Your 
Your From the World Superbike Championship
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 toward the 2009 World Superbike title.
It gets underway this weekend at the Magny-Cours circuit in central France, around 300km from Paris, which hosts World Superbike for the eighth time. The tricky 4.411km 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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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 six 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. In the final two rounds the Belgian team will once again rely on Karl Muggeridge and Yukio Kagayama.
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.
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.
The Superstock 1000 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.
Four riders in the title fight guarantees an electrifying end of season for the Superstock 600 category. The favourite has to be Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno), the points leader. The young Italian however has not won for the last five races. 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.
I have a little secret most of you probably didn’t know about me. I don’t mean to boast, but felt it was time to share with some of you who have been reading my blog quite some time now that I started studying this quite early on in life and have been fortunate enough to have gained a chemical engineering background.
With this being said; One of the things I enjoy most is converting beer, wine, whisky, brandy, and other similar liquids into a chemical compound mixture of H2O (NH2), 2CO (urea), NaCl (sodium chloride), and a number of other dissolved salts and organic compounds, which is my friends, "Urine".
Good day and cheers mates!
“Pee”.S.,
Is it Friday yet??
I have a little secret most of you probably didn’t know about me. I don’t mean to boast, but felt it was time to share with some of you who have been reading my blog quite some time now that I started studying this quite early on in life and have been fortunate enough to have gained a chemical engineering background.
With this being said; One of the things I enjoy most is converting beer, wine, whisky, brandy, and other similar liquids into a chemical compound mixture of H2O (NH2), 2CO (urea), NaCl (sodium chloride), and a number of other dissolved salts and organic compounds, which is my friends, "Urine".
Good day and cheers mates!
“Pee”.S.,
Is it Friday yet??
From Marlboro Ducati
The Ducati Marlboro Team returns from a long September break this weekend ready to tackle the Estoril circuit with Casey Stoner back in the saddle alongside his team-mate Nicky Hayden.
The Italian outfit has been working hard on two fronts since the end of July, on one hand liasing with doctors in Australia monitoring the progress being made by Stoner and on the other continuing exhaustive development of the Desmosedici, on which Hayden has been able to make great strides, culminating with his podium finish at Indianapolis and further signs of competitiveness at Misano before a blameless first lap crash.
During two months away from racing Stoner has undergone a series of exams and special tests.
The results of the tests have excluded pathological anomalies of cardiovascular, respiratory or neurological origins. The exams and inspections also failed to show up any kind of virus or infection.
However, a medical report did reveal low blood pressure levels and a lack of sodium, the two factors that doctors believe were the main cause of the physical problems that interrupted the season for the Ducati rider.
The doctors all agree that overtraining was the most common factor that showed up during the tests and that the after-effects of injuries and surgeries over the last few years were the cause of the physical weakness and exhaustion that the Australian began to suffer a few months ago.
The doctors also unanimously confirmed that their suggestion to stop Stoner from racing at the end of July was absolutely necessary in order to avoid aggravating his physical debilitation.
Following the final medical examination that he underwent last week before leaving Australia, the doctors confirmed that while he was still not completely recovered, he is in better physical shape than he was in July and his weight is back up to 60kg, which is close to his ideal weight.
Stoner will be back on track this weekend despite not being in peak condition and he will remain under medical supervision throughout, with a new sodium-rich diet aimed at raising his blood pressure and muscular functionality.
“I’m definitely looking forward to the race weekend," the 2007 World Champion said. "Having three races off is the biggest period away from racing in my life. It was very difficult to accept the advice of the doctors to stop racing. In the past I have raced even when injured, like in the last few races of the 2008 season when my wrist was broken, but this time it was really not possible and of course I felt very sorry for the team.
"Now I’m looking forward to getting back together with the team and everyone and I hope I’ll be able to be more competitive than I was in the past, but we will have to wait and see. The doctors have put me on some salt tablets to increase my sodium levels but we will have to see if it helps. We will understand more during the weekend.
"Of course it’s going to be difficult: at first we won’t know if it will work because I’ve been off the bike so long that in any case my muscles will take some time to get race fit again. But, as I said, I’m looking forward to getting back and to starting work on the bike, looking towards the future.”
From the American Motorcyclist Association
PICKERINGTON, OH -- Pending ratification by AMA Racing and the FIM, Chris Carr is once again the fastest man in the world on two wheels, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.
The seven-time AMA Grand National Champion, riding the Denis Manning-built No. 7 streamliner, recaptured the provisional outright world and national land-speed records on Thursday, Sept. 24. Carr's two-pass average of 367.382 mph in the measured mile was set at the AMA-sanctioned Land Speed Shootout at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
The previous record was 360.913, set by rider Rocky Robinson and builder Mike Akatiff in 2008.
