbike

Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies was back on form today, working up speed through the Superpole sessions to end the final heat with an incredible lap, smashing last year’s record by nearly seven tenths and leaving the other qualifying riders nearly five tenths of a second behind. The ten poles by Spies mean he has now equaled Doug Polen’s 1991 record for the number of pole position starts in a season. Spies also enjoyed a productive earlier qualifying session, continuing to fine tune the set up for tomorrow’s two races, he ended in second behind Michel Fabrizio.

Tom Sykes had worked solidly through qualifying, hitting ninth position by midway. As the session drew to a close he ended with a provisional 13th on the grid in advance of qualifying. An unfortunate crash in free practice in the afternoon session deprived him of his number one bike, throwing the British rider off balance for the Superpole heats. Despite the setback Sykes still made it through to the second Superpole session and will start tomorrow’s two races from 14th position on the grid.

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (1st, 1′37.709)
“The Superpole lap was a great lap, we’ve spent the weekend and the qualifying sessions working more on race tyres and fuel loads and really looking to make sure the bike is ready come Sunday. Superpole was the first time we really got down to banging out a lap and it was a good one. It’s good to see Johnny is up there again, it’s pretty much the same four guys as last time so it should be a good race. I don’t think anybody is going to be getting away and I think it will be settled in the last few laps. I’m pretty confident with the bike so I’m happy going into Sunday.”

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (14th, 1′39.361)
“It was a tough day today. We were making good progress in the qualifying session, and were finding improvements to the bike. Unfortunately in the free practice I had a very strange crash, I’m not sure why it happened at all. When we came out on the second bike the set up was completely different and so it was a struggle to get back on the pace. We don’t have an ideal start position from the grid but if we can get off the line well, we can get in there and fight for the front.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
” After yesterday we found some good improvements with the bike and Ben managed a really incredible lap, but most importantly we’ve found a really good set up for the race and our tyre choices are ready as well. Tomorrow will be a really tough race but we will be part of the front group and fighting for the win. Unfortunately Tom crashed during the free practice session and his second bike had a very different set up, so he didn’t have as much confidence as with the first bike. He did his best and did manage to achieve the second qualifying session. It will be a tough race for him tomorrow but we know he will give it 100%.”

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Stiggy Racing Honda

Leon, who was on the pace right from the start this weekend, continued his progress throughout the second day. Picking-up where he left off yesterday by performing strongly in the second and final qualifying, with a lap time of 1′39.149s, he took a steady fifth place. That result firmly moved him through to the afternoon’s three Superpole knockout sessions. In SP1 Leon yet again proved his strength by setting the fastest lap time using a race tyre, with a lap of 1′38.770s. Going out in the second shoot-out on a fresh qualifying tyre Haslam struggled, as he got caught up behind another rider, being unable to use the full potential of his tyre. Still in the running as the seventh fastest rider moving into the last and final session Haslam went out again on a used qualifier to finally take a sixth place and as a result will start from a second row in tomorrow’s races.

West took more than a second off his fastest time set in yesterday’s first free practice, improving significantly by finishing in 15th place in the second free practice session this morning. The Australian continued his development onboard his Honda CBR600RR in the afternoon’s lone qualifying session, ending up in 16th place on the grid ahead of tomorrow’s 22-lap race.

Leon Haslam – P6 -1’38.625s
“Overall I am happy because we did the first Superpole session on a race tyre and we got a 1’38.7, and felt comfortable doing it. I didn’t get a free lap in the second session on my first qualifying tyre, so I had to go back in and get another qualifier. So we had to do the final Superpole session on a used qualifier, and that meant we couldn’t push for a front row time. Our aim was to make sure we started on the front two rows and we have a good race set-up, so our confidence is high.”

Anthony West – P16 – 1′42.954s
“Yeah today was not so good. Although better than the last race at Imola, so I guess that’s an improvement in it’self. We tried some new things on the bike today that gave us some improvements but also some that got worse. But all-in-all we managed to improve the overall feeling for the bike which was a good step. I think I’ll do pretty well in the race tomorrow, if I can manage a good start and a strong first couple of laps. It will not be easy for sure but I’ll push my hardest to achieve a good result.”

Johan Stigefelt – Team Manager:
“Leon and his crew have done tremendously well again, they have performed from the start of the weekend and progressed throughout all the sessions. It feels great to be up there “on our own” after all the struggles we have been through these last weeks. Our target as always is to be in the first two rows for Sunday’s grid and I know Leon has the pace and consistency to run up front in tomorrow’s races. Anthony is not doing so bad here as it shows, its basically three corners were he loses all his time and that’s something we have to work on, for the rest I see a small improvement from his side personally and that makes me more happy. I really hope he can have a good race tomorrow to finish in a good spot, not only because of the close championship standings, but also as it would boost his confidence up and that’s definitely what he needs.”

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Ben Spies

MAGNY-COURS, France (Oct. 3, 2009) – Yamaha’s Ben Spies earned his 10th World Superbike Superpole of the season Saturday at Magny-Cours, clocking in a record-setting lap of one minute, 37.709 seconds on the 4.4 kilometer (2.7 mile), 18-turn circuit in central France. That makes Spies the first Superbike rider to break into the 1:37-bracket at Magny-Cours. Spies also tied the record for the most poles in a season.

