eni FIM Superbike World Championship
Algarve International Circuit
Portimao, Portugal
June 6, 2015
Superpole One Results (top two advance to Superpole Two, all on Pirelli tires):
1. Alex LOWES, UK (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:42.499
2. Leandro MERCADO, Argentina (Ducati Panigale R), 1:43.058
3. Michael VD MARK, Netherlands (Honda CBR1000RR SP), 1:43.272
4. Leon CAMIER, UK (MV Agusta F4), 1:43.468
5. Roman RAMOS, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:43.488
6. Randy DE PUNIET, France (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:44.273
7. Nico TEROL, Spain (Ducati Panigale R), 1:44.992
8. Christophe PONSSON, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:45.066
9. Santiago BARRAGÁN, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:45.640
10. Niccolo CANEPA, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:45.674
Superpole Two Results (all using Pirelli tires):
1. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Ducati Panigale R), 1:41.764
2. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:41.880
3. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Ducati Panigale R), 1:42.123
4. Alex LOWES, UK (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:42.198
5. Leon HASLAM, UK (Aprilia RSV4 RF), 1:42.217
6. Matteo BAIOCCO, Italy (Ducati Panigale R), 1:42.468
7. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Honda CBR1000RR SP), 1:42.641
8. Jonathan REA, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:42.902, crash
9. Jordi TORRES, Spain (Aprilia RSV4 RF), 1:42.975
10. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:43.067
11. Leandro MERCADO, Argentina (Ducati Panigale R), 1:43.327
12. David SALOM, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:43.609
Final Combined Qualifying Results:
1. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Ducati Panigale R), 1:41.764
2. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:41.880
3. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Ducati Panigale R), 1:42.123
4. Alex LOWES, UK (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:42.198
5. Leon HASLAM, UK (Aprilia RSV4 RF), 1:42.217
6. Matteo BAIOCCO, Italy (Ducati Panigale R), 1:42.468
7. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Honda CBR1000RR SP), 1:42.641
8. Jonathan REA, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:42.902, crash
9. Jordi TORRES, Spain (Aprilia RSV4 RF), 1:42.975
10. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:43.067
11. Leandro MERCADO, Argentina (Ducati Panigale R), 1:43.327
12. David SALOM, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:43.609
13. Michael VD MARK, Netherlands (Honda CBR1000RR SP), 1:43.272
14. Leon CAMIER, UK (MV Agusta F4), 1:43.468
15. Roman RAMOS, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:43.488
16. Randy DE PUNIET, France (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:44.273
17. Nico TEROL, Spain (Ducati Panigale R), 1:44.992
18. Christophe PONSSON, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:45.066
19. Santiago BARRAGÁN, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:45.640
20. Niccolo CANEPA, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:45.674
21. Gabor RIZMAYER, Hungary (BMW S1000RR), 1:47.405
22. Imre TOTH, Hungary (BMW S1000RR), 1:48.750
More, from a press release issued by Aruba.it Racing Ducati:
Pole position for Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team) and third place for Davies today at Portimao!
Portimao (Portugal), Saturday 6 June 2015 – The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team score fantastic results in today’s Superpole at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve with Davide Giugliano snatching pole position for the fifth time in his Superbike career. Chaz Davies will also line up on the front row of the grid, having qualified third for tomorrow’s races.
After yesterday’s strong results, the two Aruba Ducati riders were able to make further improvement in this morning’s third and final timed practice, which took place in hot conditions, similar to yesterday, on the Portuguese track. It was a hard-fought session with the top twelve riders all closing within one second of each other. Giugliano continued yesterday’s positive trend, further dropping his time to duck under 1’43 for the first time. His best lap, completed in 1’42.928, saw him place overall second at the end of the timed practices. A small crash for Davies five minutes before the session’s did not prevent the Welshman from returning immediately to the track and setting his fastest overall time, a 1’43.390, in the final seconds to position sixth. Both Giugliano and Davies therefore qualified directly for the afternoon’s Superpole 2.
