Spies back on top in Superpole

From the World Superbike Championship

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) got back to his Superpole winning ways in the World Superbike Championship with his eighth pole 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 affected 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.

“It was a good session for us, but we almost got caught out," Spies said. "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 tires so we need a good start tomorrow.”

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.

“In the last session I was really lucky because no one expected any drops and then it really started to rain," Biaggi said. "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.”

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.

“I think we got a little bit lucky because the bad weather came in quickly," Byrne said. "Fortunately we got through the first Superpole session without using qualifying tires, 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.”

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 1:29.664.

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 20th 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 four, while British Superbike points leader Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha) had a disappointing session and could only qualify in 17th place.

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 1:31.701.

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.

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.

Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno) powered to his third Superstock 600 pole position in five races with a time of 1:35.997 at Donington.

The points leader, the only rider to get under the 1:36 mark, held off an attack from Britain’s Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda), his closest rival in the championship.

Superbike Qualifying 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 1:31.120