Spies also ties Frankie Chili for seventh on the all-time World Superbike pole winners list. Chili competed for 12 seasons in World Superbike.

The Magny-Cours pole comes as somewhat of a surprise since Spies, not only had never been to the circuit before, but also had managed no better than fourth in Friday’s preliminary practice and qualifying.

“We were testing a lot of things on the bike and going with different fuel loads on Friday, so I wasn’t too concern that we weren’t topping the charts,” Spies explained. “I knew things were looking good because I was very comfortable on the bike and just clicked well with the circuit from the beginning.”

In Superpole 1 Spies gave little indication of the amazing lap to come. In that first session he improved ever so slightly, managing the third best time behind Leon Haslam and Jonathan Rea. It was in the second Superpole session where things began clicking for Spies. He went to the top of the charts edging ever closer to the 1:37 bracket by turning a 1:38.116. On his final flying lap of Superpole 3 Spies put everything together on his factory Yamaha R1 and blistered the track with his 1:37.709, putting him nearly a half-second faster than the next fastest rider Rea. Amazingly Spies said there might have been more in reserve.

“Even though that lap turned out to be a solid time, I could have gone faster,” Spies claimed. “I was going to put in one more lap after setting the fast time to try to seal the deal and in the first sector I went a 10th faster. Then I looked at my time and figured that it would be tough to beat so I went ahead and lifted.”

When asked how he felt being over 4-10th faster than the next rider Spies reply. “It definitely gives me confidence going into tomorrow’s race. I was more concerned about how Nori [Haga] was doing than anything else. That’s the gap I was keeping my eye on. On Sunday my goal is to go out there and get a pair of wins. There have been tracks were I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do that, but here I’m confident it’s well within my reach to take both races.”

The track record comes on the heels of an announcement that Spies will move to MotoGP next season with Tech 3 Yamaha and will ride as a wildcard in the final MotoGP of this season at Valencia.

“With all the news coming out this week it has been one of the most hectic weekends of my racing career,” Spies admitted. “It’s good and it bad. It’s exciting that all these things are happening, but it’s been a little hard to have a normal weekend and take the time to focus on what I need to do. I’ve been hounded by the press all weekend, but then again, it’s better than being ignored by them.”

Spies has now tied Doug Polen’s 1991 World Superbike record for the most poles in a season with 10 each. Earlier this year Spies became the only rider ever in the history of the series to take seven consecutive poles in a row.

In the U.S. both legs of World Superbike from Magny-Cours will be shown back to back tomorrow (Sunday, Oct. 4) starting at 3:00 pm Eastern on SPEED.

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

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World Superbike

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) equaled the record of 10 Superpoles in his rookie WSB season to line up in the front slot for the penultimate round of the championship at Magny-Cours. The Texan bolted on one of his two regulation Q-tyres in the final few minutes to stop the clocks with an incredible time of 1 minute 37.709 seconds, a new circuit best lap. Spies was the only rider to dip under the 1’38” mark, and his time left Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Rea trailing four-tenths of a second behind in second place. Third quickest time went to Italian Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), with Max Biaggi in fourth, the Aprilia Racing man knocking Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) off the front row of the grid with the final lap at his disposal.

Ben Spies: “It was a good lap, four-tenths ahead of the other guys, but we’ve been mainly working more on race tyres and fuel loads all weekend and trying to make the bike come good on Sunday and this was the first time we’ve really put in a really fast one. It’s going to be a good race, the same four guys as last time, and Biaggi’s very close, but I’m confident with the bike, unlike last week at Imola. It’s good Johnny’s up there again. I might buy him some dinner tonight to get him to help me out!”

Jonathan Rea: “We’re in a good position anyway this weekend with race pace and I’m really happy, the team is working well and the bike’s working excellent. It seems to be the same culprits up at the front again. We’ve been working on our starts all over the weekend, so we hope to get a good one. It’s our test circuit here but nothing is really relevant because the pace is so much faster than last year and this one is all about who hangs in there at the end.”

Michel Fabrizio: “I’m not very happy, this qualifying was very hard for me, my number 1 Ducati, which I was very happy with, broke down and the number two had a few problems and we had to change everything in a hurry and I wasn’t really able to challenge in Superpole but a front row is OK anyway. Tomorrow for sure I will try for the win, if not I should have stayed stay at home, but then we’ll see how things go during the race”

Max Biaggi: “It was a good performance and we are quite happy with the result. We have made a nice improvement from yesterday and today was a real improvement with the pace. The Aprilia is working better than before so now we are almost set up where we should be and tomorrow we are in the race for the win.”

Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda) produced another storming performance to line up in sixth place behind Haga, while the surprise of the day came from Spain’s Fonsi Nieto (Ducati DFX) in seventh, his best result of the season. The second row of the grid was completed by Troy Corser, his BMW again up in the front rows after the disappointment of Imola. Karl Muggeridge (Suzuki Alstare) had an encouraging Superpole session to end up on row 3, while Leon Camier finished his first Superpole on his Aprilia debut with 16th quickest time.