Superpole 2: After completing two laps on race rubber, Giugliano was straight back out with the soft qualifying solution and was able to record an extremely impressive time of 1’41.764 thanks to which he snatched pole position for the second time since returning at Imola, the fifth pole of his Superbike career. Davies was also able to complete a very fast lap, in 1’42.123, thanks to which he closed the session in overall third position. Tomorrow both factory riders will line up on the front row of the grid for the day’s two 20-lap races.
Quotes after the day’s sessions:
Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #34) – 1st (1’41.764)
“In this morning’s session we worked really well and I think we took another good step forward with respect to yesterday’s sessions. This afternoon it was more tricky, also because of the higher temperature but I can say that we’re feeling confident ahead of the races. I’m really pleased with pole position of course – my second since returning at Imola and, considering that the other guys have completed eight more races than me this season, I see this as an important result which also boosts my morale. Tomorrow I hope that race 1 takes place in slightly cooler conditions while I realise that the second will be tough if conditions are particularly hot.”
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #7) – 3rd (1’42.123)
“I’m happy to have qualified on the front row of course. I feel that we’ve improved performance on the race tyre; I was able to complete two solid laps in Superpole on that tyre and felt more comfortable compared to this morning, so I think we’ve definitely taken a step in the right direction. We’ll continue to work on a couple of small things that I think are still causing me to lose a couple of tenths but overall we’re doing ok. We’re confident in our tyre choice for tomorrow and, although it won’t be easy, I hope to be able to complete two good races.”
More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:
Davide Giugliano seals Portuguese Tissot-Superpole
Sykes and Davies complete row two as Rea crashes on second flying lap.
The seventh Pole Position of the 2015 season has been won by Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) who claimed the fifth Pole Position of his career in this afternoon’s Tissot-Superpole session, the second of the year. The Italian rider overhauled Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and team mate Chaz Davies by 0.116s and 0.359s respectively, on his way to the fastest lap of the weekend so far (1’41.764s). Giugliano was last at the front of the grid at Imola.
Behind the top-3, row two will see Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki), Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) and Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing), who made it three Ducati machines on the front two rows.
Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) achieved his best qualifying result of the season in 7th, while championship leader Jonathan Rea crashed at the exit of Turn 2 at the start of his second flying lap. The KRT rider will start tomorrow’s two 20 lap races from the middle of row 3 in 8th alongside Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils).
Row four has the BMW Motorrad Italia entry of Ayrton Badovini, Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing Ducati) and David Salom (Team Pedercini Kawasaki). Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike Team), Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven) make up row five in positions 13 to 15 respectively.
Superpole 1 saw the aforementioned Alex Lowes and Leandro Mercado progress to the final shoot-out, courtesy of being the fastest two riders in the first 15-minute session.
More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing:
Portimao (Portugal), 6 June 2015: A bittersweet Superpole.
In this morning’s session, after confirming the potential of the team and the work carried out, the final qualifying saw Matteo Baiocco set a solid 1’43.416 while Nico Terol recorded a best of 1’44.977. But while it was a great result for Baiocco, the problems continue for Terol. Despite having tested all of the solutions made available by the Team, and despite Ducati’ support, he was unable to improve on his time to gain entry to Superpole 2. Baiocco on the other hand, having achieved eighth place, easily qualified for the second phase of the Superpole.
With Superpole 1 getting underway at 3pm local time, Terol was able to record a time of 1’46.633 with the qualifying tyre. Unfortunately this placed him a long way behind the leaders and he therefore qualified seventeenth, a result that certainly does not meet with the expectations of the rider or the team.
In Superpole 2 Baiocco, in great form, scored a fantastic sixth place finish, to earn a second row start for tomorrow’s races, not far behind the top three. This means that Althea Racing’s Italian rider can surely put up a strong fight in tomorrow’s races while Terol will face a tougher challenge.
