Spies spices up Superpole

From the World Superbike Championship

PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA -- Texan WSBK rookie Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) powered to the first Superpole win of the season in an exciting opening round session at Phillip Island in Australia on Saturday.

The 24-year-old took the top slot on his YZF R1 machine with a time of 1 minute 31.069 seconds. In the new 'knock-out' formula, Italian Max Biaggi scored a second place grid slot, his best ever performance in Superpole, on the brand new Aprilia, the Italian manufacturer returning to Superbike after a seven-year break.

The front row of the grid is completed by Britain's Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Jakub Smrz of the Czech Republic, top Ducati rider on a private Guandalini machine.

Spies, who had never even seen the Australian circuit before last week, set the first pole of his career in his first-ever WSBK race.

"There was a lot of pressure on me today but first congratulations to these guys, I know how fast the lap time was and we all did a great job," he said. "The Superpole was really good, there was a lot of anticipation, a lot of nerves inside the pit box to get the first pole of the year.

"It's going to be hard tomorrow, with seven or eight guys up front and the real race will start eight laps from the end. Luckily we have a good starting spot, that's all that matters and hopefully we can be there at the end. Just like Biaggi said, I was very surprised at how many people started doing 31s in the second session, we really had to grit our teeth in the last one and put together a good lap."

Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) commented, "It's a big sensation for me to come back after so many years to Aprilia with this new project, the bike is good already. We still have to see which is the best way to go but for now qualifying was very good and exciting. I don't know about race pace for tomorrow but this is an encouraging start. When I saw everyone going 31s, I thought 'wow, that is fast.' I had some trouble in the free practice before qualifying, we swapped bikes and it was not my favourite one but we made a great job."

The exciting new Superpole formula saw the early elimination of four of the top 20 riders (Troy Corser, Robby Rolfo, Ruben Xaus and Tommy Hill). The two BMWs, which had performed well until then, were excluded after a conservative choice of tire. The second run saw the elimination of Shinya Nakano, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Yukio Kagayama, Tom Sykes, Noriyuki Haga, Max Neukirchner, Shane Byrne and Broc Parkes, with Ducati Xerox's Haga the prize scalp.

Rea and Smrz headed the new generation of Superbike riders, the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland the best Honda in the timesheets, while his teammate Carlos Checa from Spain also looks promising in seventh place. Row 2 will be made up of Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda), Checa and Régis Laconi (DFX Ducati), while Haga faces an uphill struggle in the two races as he has to start from the fourth row of the grid.

Kenan Sofuoglu took the pole slot for the opening World Supersport round. It was the 24-year-old from Turkey's seventh career pole, and it came with a new circuit record of 1:34.320.

Honda has won five of the last six editions of the Australian round but this time the opposition promises to be tougher. Second slot went to Spanish youngster Joan Lascorz, new signing for Kawasaki. Reigning champion and last year's winner Andrew Pitt lines up third in his home race, with Britain's Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) looking menacing on the outside of the front row.

Team-mate Fabien Foret suffered a partial dislocation of his right shoulder in a fall and is at risk for Sunday's race. Garry McCoy (Triumph BE1), who had gone so well on the opening day, slipped from fourth to eighth behind Italian Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini).

Superbike Times
1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1:31.069
2. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1:31.402
3. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1:31.596
4. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1:31.600
5. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1:31.837
6. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1:32.112
7. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1:32.537
8. Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098 RS 09 1:32.649
9. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 1:31.843
10. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1:31.860
11. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 1:31.867
12. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1:31.881
13. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1:31.907
14. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 1:31.916
15. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1:32.119
16. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1:32.719
17. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1:32.873
18. Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1:32.997
19. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1:33.152
20. Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1:33.363