"It was a lot of work. This time was hard," Manning said. "We blew up stuff, we got blown off course. It was tough. The thing was, every time we made a run, some part of the run was phenomenal, so we knew we were near. For these runs, we made an eighth-inch change to the aerodynamics and it made all the difference. The data was telling me that the nose was trying to dive, so we raised it up, and it worked."
Carr said that the record run was relatively smooth.
"We had the drama on the out-run," Carr said. "We about cleaned out the side of the course on the run out with the wind blowing, but the run back was great. It actually started to slow down for me. It was not nearly as hectic as 347 (mph) was a couple years ago."
This is the second time Carr has held the record as a rider, and the third time for Manning as a builder. Carr first set the outright land-speed record in 2006. Manning also set the land-speed record in 1970.
The meet where Carr and Manning set the new record came near the end of the season for running on the Bonneville Salt Flats, which most of the year are too wet for competition.
Earlier in the season, Aug. 30-Sept. 3, provisional records in a number of classes were also set at the International Speed Trials by BUB, and they are waiting ratification by AMA Racing. The AMA-sanctioned event, which Manning promotes, is the premier national meet for amateur land-speed racers to attempt land-speed records in classes ranging from 50cc scooters to supercharged sportbikes.
From MV Agusta USA
Almost a decade has passed since the appearance of the first Brutale, a prestigious, naked motorcycle with fascinating design, power and speed. Its characteristics, unique and unmistakable, have made it famous the world over, enabling it to win coveted prizes as the most beautiful motorcycle of the year.
The Brutale pushes the limits of research and technology in its 2010 models - the 990R and the 1090RR. To achieve these results, it was necessary to replace 85 per cent of the components, but the new Brutale has preserved the significant style features of previous versions. The work carried out on the 990R and 1090RR cannot be defined as mere restyling; rather, it is a silent MV Agusta revolution.
Fifteen thousand, four hundred Brutale units have been sold worldwide, including special versions. Its identity has remained timeless, backed by MV Agusta’s legendary racing heritage. The 38 riders’ world championship titles and 37 manufacturers’ championships - attained with the contribution of motorcycling legend Giacomo Agostini - demonstrate the company’s ability to work under extreme conditions, as well as its great passion for racing.
From the World Superbike Championship
The long-awaited return to Imola for the FIM Superbike World Championship produced a magnificent day of racing in glorious weather conditions in front of 67,000 spectators on Sunday.
The wins went to the Ducati Xerox duo of Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio, with the Japanese rider bouncing back to the top of the table.
The other protagonists in an all-Italian battle for the leading positions were Aprilia, with Max Biaggi and Marco Simoncelli taking a podium apiece.
It was a disappointing day for the former points leader Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike), who managed to limit the damage in the title race. Haga now has a three-point lead, with two rounds remaining and 100 points up for grabs.
Haga won a nail-biting first race of the day, which kept the fans glued to their seats right down to the checkered flag, the Japanese rider taking his first win since Kyalami in mid-May. Four laps from the flag Haga passed Biaggi, who had led since the start, to take the win.
Thanks to this result Haga made up 12 points on championship leader Spies, the American only able to finish fourth.
“This is my first win since Kyalami and I am very happy, I really enjoyed that race," Haga said. "This morning we had a little problem and I thought it would be difficult to make good lap times for 21 laps, so for the race we made a modification for the suspension and things were better. I am really happy for the win because my dad came over for this race and I got the win, so I dedicate it to him.”
There was a terrific scrap for the runner-up slot, which went to Biaggi after the Aprilia rider made a superb move on Fabrizio to pass him at the final chicane.
“I am very happy with the result in the last race in Italy before next year," Biaggi said. "In the tests we suffered a bit more than the others but me and my team worked hard and late afternoon yesterday we improved our set-up. This morning was OK, we made some modifications, still there is room to improve but for sure it was a great result.
"In the final chicane with Fabrizio, I thought ‘you never know’, I saw him there a little bit on the side and I stick in my bike, stayed in there. I could pass him and this is a good result.”
Simoncelli’s WSB debut was an unfortunate one, the Italian crashing out from fifth. That place in the end went to Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who finished ahead of fellow Honda riders Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing) and Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate), the latter throwing away any chance of a decent result when he went onto the gravel at the Rivazza while trying an overtaking move.
Broc Parkes was the first Kawasaki runner home in 10th, ahead of Troy Corser (BMW).
The spectacle continued in race 2, but this time Fabrizio was unstoppable and he powered away to take his second win of the season.