Times: 1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′37.709; 2. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′38.191; 3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′38.196; 4. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′38.235; 5. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1′38.365; 6. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′38.625; 7. Nieto F. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1′38.670; 8. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′39.114; 9. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1′38.831; 10. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R   1′38.844; 11. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′38.851; 12. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1′38.924; 13. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′39.148; 14. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′39.361; 15. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1′39.444; 16. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′39.703

Supersport
Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) echoed his fellow Yamaha Superbike rider’s performance with another pole position in Supersport, the British rider taking his tenth pole of the year in 13 rounds and his fifth in a row. Cal was also the only rider to get under the 1’41” mark, lapping six-tenths quicker than the previous record, in 1 minute 41.543 seconds, but he had to wait until the last couple of minutes to grab the pole as Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com) had been quickest until then. The other two front row men were Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda), Crutchlow’s rival in the title fight. Fifth place went to a positive Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini), despite a harmless crash at the end of the session. Behind can be found French rider Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport), with Katsuaki Fujiwara (Kawasaki Motocard.com) and Mark Aitchison (Honda Althea) completing the second row.

Times: 1. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1′40.980; 2. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1′41.146; 3. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1′41.253; 4. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1′41.562; 5. Pirro M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1′41.720; 6. Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1′41.943; 7. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1′41.956; 8. Aitchison M. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1′42.136

Superstock 1000
Everything went according to plan in Superstock 1000 qualifying for Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox), who scored his fifth pole position of the season. The points leader, who needs just five points tomorrow to clinch the title, was the only rider to dip under 1’42”, with a time of 1 minute 41.722 seconds. French rider Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda) put in a good run to take the second place on the grid, and he will be flanked by Ayrton Badovini (Aprilia JIR), once again up at the front one week after Imola. The first row is completed by another Frenchman, Sylvain Barrier (Garnier Yamaha). It will be a row 2 start instead for Claudio Corti (Suzuki Alstare), Simeon’s only rival for the title.

Times: 1. 19 Simeon X. (BEL) Ducati 1098R 1′41.722; 2. 21 Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′42.053; 3. 81 Badovini A. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′42.168; 4. 20 Barrier S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′42.256; 5. 71 Corti C. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′42.399; 6. 7 Mähr R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′42.698; 7. 112 Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′42.701; 8. Antonelli A. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′42.809

Superstock 600
European Superstock 600 qualifying went the way of Marco Bussolotti, with the Yamaha Trasimeno man grabbing the top slot right at the end of a tough battle for pole. Bussolotti set a quickest time of 1 minute 45.547 seconds, but two-tenths off last year’s quickest time set by Loris Baz. Alongside him on the front row will be Britain’s Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda), who is also still in with a shot at the title, while the top 2 in the championship, Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno) and Vincent Lonbois (MTM Yamaha) line up in eighth and fifth respectively. Imola winner Eddi La Marra (Honda Lorini) qualified seventh, but will try and repeat last week’s result, while two more contenders for the win will be front-row starters Fredrik Karlsen (VD Heyden Yamaha) and Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Yamaha).

Times: 1. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1′45.547; 2. Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1′45.663; 3. Karlsen F. (NOR) Yamaha YZF R6 1′45.808; 4. Guarnoni J. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1′45.818; 5. Lonbois V. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 1′46.088; 6. Egea S. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1′46.115; 7. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1′46.251; 8. Petrucci D. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1′46.275

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Ducati Xerox

Magny-Cours (Francia), Saturday 3rd October 2009: after a difficult Superpole for the two ducati Xerox rider Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio, both declare themselves satisfied with the results that will see them line up in third position (Michel) and fifth position (Noriyuki) on tomorrow’s grid at Magny-Cours.

The morning’s second qualifying session took place on a cooler track (22°C) but this did not prevent the majority of riders from improving on the times set in first qualifying. Yesterday’s trend continued when the fastest four riders on track were once again the leading riders in the championship standings. Fabrizio, as yesterday, was fast from the start of the session, and set the quickest time of the morning in the latter stages. Haga meanwhile carried out a mini long-run of eight laps, the first of which was his fastest lap of the session, completed in 1m38.726s, exactly the same time, to the thousandth of a second, as that set by rival Ben Spies on the Yamaha. Michel thus qualified for Superpole in first position (1m38.3s), with Noriyuki, Ben and Jonathan Rea all hot on his heels, all three having set best times of 1m38.7s.

In the early afternoon free practice session, shortened after a problem with Jakub Smrz’s machine caused a red flag, the ducati Xerox riders Haga and Fabrizio  finished in third and fifth place respectively.

Unfortunately, just a few minutes before the first Superpole session, Michel’s technicians identified a problem with the first bike and, together with his engineer Massimo Bartolini, Michel made the decision to exit with the second. Today both Noriyuki and Michel had some difficulties with the tyres, with both finding that the best level of grip came from the second of the two qualifiers available. Nori risked not passing to the third phase when he concluded the second phase in eighth place. Michel meanwhile chose not to use a qualifier, registering nonetheless a very fast lap to finish in sixth. In  the third and final Superpole session, while Haga only had one qualifier left, Fabrizio still had two to count ont. Nori improved his time with respect to the previous session, putting himself in second place, but in the last minutes Michel, Spies and Biaggi all went out once more with new tyres, registering faster times. The final result saw Michel close in third place and Noriyuki in fifth.