Genesio Bevilacqua: “I’m really pleased with today’s sessions and the great work completed by the team, and especially Matteo’s performance. He’s proved that he deserves my trust and that of the team. We’ve been working together for a while to iron out and refine a few details and this is helping him to become increasingly fast and confident on our Ducati Panigale R. I’m pleased for him, also because starting on row two, so close to the top riders who have more experience than him, will allow him to gain more information that will allow him to be one of the future top-five, a level that I believe he can reach. Frustration and incredulity with regard to Nico however. Having tried everything he remains unable to ride the Panigale. At this point we must consider the reasons for, and consequences of, these results which are clearly not in line with the expectation of the Team or the rider himself who in the past has experienced success.”
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Front Row For Sykes After Portimão Superpole
Tom Sykes (KRT) came within 0.116 seconds of taking pole at Portimao but he starts Sunday’s two 20-lap WSB races from the front row in any case, having qualified in second place. Jonathan Rea (KRT) was eighth in Superpole, after setting one flying lap on race tyres and then falling at turn three shortly after.
Sykes and Rea had made it thought to Superpole 2 automatically because of their strong practice performances on race rubber and each is confident of their race pace for Sunday’s races.
Sykes looked to be heading for pole position near the end of the 15-minute second Superpole session but Davide Giugliano had used Tom as a gauge on his fastest lap and flashed over the line just behind the Kawasaki rider on track, but 0.116 seconds in front in the times.
The unlucky Rea had just put in a fast first lap early in Superpole 2 and in falling at turn three next time around he was unable to restart, having to rely on his opening lap to give him his final Superpole time. He is now starting off the third row for Sunday’s races, but has strong race pace to rely on at one of his favourite circuits.
There has been a contrast in track conditions between the morning and afternoon sessions at Portimao, with a significant increase in track temperature in the afternoons, so the KRT riders expect to have two slightly different challenges on Sunday 7th June.
In the organiser’s Superpole Award rankings, for best performance pre-race, Sykes and Rea are now joint top of the table, each with 127 points.
Tom Sykes: “Most importantly I am on the front row and we have also evaluated a couple of minor set-up things in Superpole. There is a new qualifying rear tyre for Superpole at this round and it seems good. We will speak again tonight and work on a couple of more aspects in time for raceday. I think overall we have a good bike, a good package and the consistency is there. I was nearly there to win Superpole but Davide Giugliano was just behind me and on some parts of the track that helps, so maybe I helped give him pole position – but that is racing. I have to accept that and he is a good guy, so no worries. I am relaxed and ready to go racing.”
Jonathan Rea: “I felt really confident for Superpole and maybe too much. I pushed over the limit and was quite a bit faster at the braking point, with 4 degrees more lean angle, and I lost the front. It was a fast crash but I am OK. In the afternoon practice session before Superpole we had a very good rhythm. My race pace is really good the only problem is starting from the third row and the guys with good pace are on the front row. For me tomorrow will be about the start and the first laps. I just have to make sure the opening laps are clean and that I can get through traffic. I think the race will be decided from the middle to the end but I have to make sure I am there at the middle point.”
David Salom (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) made it through to Superpole 2 automatically but had to settle for 12th place on the grid. For his Spanish countryman Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven Kawasaki) 15th will be his starting position after Superpole. Christophe Ponsson (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) was 18th today.
More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:
WSBK – PORTIMÃO SUPERPOLE
SECOND AND THIRD ROW FOR THE APRILIA RSV4 RF
LEON HASLAM, FASTEST ON A RACE TYRE, FINISHES IN FIFTH PLACE
JORDI TORRES FINISHES NINTH, STILL STRUGGLING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE QUALIFIER TYRE
Portimão, 6 June 2015 – The World Superbike Saturday at Portimão saw the Aprilia Racing – Red Devils improving vastly, with Haslam putting the best time on the sheets in FP4 prior to Superpole.
So the English rider went into the decisive session ready to pounce, a sensation that was confirmed by his top time in the first phases using a race tyre. Unfortunately a moment of indecision in the first section compromised his performance during his flying lap, the lap where the rider was taking advantage of the soft compound Superpole rear tyre. Despite a good pace in the other sectors, in the end Leon had to settle for a fifth place which does not do him justice and means that he will start from the middle spot on the second row of the grid.