“Today I really wanted victory in race 2," Fabrizio said. "In the first race unfortunately I had a problem with my arm, and I just missed out on the win. For race 2 I fixed everything, I changed my arm and I changed Nori and went on to win.
"I am happy for the Ducati Xerox team; today all the Ducati top management were here so Nori and I cut a good figure. For sure I think we deserved the renewal of our contract!”
The Italian finished ahead of team-mate Haga, who with this result moved ahead of Spies in the table.
“Congratulations for Michel for winning and for Marco with his first time in Superbike, third position today," Haga said. "For the race, I changed the bike completely from the first race and in this bike we had a few problems. During the race the bike started moving a lot, after Michel passed me I tried to catch him up but he was quite fast today and I couldn’t find where I could pass him…and then I was dead. I think I need more salt, 1 kilo of salt!”
The Texan rookie was not as incisive as in previous races but in the second race had bad luck on his side as he got caught up in the battle for third with the two Aprilias. While making a move on Biaggi and Simoncelli at the final chicane, he was forced to run off the track to avoid Biaggi. He came back on to finish fifth.
The final podium place went to Simoncelli, who immediately made his name in a championship as hard-fought as Superbike.
“If I finish the race in the first five I am very happy," Simoncelli said. "In the first race I was fifth but crashed, while in this race I started better than in the first and after some laps I keep a very good pace.
"In the chicane with my team-mate I didn’t want to pass him, but I braked too hard and I think ‘either I hit him and we crash or I try to pass’. I succeeded and I am very happy, a big thanks to Aprilia and my team. Today was a great big experience for me here in Superbike.”
Rea had another race full of errors, but partially managed to make up for them with sixth place.
BMW had another difficult race, with a DNF for Corser and Ruben Xaus returning after injury to finish 13th.
The battle for the World Supersport title has been thrown wide-open again as a result of a crash by points leader Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport), while he was heading towards his sixth win of the season.
The British rider crashed out at the Acque Minerali, and his lead in the table is now two points over Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda), who finished runner-up.
The win went to Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) for the third time this year, while the final podium slot went to Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport), who closed up on Laverty in the final stages but was unable to take away precious points.
Chaz Davies put in an excellent performance on his Supersport debut with Triumph, bringing the British three-cylinder machine home in fourth place in front of team-mate Garry McCoy.
After taking the pole, wild-card Ayrton Badovini (Aprilia) went on to repeat the same form in the Superstock 1000 race, taking a lights-to-flag victory. In post-race scrutineering however all the Aprilias were found to have a technical irregularity and Badovini was disqualified.
As a result the win went to Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox), his fourth in a row, and the Belgian is now easily on the way towards the title.
The Supersport 600 battle remains to be decided after Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno) wasted a chance to clinch the title. The Italian was in the lead at the final chicane, but came under attack from Eddi La Mara (Honda Lorini), who took his first win, and also from Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda) and Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Trasimeno), who finished on the podium.
Superbike Race 1 Results
1. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 38:32.199 (161.388 km/h)
2. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +2.074
3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +2.190
4. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +5.438
5. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR +14.470
6. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +14.685
7. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +26.822
8. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R +32.694
9. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +33.817
10. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R +34.801
11. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR +35.286
12. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR +36.442
13. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +38.698
14. Baiocco M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +42.147
15. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +46.510
16. Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R +46.628
Superbike Race 2 Results
1. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 38:23.143 (162.023 km/h)
2. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R +3.592
3. Simoncelli M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +6.510
4. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +7.445
5. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +14.678
6. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +16.396
7. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R +17.110
8. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +22.502
9. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R +25.268
10. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR +30.203
11. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +32.589
12. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +36.243
13. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR +36.368
14. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +38.809
15. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R +42.435
16. Baiocco M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +49.349
World Superbike 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
From Yamaha Racing
Resulting from a successful partnership this season with the Yamaha World Superbike Team, Italian food brand Sterilgarda has confirmed title sponsorship for the 2010 race season. Sterilgarda came on board with Yamaha early in the 2009 race season and shared in the success of the team as rookie rider Ben Spies made his debut in the championship. As of 2010 the team will be known as the Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team.
Sterilgarda is a food production company based in Italy, providing products for over 40 years and today producing over 1200 tons of foodstuffs daily. Core product lines include cheese, milk, yogurt and fruit juices.
“We’re delighted that Sterilgarda has decided to stay with us for the 2010 season,” said Laurens Klein Koerkamp, Racing Manager, Yamaha Motor Europe. “2009 has been and continues to be a very successful year for us in racing. From the time Sterilgarda came on board we have enjoyed working closely together and developing a relationship that goes beyond simple sponsorship. They have become part of our team. It was always our intention to continue developing the partnership through to 2010, we look forward to enjoying further success together next year.”