Michel Fabrizio 1m38.1s
“I’m very happy to be able to start from the front row again. A few minutes before Superpole we unfortunately found a problem with my first bike, the bike I’d been riding, and very comfortable with, up until then. So I had to go out with the second bike for the Superpole. It wasn’t perfect and the qualifiers didn’t give me the feeling that I expected but I did enough to assure myself of a place on the front row. Tomorrow won’t be at all easy for Nori and myself as Spies and Rea both have a great race pace.”

Noriyuki Haga 1m38.3s
“I prefer to start from fifth position than fourth because it might allow me to make a cleaner start and take a better line into the first corner. Over the weekend we’ve been working hard to sort the rear suspension in order to improve grip and we’re getting there, although we’ll make a few more changes tomorrow morning in the warm-up so as to be competitive to fight for the win. The first qualifier that I used in the Superpole didn’t help us much but the second was a bit better; I made a few small mistakes but the result isn’t too bad. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”

TIMES (Superpole): 1. Spies (Yamaha) 1’37.7; 2. Rea (Honda) 1’38.1; Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1’38.1; 4. Biaggi (Aprilia) 1’38.2; 5. Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1’38.3; 6. Haslam (Honda) 1’38.6; 7. Nieto (Suzuki) 1’38.6; 8. Corser (BMW) 1’39.1

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Parkalgar Honda

PARKALGAR HONDA’S Eugene Laverty finished seventh just in front of his title rival Cal Crutchlow who was ninth in today’s first practice for Sunday’s 13^th and penultimate round of the World Supersport Championship at Magny Cours in France.

Parkalgar Honda racer Miguel Praia was 17^th and will be looking to improve tomorrow as he goes for another personal best result after finishing ninth last weekend at Imola in Italy. Further practice and qualifying sessions take place tomorrow before the race at 1325CET on Sunday, October 4^th – which can be viewed on Eurosport or www.worldsbk.com.

Eugene: “I felt good from the word go and learnt the track quickly. I got a good feeling for the track and could attack it straight away. We know the changes we need to make to our Parkalgar Honda to go faster – what the track needs from our bike. I want a better front end feeling in the slow tight corners where I am losing some time. It’s all good though, we are on the same pace as Cal and I am happy.”

Miguel: “I was slower than expected as I struggled to change direction in the fast corners – that is my main problem. We tried different positions on the bike but I think we will go back to the settings from Imola and start from there. We did some good distance tyre testing which was useful and tomorrow I will go for a faster lap time.”

Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: “The Championship is now between Eugene and Cal and while we want to win the race it is more important that we beat Cal. The pressure is high and Cal crashed again today. Eugene learnt the track and got steadily faster and was consistent – he’s in a good frame of mind and had a controlled positive session. Miguel disappointed in 17^th as we expect him to be higher but we will work with him and he should be inside the top 15 tomorrow.”

Practice

1 54 Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1′41.885
2 26 Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1′41.903
3 99 Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1′42.604
4 1 Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1′42.851
5 55 Roccoli M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1′42.927
6 77 Veneman B. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 1′42.931
7 50 Laverty E. (IRL) PARKALGAR HONDA CBR600RR 1′43.022
8 21 Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1′43.032
9 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1′43.138
10 24 McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 1′43.228
17 Praia M. (POR) PARKALGAR HONDA CBR600RR 1′44.438.

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Yamaha World Superbike

Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies enjoyed a good start to the French Superbike weekend, ending his first qualifying session less than two tenths of a second off fastest rider Michel Fabrizio. It was the American rider’s first experience of the Magny Cours circuit, however as normal it took very little time for him to get up to a decent race pace.

Team mate Tom Sykes finished the qualifying session in 15th position, just over a second off provisional pole. Sykes made improvements to his set up and speed over the session and with more to come tomorrow was confident of moving up the standings in advance of Sunday’s race.

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (4th, 1′38.939)
“It was a good first session, I’ve worked out where the track is going and we’ve been making improvements to the settings over the day. I think we’ve found a good pace for race distance, but there are still a couple of things we can improve on for tomorrow. The track is still a bit slippery in parts, but I still think we can find some more speed for the next session and get up there. For the first day I’m happy.”

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (15th, 1′40.048)
“I think we made some improvements in qualifying today, obviously we need more but we’re heading in the right direction. I definitely think there’s a bit more to come from myself and from the bike as well. We’re struggling in a couple of corners, I think if we can sort that problem we will make a big difference. We’ve played with some tyres in that session as well so I think we know what race rubber we’re going to need for Sunday. Tomorrow morning we’ll continue to work on the settings, I certainly feel we can do more tomorrow.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“It has been a good day for both riders today. Ben has never raced here so it’s good to see he is still picking up circuits very quickly. To end the day less than two tenths of the fastest rider is not bad. Tom was improving his pace well during the session and I think there is more to come for both riders tomorrow.”

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Ducati Xerox

Magny-Cours (France), Friday 2nd October 2009: the penultimate round of the World Superbike Championship commenced this afternoon on the French circuit of Nevers Magny-Cours and the inevitable battle between the championship contenders was immediately evident when Ducati Xerox man, and current leader, Noriyuki Haga closed the first qualifying session in third position, just one tenth of a second faster than Yamaha rider and rival Ben Spies, and one tenth of a second slower than team-mate Michel Fabrizio, the fastest rider on track today.