Leon Haslam: “Unfortunately I made a mistake in the first sector with the qualifying tyre. I was slower than when I had the race tyre on and that compromised my flying lap even though my pace was good in the other sectors. I’m disappointed but at the same time I’m confident since I had the fastest time with a race tyre both in Superpole and in the last practice session. We still need to work on a few details of the setup to improve over race distance, but our pace is good in any case. I didn’t use the pain killers much today and my physical condition shouldn’t be a problem for the races tomorrow.”
Jordi Torres is still working out the typical difficulties of a rookie season. The Spaniard, lying fifth in the championship standings and the best rookie of the season, also proved to be fast in the two practice sessions, moving into the leading group. Credit for his clear improvement compared to yesterday goes to the hard work done together with his team, improving his Aprilia RSV4 RF in the most critical sectors such as braking and going into turns. But the Superpole “specialised” tyre complicated matters: Jordi is still struggling to take advantage of the increased grip, losing confidence and precious tenths of a second. This is what led to his ninth place on the starting grid which means the third row, where he will start two races from behind.
Jordi Torres: “In general things went well today. Yesterday we were in the top 10, today in the top 5. We improved the RSV4 RF a lot in the sectors where I was having the most difficulty. We had a fast pace, but we are still missing a little something compared to the leaders. The flaw today was Superpole. The soft tyre still puts me in a tough spot because the bike’s reactions change a lot. I’m still not that quick at changing style and interpreting it well. It obviously has more grip and that demands a different riding style. But we have the pace to stay in the top 5, even if starting from the third row is not going to make things easy.”
More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda:
Guintoli seventh for Portuguese encounter
Sylvain Guintoli will start tomorrow’s two seventh-round World Superbike championship races from the third row of the grid after setting the seventh fastest time in this afternoon’s Superpole at Portimao in Portugal.
The 32-year-old Pata Honda rider and his technical crew found further improvements to his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP in this morning’s two free practice sessions and qualified directly for Superpole 2 this afternoon.
After two laps on a race tyre, the French rider went out on his Pirelli qualifier and was able to set his best lap of the weekend, 0.8s off the pole time of Italian Davide Giugliano.
Guintoli’s Pata Honda team-mate, Michael van der Mark, will start tomorrow’s two 20-lap races at the 4.592km Autodromo Internacional do Algarve from the fifth row after being unable to graduate from Superpole 1 this afternoon.
The Dutch rider, 22, is still looking for more stability with his CBR under heavy braking and, despite improving his lap time in each session, the rookie SBK rider was 13th fastest in this afternoon’s Superpole sessions.
Sylvain Guintoli – P7, 1m42.641s
Well, we’ve confirmed that the weekend is going in the right direction and we’ve been able to improve the pace on race tyres and then, on the qualifier, I was able to do a couple of good laps as well. I think it’s my best qualifying performance of the year so far, so I’m happy enough with that but realistic enough to know that there’s still plenty of work to do. It’s really good to see all the hard work we’ve done start to pay off though, and we’re looking forward to carrying this momentum into tomorrow’s races and turning it into two decent results.
Michael van der Mark – P13, 1m43.272s
We didn’t have an easy day today for sure and we changed the bike a lot, but it didn’t really bring us much in terms of a lap time so we’ve definitely got some more work to do. In Superpole on race tyres I was second fastest and quite confident that I could improve. But I’ve had some problems with the front all weekend and putting the qualifier in seemed to make the problem worse. Anyway, it’s not a great position to be in but we’ll look at everything tonight and I’m sure the guys can come up with a good plan. Hopefully, if I can get good starts tomorrow, I can make up some places in the two races.
Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator
We’ve changed Michael’s bike a lot over the last two days and definitely made some improvements but he just missed out on qualifying directly for Superpole 2. He had some problems with the front and dropped back to 13th when he put in the qualifier. It’s certainly not the place he belongs and we can hopefully find something for him tomorrow. With Sylvain, the last two days have been a little easier and more positive. We haven’t changed the bike that much – just fine tuning, and that has paid off with seventh place. Of course, you always want to be on the front row, but the feeling is good and the pace is reasonable, so tomorrow we’ll just go for it!