“This agreement is the fruit of a collaboration that from the Monza race this year gave us an insight into the professionalism of the Yamaha team,” said Fernando Sarzi, CEO Sterilgarda. “We recognised the team as a group who work with a passion to reach clear goals. It is the same passion that has led Sterilgarda to strive for perfection and quality for many years. The agreement that from today transforms the Yamaha World Superbike Team to the Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike team is the natural conclusion of a winning partnership.”
For further information on the Sterilgarda brand please visit www.sterilgarda.it.
From the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame
MARKHAM, ON -- With a month to go, the fourth annual Hall of Fame Induction Banquet and Reunion is almost sold out. At the time of writing, there are less than a dozen seats left.
And if you're holding off, better not wait any longer. After Oct. 2, tickets are $150 each - if there are any left.
The Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame 2009 Induction Banquet and Reunion, sponsored by the Motorcyclists Confederation of Canada (MCC) will be held Saturday, Oct. 24, near Toronto's Pearson International Airport. MCC is a founding patron of the Hall of Fame, and administrator of the Foundation that is home to the Hall of Fame.
Ticket prices are $125 ($110 for MCC Members) until Oct. 3. If you don't buy and pay for your tickets by Friday, Oct. 2 seating is not guaranteed and ticket prices go up to $150.
This Year's inductees are:
Carl Bastedo - Chatsworth, ON (Motocross Competitor, Organizer, Contributor)
CRCA - Canadian Race Communications Association - Shannonville, ON (Celebrating 50 years of supporting safe motorcycle racing with marshalling services)
Bar Hodgson - Ashburn, ON (Contributor, Competitor, Organizer, Show Producer, Collector)
Ivor Lloyd - West Hill, ON (Competitor - International and Canada)
Duane McDaniels - Commerce Township, MI (US Competitor)
Don McHugh - Brampton, ON (deceased) (Legendary Dirt Track Racer)
Ken Morgan - Battersea, ON (Contributor, Course Developer, Trainer, Advocate)
Jimmy Sehl - Stoney Creek, ON (Competitor, Team Member, Mechanic)
Steel City Riders - Hamilton, ON (Celebrating over 60 years of motorcycle racing)
John Williams - Markham, ON (North American and World Hillclimb Champion)
Founded by Bar and Hedy Hodgson in 1999, the Canadian International Motorcycle Heritage Museum Foundation exists to preserve and protect Canadian motorcycle history for the benefit of the motorcycling community. They founded the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2005, with the first inductions made in May of 2006.
From World Enduro Canada
The first year of the Royal Distributing Canadian Enduro Championships is in the books and everyone involved has deemed it a success.
At the final awards ceremony in Parry Sound, ON the series awarded the Overall Pro Championships, the Inside MotoX & Off Road Magazine Eastern Amateur Championships as well as the Overall Amateur Championships.
Here is the rundown of the Final Awards.
PRO CLASS
Overall Top Pro - Bobby Prochnau (BC) KTM
E1 - Patrick Beaule (Quebec) KTM
E2 - Bobby Prochnau (BC) KTM
E3 - Jason Schrage (Alberta) KTM
Inside Motorcycles Top Pro Junior
Ryan Graffunder (BC) Suzuki
Overall Amateur Championships
A - Stephen Shannon (BC) Gas Gas
B - Mike Dobovich (Alberta) KTM
C - Ben Riviere (Alberta) KTM
Vet - Dave Sheridan (Alberta) KTM
Vet Pro - Mark Cahill (BC) KTM
Super Vet - Ron Schlosser (Alberta) KTM
Women - Victoria Hett (BC) KTM
Inside MotoX and Off Road Magazine Western Amateur Champions
A - Dillon Bucknell
B - Cedric Peters
C - Ben Riviere (Alberta) KTM
Vet - Dave Sheridan (Alberta) KTM
Super Vet - Ron Schlosser (Alberta) KTM
Women - Victoria Hett (BC) KTM
Inside MotoX and Off Road Magazine Eastern Amateur Champions
A - Adam Millson (Ontario) Yamaha
B - Mike Dobovich (Alberta) KTM
C - Connor Brogan (Ontario) KTM
Vet - Dave Sheridan (Alberta) KTM
Super Vet - Ron Schlosser (Alberta) KTM
Women - Victoria Hett (BC) KTM
Each of the Overall Pro and the East & West Amateur Champions will recieve a set of tires courtesy of Metzeler.