During the morning’s opening free practice session, both Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio immediately got into their rhythm, lapping consistently fast throughout the sixty-minute session and both registering their respective fastest times in the last few minutes. With the fastest fourteen riders lapping within a second of each other, the weekend promises to be characterised by some extremely close racing.

Later in the afternoon, in the first of the weekend’s two qualifying sessions, Noriyuki and Michel continued to lap quickly, but both were hindered slightly by a lack of grip in the first section of the track. The Ducati Xerox riders, together with Ben Spies and Honda’s Jonathan Rea, currently the top four riders in the general classification, were the only four riders to lap in under 1m39 this afternoon. Fabrizio ultimately made the quickest lap of the day, just 0.107 of a second faster than team-mate Haga. The Ducati Xerox Team is therefore feeling confident ahead of tomorrow’s Superpole.

Michel Fabrizio 1m38.7s
“Today I had no particular problems. We found a setting and a tyre that I liked almost right away and I was able to make constant improvement throughout the day. I was losing a couple of tenths in the first split but I think it’s linked more to a characteristic of the four cylinder bikes than to the tyres. Anyway we are very satisfied and hope it bodes well for the rest of the weekend.”

Noriyuki Haga 1m38.8s
“Well it didn’t go so badly. I am consistently losing a few tenths in the first split, but I hope that by finding more grip I can make up for the lack of top speed. We lost time during the first part of qualifying working with one particular tyre that I wasn’t particulary comfortable with but then, towards the end of the session, we found a better solution and I was able to make some faster laps. The times are all very close but I think I’ll be able to improve on my fastest time tomorrow morning.”

TIMES: 1. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1’38.7; 2. Rea (Honda) 1’38.8; 3. Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1’38.8; 4. Spies (Yamaha) 1’38.9; 5. Checa (Honda) 1’39.3; 6. Corser (BMW) 1’39.4; Kagayama (Suzuki) 1’39.4; 8. Smrz (Ducati) 1’39.6

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Stiggy Racing Honda

Stiggy Racing Honda rider Leon Haslam opened the first day at Magny-Cours by posting the second fastest time in the first free-practice session. Haslam, who rode here last in 2004, quickly found his pace at the 4.441 km long French circuit to further improve his laptimes. He set his fastest time of the day in the afternoon’s qualifying session with a best lap of 1′39.900s.

On the opposite side of the garage, progress was steady for Supersport rider Anthony West. The Australian managed to improve step-by-step throughout the 60 min free-practice session but was disappointed to end up in 21st place after first qualifying.

Leon Haslam – P11-1′39.900s:
“This morning it felt pretty good. I had not been here for five years, and last time it was a cold Ducati day, so come here and put it straight into P2 felt pretty good. We tried a few things, a new tyre that didn’t work this afternoon, but all-in-all we went a little bit quicker, we are still up there, and still have a lot to come. I feel pretty confident.”

Anthony West – P21- 1′44.639s:
“It had my first go at the track today and so I spent most of the first half of the session learning it. I had some problems with my number one bike, leaving me to run my second bike for most of the session. Although we are still too far off the pace and have a long way to go, I still think we found a good direction to continue working in for tomorrow. I like the track so far but there are some corners where I need to learn the braking point to get a better entry. Hopefully we can get my number one bike to work properly for tomorrow and get the speed up.”

Johan Stigefelt – Team Manager:
“Leon has performed well today right from the start, which looks very promising for the weekend ahead. As always there is work that has to be done in order for him to improve but that’s something we will manage for tomorrow’s sessions. Anthony is new to this track and is still learning as he is going around. He had some issues with his number one bike, which left him on his second bike for most of the session. That’s not an ideal way to start the weekend but we’ll try to sort that out for him so he has a chance to improve tomorrow.”

Results SBK QP1:
1. M.Fabrizio-1′38.770
2. J.Rea-1′38.821
3. N.Haga-1′38.877
11. Leon Haslam-Stiggy Racing Honda-1′39.900

Results SSP FP1:
1.K.Sofuoglu-1′41.885
2.J.Lascorz-1′41.903
3. F.Foret-1′42.604
21. Anthony West-Stiggy Racing Honda-1′44.63

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World Superbike

Michel Fabrizio’s magic moment continues as last Sunday’s Imola winner powered to the quickest time in the first Superbike qualifying session at Magny-Cours. The Ducati Xerox rider’s time of 1 minute 38.770 seconds was just three-tenths away from Haga’s best lap of 1’38.444. There was quite a scrap for second place, with Fabrizio managing to hold off Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and the two main title contenders Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) and Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike), with all four separated by 0.169 seconds and the only riders able to lap under the 1’39”mark.

Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was back amongst the top echelons with fifth place, ahead of Troy Corser (BMW), the Australian looking much more at ease than Imola on the French track, and Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare), who brought back some morale to the Alstare team. The surprise of the day was Fonsi Nieto (Ducati DFX), who set ninth quickest time, ahead of Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing), victim of a harmless crash. It was a positive debut on the Aprilia RSV4 for BSB champion Leon Camier, the British rider posting 17th quickest time just two-tenths away from Biaggi.