More, from a press release issued by Voltcom Crescent Suzuki:
Lowes heads second row for Voltcom Crescent Suzuki in Portugal
A ‘rollercoaster’ Saturday at the Portimao Circuit saw Alex Lowes overcome a challenging morning to claim a spectacular fourth in the afternoon’s World Superbike Superpole.
Lowes’ positive start to the Portuguese event – sitting third in Friday morning’s first practice – took a difficult turn as the weekend developed with the British racer struggling for set-up with his Yoshimura-powered GSX-R. Saturday morning saw him fail to qualify immediately for the top ten, concluding the final timed free practice in 13th, with similar frustrations in FP4. Regrouping for the opening Superpole, Lowes’ determination was evident, a 1’42.499 saw him top the session and secure his promotion into Superpole 2. Continuing his consistent pace, Lowes set 1’42.9 on race rubber before heading back out on the Pirelli qualifier – his 1’42.198 lap was enough to take fourth in the times and will see him lead the second row for tomorrow’s race grid.
Randy de Puniet continued his progression and development both with the Algarve circuit and his Suzuki GSX-R1000, improving his lap times by a second per session throughout the two days. The afternoon heat amplifying yesterday’s engine brake issue on a 52°C track surface, his 1’44.273 qualifying lap finds him in 16th for Sunday’s races.
Ducati’s Davide Giugliano proved his Imola return was far from a one-off, claiming the pole position with a 1’41.764 under the powerful Portuguese sun.
Sunday’s two races see Lowes and De Puniet on track at 10:30BST and 13:10BST respectively for 20 laps of the rollercoaster Autodromo International do Algarve.
Alex Lowes:
“We had a difficult day until qualifying! We had a few issues this morning and I was really struggling for confidence but we got our heads down in Superpole, made some changes, got a bit of confidence back and did a good job to be fourth. We need to keep improving for tomorrow, it’s going to be two hard races, we still need to be realistic and hopefully we can do a solid job. Two top-sixes is the aim for me, and if I can keep riding well, keep consistent, then we should be alright. Thanks to the lads over the difficult weekend, it sounds like a broken record but yet again we dug deep, tried to keep plugging away and got a bit of a reward in qualifying, but obviously it’s tomorrow that counts in the races!”
Randy de Puniet:
“Today we improved the bike regarding the engine brake this morning and it was feeling good. This afternoon we struggled with the actual brake power so it’s an issue when it’s hot, and I have a problem stopping the bike. We are trying to fix the problem for tomorrow afternoon, because the morning is fine, we are also looking to improve my confidence with the traction control because the bike is a bit aggressive at the moment, and also the chassis. Tomorrow I am hoping we can follow the guys a bit, improve the lap times and be more consistent.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“A strange weekend so far in that we started quite strongly, especially with Alex, and then suffered a number of issues which really hurt the overall performance of the bike – ending up with Alex’s 13th position in pre-qualifying. To jump from the rhythm of mid-44’s to make a high ‘42 on the race tyre and near-enough a ‘42 flat on the qualifier was an incredible job by him but also respect to PJ, Davide and Alex’s crew for not overreacting to the problems and concentrating on improving the priorities. We haven’t had the pace of the front guys all weekend until qualifying so the race will certainly hold some challenges, but the grid position will help a huge amount and if we can improve further tomorrow morning let’s see what race day can bring.
“The result from Randy doesn’t look very special, but in fact the gap to the fastest riders and the qualifying position is an improvement to the last events. Randy is working hard, putting in the laps, putting in the effort in the debriefs but struggling to find full confidence and understanding still, to go to the limits with the Pirelli tyres and the Superbike. It’s a pity because as his career has shown he has plenty of speed, we just need to keep working together to adapt that speed to the Superbike.”