In addition World Enduro Canada wants to recognize the riders who competed in all rounds or in rounds on both sides of the country as some riders could not complete the entire eight-event series due to injury. The series counted 29 riders from five provinces who competed on both sides of the country:
Jason Wiesner - ON; Marc Zimny - ON; Bruce Moffat - ON; Andre Ferraton - QC; Simon Ferraton - QC; Chris Martin - ON; Guy Giroux - QC; Any Lavoie - QC; Victoria Hett - BC; Steve Shannon - BC; Dave Sheridan - AB; Ben Riviere - AB; Jake Stapleton - ON; Micheal Dobovich - AB; Karine Geoffrion - QC; Pat O'Neill - ON; Alex Conti - ON; Shane Cuthbertson - AB; Ryan Graffunder - BC; Nick Graffunder - BC; Trevor Blysma - ON; Tyler Linton - ON; Brian Marshall - ON; Mark Cahill - BC; Patrick Feal - MB; Brian Wojonarski - ON; Keith Billings - ON; Ron Schlosser - AB; Mark Dzikowski - ON
From the World Superbike Championship
One of the most exciting World Superbike Superpoles of the season saw Ducati Xerox’s Michel Fabrizio power to his first ever career success at the Imola circuit in Italy.
The man from Rome clinched the pole on Saturday with a time of 1 minute 47.735 seconds on the final lap of the session, taking it out of the hands of Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike), quickest until then, by just 0.043 of a second.
“I’m really happy," Fabrizio said. "I wanted this Superpole at all costs, and it’s even more satisfying to get it at home. Maybe I should only do the Italian championship as I got my first win at Monza and my first pole here. In any case tomorrow it’ll be a great battle between us young guys, because our race pace is pretty similar, so I feel sure we’ll have some fun tomorrow.”
“It was a good session for us but I kind of blew it in the last section," Spies admitted, "making a big mistake and that cost us. But I’m on the front row which is where we need to be. All the top guys are on the front row, which is how it should be, none of us will be hanging around so let’s hope we have some fun tomorrow.”
The first row was completed by two of the other championship front-runners, Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), with the gap between the four (0.150 secs) one of the smallest in WSB history.
“The pace there in the afternoon was fast and we just missed out a little," Rea said. "In the last session and the last qualifier made a big mistake and didn’t quite resurrect that so there wasn’t enough time left. Anyway we’ve got a good race set-up tomorrow, I’m really happy, the guys have done a marvelous job, we’ve got so many new things to try and every week the package is getting better and better.”
The second row sees Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) in fifth, followed by Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing), while Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) was in seventh ahead of Marco Simoncelli (Aprilia Racing), the Italian taking his RSV4 machine to a brilliant eighth place on his WSB debut.
Troy Corser (BMW) will start from row 3 in ninth after being eliminated from Superpole 2 by a fraction. Lorenzo Lanzi (DFX Ducati) looked promising on the third row, while Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) could only manage 13th.
It was a negative day for Suzuki Alstare Brux with both riders Yukio Kagayama and Karl Muggeridge starting from row 5.
Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) continues to dominate Supersport qualifying, the Coventry man taking his ninth pole of the season. The championship leader was one of the only riders to lap under 1:51, and he put in his quickest lap three minutes from the end of qualifying.
Crutchlow, who was also the only rider to crash in the session, was more than half a second quicker than second placed Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), while the other two front row men, Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com) and Massimo Roccoli (Intermoto Czech Honda) were third and fourth but over one second off the pace.
Garry McCoy (Triumph 675) again went well for the ParkinGo BE1 team, the Australian qualifying fifth quickest ahead of two of the other championship front-runners, Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) and Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport).
Britain’s Chaz Davies put the second Triumph BE1 machine on row 3, in 11th place, on his debut.
Pole position in the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup went to wild-card entry Ayrton Badovini (Aprilia), the erstwhile Superbike rider obtaining the satisfaction of finishing ahead of two championship contenders, leader Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox) and Claudio Corti (Suzuki Alstare), who were separated by half a second. The third title contender Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda) qualified on row 2.
Five Italians line up in the first five positions in qualifying for the European Superstock 600 race, with points leader Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno) starting from pole.
Superbike Qualifying Times
1. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1:47.735
2. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 1:47.778
3. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR100RR 1:47.834
4. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1:47.885
5. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1:48.156
6. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1:48.665
7. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1:49.092
8. Simoncelli M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1:49.338
9. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1:48.971
10. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1:48.992
11. Lanzi L. (ITA)Ducati 1098R 1:49.060
12. Nieto F. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1:49.105
13. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1:49.168
14. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1:49.340
15. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1:49.641
16. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 1:49.681