Times: 1. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′38.770; 2. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′38.821; 3. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1′38.877; 4. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′38.939; 5. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1′39.379; 6. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′39.435; 7. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′39.497; 8. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1′39.613; 9. Nieto F. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1′39.772; 10. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′39.834; 11. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′39.900; 12. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′39.964; 13. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′40.000; 14. Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′40.017; 15. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′40.048; 16. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1′40.101

Supersport
The Supersport free practice session saw a two-way battle between Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com). The Turkish rider, who won at Imola last Sunday, eventually took the top slot with a time of 1 minute 41.885 seconds, holding off his rival by just 14 thousandths of a second. Lascorz also crashed out while trying to set the quickest time. The pace of the top two was far superior to the rest, with Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport) in third place, but seven-tenths behind, while Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) in fifth was almost a whole second off the pace. Massimo Roccoli again went well on the Intermoto Czech Honda in fifth, while the two title rivals Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) and Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport), were seventh and ninth respectively in the timesheets, albeit separated by a fraction. After his Imola crash, Crutchlow did the same today in the hour-long session, fortunately without any consequences.

Times: 1. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1′41.885; 2. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1′41.903; 3. Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1′42.604; 4. Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1′42.851; 5. Roccoli M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1′42.927; 6. Veneman B. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 1′42.931; 7. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1′43.022; 8. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1′43.032

Superstock 1000
Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox) continued on his way towards the 2009 title in today’s opening free practice session at Magny-Cours. The Belgian rider, who just needs five points to be crowned champion, immediately made his mark with the quickest time of 1 minute 42.621 seconds in the Friday hour. He was quicker than second-placed Ayrton Badovini (JIR Aprilia) by just 0.041 of a second, but the Italian, following his disqualification for a technical infringement at Imola, confirmed the Italian bike’s potential today in Superstock. Third quickest was Claudio Corti (Suzuki Alstare), two tenths off the pace of the leader and Simeon’s only rival in the title race. Corti has always gone well at Magny-Cours and this was confirmed in the session. Behind the top 3 can be found two French riders, Sylvain Barrier (Garnier Yamaha) and Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda).

Times: 1. Simeon X. (BEL) Ducati 1098R 1′42.621; 2. Badovini A. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′42.662; 3. Corti C. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′42.858; 4. Barrier S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′43.084; 5. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′43.250; 6. Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′43.370; 7. Mähr R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′44.299; 8. Baroni L. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′44.409

Superstock 600
Two Italians set the pace in today’s Superstock 600 free practice session. The quickest time of 1 minute 46.389 seconds went to Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Trasimeno), who was three-tenths ahead of his team-mate Danilo Petrucci. The points leader, who crashed during the session, soon found his rhythm again to set his quickest time right at the final moment. Third place went to the young French rider Florian Marino (Race Junior Honda), ahead of his fellow-countryman Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Yamaha), while fifth quickest time went to Imola winner, Eddi La Marra (Honda Lorini). Championship challengers Britain’s Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda) and Vincent Lonbois (MTM Yamaha), were in seventh and eighth place respectively.

Times: 1. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1′46.389; 2. Petrucci D. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1′46.666; 3. Marino F. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1′46.871; 4. Guarnoni J. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1′46.876; 5. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1′46.923; 6. Guittet B. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1′47.012; 7. Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1′47.217; 8. Lonbois V. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 1′47.393

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World SBK

The echoes of two spectacular races at Imola’s Enzo & Dino Ferrari circuit last Sunday in front of 67,000 spectators are still ringing in the ears of spectators worldwide, but the countdown is now beginning towards what will surely be a two-way dash towards the 2009 title. It gets underway this weekend at the Magny-Cours circuit in central France, around 300 kms from Paris, which hosts World Superbike for the eighth time. The tricky 4.411 km Magny-Cours track alternates a number of fast sections with slow hairpin-like turns. The most successful rider is the current championship leader, Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), who has won four races here, three times in the last four. Behind, on two wins apiece, lie Troy Bayliss, James Toseland and Doug Polen, with one win each for Neil Hodgson, Ruben Xaus, Chris Vermeulen and Lorenzo Lanzi. In the Manufacturers’ ranking, Ducati has taken the lion’s share of wins with nine, followed by Yamaha with three and Honda two.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Imola Round brought about a virtual reboot of the championship standings, with Haga again taking over from Ben Spies at the top, but now by just three points. The situation is virtually as if the title will be fought out over two rounds, four races, adding even more thrills to a season that has proved to be one of the most exciting in Superbike history. On paper Nitro-Nori is the favourite, given his success rate here, but his Texan rival will undoubtedly not be the same below-par force witnessed at Imola, so sparks are expected between the two, and the psychological aspect could also play a key role. The same could be said for Michel Fabrizio, who won his second race of the season at Imola and who still has a mathematical chance of taking the title, as he is 61 points down on his team-mate with 100 up for grabs. His chances appear slim and it is easy to imagine that Ducati will activate some sort of team strategy, as the Italian is one of the few riders around able to fight for the win with Spies and Haga.

