Sunday, August 1, 2010

Crutchlow claims fifth Superpole

From the WSBK Pressoffice

Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) took a home pole position at Silverstone, with a new best lap of 2:04.091 in World Superbike qualifying on Saturday.

“It’s nice to have pole again, especially here at the home race," Crutchlow said. "My lap time was good, I was absolutely desperate to do 2.03, that was the target and the whole team were pumping me up to try and do it, but I made a little mistake coming out of one of the fast left handers and it wasn’t to be.

"We’re in the same boat as Brno, where we had a big gap in qualifying, but the bike’s hard to ride over a race distance and we know that’s going to be the case tomorrow.”

He held off the charge of Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) by 0.672 secs., and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) by 0.992 secs.

“It’s been a great start to the weekend," Rea said. "It was a great time but Cal was a bit too fast for me. I’m enjoying riding the bike, it’s a lot of fun and these 18 laps will surely go by quite fast compared to my Suzuka [8 Hour] adventures. I need to pull the pin quite early, but I’m pretty confident. The new Silverstone is awesome, a little bit bumpy but the layout is phenomenal.”

Jakub Smrz (Pata B&G) moved forward impressively with some great single laps to go fourth on the grid. Smrz beat both of the official factory Aprilia machines and was one place up on championship challenger Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare).

Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) went sixth fastest starting from the same row as his big championship rival Haslam. Troy Corser ran wide on his fast lap, and finished seventh for BMW Motorrad Motorsport, one place up on his team-mate Ruben Xaus.

Shane Byrne (Ducati Althea) was the last rider to miss the cut into Superpole three, and now starts ninth at his home round. Carlos Checa, his team-mate, made the top 10 after looking good for a front row start at one stage. Sylvain Guintoli (Alstare Suzuki) was 11th, James Toseland 12th after falling when looking set for a better placing.

A strong ride from Tom Sykes put his Kawasaki Racing Team machine on the front of the fourth row, ahead of privateer Lorenzo Lanzi (DFX Corse Ducati), Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) and Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia), who had his best time deleted for cutting the chicane.

Wild card rider Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) was 17th in Superpole, Max Neukirchner (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was 18th and Broc Parkes (ECHO CRS Honda) 19th but Luca Scassa did not set a lap in Superpole, starting from 20th place on his Supersonic Racing Team Ducati.

Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) posted the best time in Supersport qualifying at Silverstone, with a 2:09.426 lap on the final qualifying session. Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) pushed his way to second, with the final rider in the championship ‘big three’ going third – Joan Lascorz from the Kawasaki Motocard.com team. The top three riders are separated by only 0.035 seconds.

Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) moved himself into the Superstock 1000 pole position in the final qualifying session, with a 2:09.742. Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Race Junior) slotted in second, and Andrea Antonelli (Team Lorini Honda) got into the top three thanks to his first day best time.

Local rider Luke Mossey (Sondelsport Yamaha) won a thrilling Superstock 600 race with championship challenger Florian Marino (Ten Kate Race Junior), a contest that came right down to the very last corner. Mossey held off Marino to win by only 0.036 seconds, with Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Racing Yamaha) third and Davide Fanelli (All Service System by QDP Honda) fourth. In the championship standings, Guarnoni now leads Marino by 26 points.

World Superbike Qualifying Times
1. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 2:04.091
2. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2:04.763
3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2:05.083
4. Smrz J. (CZE) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2:05.168
5. Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2:05.595
6. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2:05.682
7.Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000RR 2:05.740
8. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000RR 2:06.787
9. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 2:05.026
10. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 2:05.035
etc.

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