SUPER BIAGGI AND APRILIA: Max Biaggi is another name on that list, thanks to the Italian Aprilia RSV4 machine, which has made some truly outstanding progress this year. At Imola Biaggi fought hammer and tongs with the Ducatis after struggling in the tests in July, demonstrating that the Noale-based manufacturer has been working well over the past months. In France, where last year he finished fourth and sixth, Biaggi will be aiming to notch up his second win of the season, all the while keeping one eye on the championship standings, which see him just six points adrift from Jonathan Rea. The talented Ten Kate Honda rider was disappointing at Imola, where he made a series of errors, a real pity because Rea had proved to have a race pace that could easily have seen him on the podium. Now he has a chance for the rematch at Magny-Cours, and all signs point to the Northern Ireland man again being up one of the front-runners.

BMW, KAWASAKI AND SUZUKI: The Imola round brought an end to BMW’s positive progress, and after a good qualifying they were unable to repeat that form in the races. Troy Corser scored an 11th place, while Ruben Xaus managed to bring home some points on his return following injury. At Magny-Cours, where he always goes well, the Australian will once again aim to take the BMW back up to a top 6 position, a result that unfortunately at the moment does not appear to be within reach for Kawasaki. Broc Parkes got into the top 10 in race 1 but the bike still needs a lot more work to get closer to the top machines in the championship. In even more difficulty for the moment are team Suzuki Alstare, which are ending a championship that they started with totally different ambitions. In the final two rounds the Belgian team will once again rely on Karl Muggeridge and Yukio Kagayama.

Points (after 12 of 14 rounds): 1. Haga 391; 2. Spies 388; 3. Fabrizio 330; 4. Rea 263; 5. Biaggi 257; 6. Haslam 219; 7. Checa 183; 8. Sykes 176; 9. Smrz 155; 10. Byrne 149. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 489; 2. Yamaha 431; 3. Honda 368; 4. Aprilia 267; 5. Suzuki 148; 6. BMW 113; 7. Kawasaki 63

SUPERSPORT: An untimely crash for Cal Crutchlow at Imola threw the Supersport championship wide-open after it seemed as if the Yamaha man was cruising to victory. Instead the British rider now only has a lead of two points over Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda), who finished runner-up. Crutchlow has proved to have an extra gear this year but he has also made some mistakes and now the pressure is on his shoulders. Imola winner Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who renewed his contract with the Dutch team for next year, may play a key role in the title battle, seeing as the championship has not thrown up any other potential winners. Following his DNF at Imola, Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com) aims to take back third place from Sofuoglu, who is 15 points ahead. Possible outsiders include Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport) in his home race, which could certainly see him take his second win of the season.

Points (after 12 of 14 rounds): 1. Crutchlow 210; 2. Laverty 208; 3. Sofuoglu 153; 4. Lascorz 138; 5. Foret 115; 6. West 104; 7. Pitt 104; 8. McCoy 82; 9. Aitchison 71; 10. Roccoli 62. Manufacturers: 1. Honda 256; 2. Yamaha 251; 3. Kawasaki 158; 4. Triumph 98; 5. Suzuki 30

SUPERSTOCK 1000: The title is virtually a dead cert for Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox), who needs just five points to be crowned champion at Magny-Cours with one round remaining. Claudio Corti (Suzuki Alstare) still has a slim chance however and will try to win until the bitter end. As well as the above-mentioned riders, the Magny-Cours round will surely see as one of the protagonists Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda), who will be looking for a win in front of his home crowd to attenuate the disappointment of losing out so soon in the title battle. Behind these three can be found four more outsiders Javi Fores (Kawasaki Pedercini), Davide Giugliano (Suzuki Celani), another French rider Sylvain Barrier (Garnier Yamaha) and Daniele Beretta (Ducati Xerox).

Points (after 8 of 10 rounds): 1. Simeon 180; 2. Corti 135; 3. Fores 107; 4. Berger 102; 5. Beretta 79; 6. Barrier 67; 7. Jesek 64; 8. Baz 41; 9. Giugliano 38; 10. Magnoni 35. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 180; 2. Suzuki 137; 3. Honda 136; 4. Kawasaki 107; 5. Yamaha 100; 6. MV Agusta 26; 7. Aprilia 12

SUPERSTOCK 600: Four riders in the title fight guarantees an electrifying end of season for the Superstock 600 category. The favourite, at least for what he has demonstrated throughout the season, has to be Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno), the points leader. The young Italian however has not won for the last five races and will be starting the Magny-Cours race determined to interrupt this negative run. His chief rival Vincent Lonbois (MTM Yamaha) failed to shine at Imola but will surely rise to the occasion in France, and so will Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda) and Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Trasimeno), both of whom are behind in the championship battle. Imola winner Eddi La Marra (Honda Lorini) will also be looking to repeat his success in France.

Points (after 8 of 10 rounds): 1. Petrucci 135; 2. Lonbois 124; 3. Rea 118; 4. Bussolotti 112; 5. Guarnoni 94; 6. La Marra 93; 7. Kerschbaumer 62; 8. Guittet 58; 9. Litjens 38; 10. Chmielewki 36

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Stiggy Racing Honda

Just a few days after the latest round at Imola Stiggy Racing Honda riders Leon Haslam and Anthony West will get back on their bikes this weekend for the 13th round of the World Superbike Championship at the Magny Cours circuit in France. Both Stiggy riders currently hold a sixth place in their respective championship standings.

Leon once again proved his strength in both Superbike races at Imola charging his Honda CBR1000RR to sixth and eight places. Haslam has taken the Stiggy Racing Honda machine to 12 top six finishes this year, including four podium finishes, and is looking for further podium success in the last four races – in France this Sunday and then in Portugal on October 25. His team mate on the other side of the garage, Supersport rider Anthony managed an eight place in the last race after starting from a 15th place on the grid, is looking positive on what the weekend can bring to the team. The Australian is new to the French circuit and will make his debut at the 4.411 km track on Friday.

Leon Haslam – Superbike:

“We’ve certainly found some consistency in recent races and it’s all credit to Stiggy and the team that we’ve been able to get those results. The team has had a turbulent time of late but there was a really genuine team spirit in Imola last weekend and I’m sure that will carry us through the final two rounds. I missed out on challenging for the front row by just 0.05s in Imola last Saturday so we’re very close to being there on a regular basis now and I just need to ensure I get the clean, fast laps when I need to on the two qualifying tyres we’re allowed. Magny Cours provides a technical test for us in terms of set-up but I’m pretty confident that with the team I have behind me that we can again find the race setting and be near the front in Sunday’s two races.”

Anthony West – Supersport:

“I have never been at Magny Cours before, so I will be learning the track to start with this weekend. No worries there, I actually think it will be good for us coming to a new place. Let’s just hope we can get the bike to work a bit better for the start of the weekend. I’ll try my best for a good weekend and hopefully I can move up a bit in the Championship in the end of it”

Johan Stigefelt – Team Manager:

” The team is heading to France right now and as always with “back to back” races you already feel tired going into the next one. But its the same for everyone. We are only two races to the end of another season, which feels crazy. This year has been very tough, but at the same time it has gone by so fast. I hope we can take some good results this weekend. One of our riders is new to the track so we have some extra hard work to do from the start. We’ll get on it first thing on friday and take it from there.”

Superbike Championship standings after 12 rounds:

1. N.Haga, 391 pts.

2. B.Spies, 388 pts.

3. M.Fabrizio, 330 pts.

4. J.Rea, 263 pts.

5. M.Biaggi, 257 pts.

6. Leon Haslam – Stiggy Racing Honda – 219 pts.

Supersport Championship standings after 12 rounds:

1. C.Crutchlow, 210 pts.

2. E.Laverty, 208 pts.

3. K.Sofuoglu, 153 pts.

4. J.Lascorz, 138 pts.

5. F.Foret, 115 pts.

6. Anthony West – Stiggy Racing Honda – 104 pts.

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Ducati Xerox

Magny-Cours (France) Tuesday 29th September: Just two days after the Imola showdown and the Superbike circus is back on the road, travelling this week to France and the “Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours.”

The French circuit has looked kindly on Haga over the years and has rewarded him with several race wins since 2004. Last year the Japanese rider secured a race win and a second place finish, after a close battle in Race 2 with then Ducati rider Troy Bayliss. The Ducati Superbike proved itself to be extremely competitive on this track when Bayliss took the win in the second race in 2008. Michel crashed out of the first race and suffered from technical problems that meant he could only finish race 2 in fourteenth position; he has yet to score a podium finish at Magny-Cours.

Just two days ago on Ducati’s “home track” of Imola, Ducati Xerox men Noriyuki and Michel made it a double win for the team when the Japanese rider stormed to victory in Race 1 and the Roman did the same in Race 2. The points collected by the two riders mean that Haga has snatched back his championship lead, albeit by only three points, while Fabrizio has consolidated his third position in the standings. With only two rounds to go and 100 points on offer, there is now everything to play for.

Noriyuki Haga (1st in championship, 391 points)

“I like the track and over the last years I’ve had some fairly good results. I really need to repeat the double win of 2007 again this season and will go all out to do just that. Imola gave us good points, enough to regain the lead, but we only have a three point advantage so this weekend is extremely important.”

Haga’s Superbike form at Magny-Cours:
2008: Race 1 – winner, Race 2 – 2nd
2007: Race 1 – winner, Race 2 – winner
2006: Race 1 – 2nd, Race 2 – 4th
2005: Race 1 – DNF, Race 2 – 3rd
2004: Race 1 – 2nd, Race 2 winner

Michel Fabrizio (3rd in championship, 330 points)

“I must admit I’ve never felt very comfortable at Magny-Cours and you can see this by looking at the results. This season, however, I’ve had some much better results and so will be looking to continue the trend with two more podium finishes in France.”

Fabrizio’s Superbike form at Magny-Cours:
2008: Race 1 – DNF, Race 2 – 14th
2007: Race 1 – 14th, Race 2 – 9th
2006: Race 1 – 11th, Race 2 – 13th

CIRCUIT DATA:

Country: France
Name: Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
Circuit length: 4.411 km
Pole position: Right
Corners left: 9
Corners right: 6
Length of race: 23 laps = 101.453 km

Lap records: Fastest lap – Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 1′39.818 (2008). Superpole – Haga (Yamaha) 1′38.444 (2008).

2008 RESULTS: Race 1 – 1. Haga (Yamaha); 2. Nieto (Suzuki), 3. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) Race 2 – 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox); 2. Haga (Yamaha); 3. Corser (Yamaha)