FIM Superbike World Championship Donington Park, England May 11, 2012 Qualifying Session One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Jakub SMRZ, Czech Republic (Ducati 1098R), 1:29.336 2. Jonathan REA, UK (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:29.394, crash 3. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Ducati 1098R), 1:29.507 4. Leon HASLAM, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:29.604 5. Leon CAMIER, UK (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:29.614 6. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:29.719 7. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:29.918 8. Max BIAGGI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:29.973 9. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:29.977 10. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:29.986, crash 11. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:30.225 12. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:30.245 13. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:30.392 14. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:30.522 15. Maxime BERGER, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:30.539 16. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:30.577 17. Peter HICKMAN, UK (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:30.904 18. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:31.035 19. Niccolo CANEPA, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:31.199 20. Loris BAZ, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:31.625 21. Mark AITCHISON, Australia (BMW S1000RR), 1:32.003 22. Leandro MERCADO, Argentina (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:32.806 23. Gary MASON, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:34.084 More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Smrz the smartest out of the blocks at Donington Donington (UK), Friday 11 May 2012 Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert Ducati) loves Donington Park and today it loved him right back as he took provisional pole after posting the fastest lap in the opening qualifying session. After the rain flags came out momentarily at the start of the 45-minute session track conditions improved and a flurry of fast times in the last few minutes of qualifying put Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) second, Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) third and true home boy Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) fourth. Rea had two falls today, one shortly after the start of this morning’s free session and one at the end of this afternoon’s qualifying run, without injury. British riders were, predictably, to the fore, as Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) was fifth and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing team) sixth. Sykes had headed up the first unofficial practice session in the morning. The overnight second row was completed by Michel Fabrizio’s BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet machine, and the first Aprilia Racing entry in the rankings, ridden by 2010 champion Max Biaggi. Two local riders were given the opportunity to run as wildcards at Donington, with Peter Hickman (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) in 17th place and Gary Mason (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) 23rd. New Kawasaki Racing Team rider Loris Baz was 20th in his first ever SBK qualifying session. One more regulation qualifying session remains tomorrow, before the top 16 riders move on to Tissot-Superpole. Times: 1. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’29.336; 2. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’29.394; 3. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’29.507; 4. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 1’29.604; 5. Camier L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’29.614; 6. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’29.719; 7. Fabrizio M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’29.918; 8. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’29.973; 9. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’29.977; 10. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’29.986; 11. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1’30.225; 12. Melandri M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’30.245; 13. Davies C. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’30.392; 14. Aoyama H. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1’30.522; 15. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1’30.539; 16. Laverty E. (IRL) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’30.577; etc. World Supersport Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) came close to setting a new best lap in the Supersport World Championship class during the first qualifying session at Donington. By grabbing provisional pole with his 1 minute 31.155 second lap time he was almost a second ahead of Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki DeltaFin Lorenzini) and just over a second ahead of Monza race winner Jules Cluzel (Honda PTR). Wildcard Australian team-mates Glen Richards and Billy McConnell (Smiths Gloucester Triumph) were fourth and fifth respectively. Ronan Quarmby (PTR Honda) and Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda) were the last riders into the 1 minute 32 seconds lap times. Times: 1. Lowes S. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1’31.155; 2. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’32.053; 3. Cluzel J. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1’32.281; 4. Richards G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 1’32.397; 5. McConnell B. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 1’32.505; 6. Quarmby R. (RSA) Honda CBR600RR 1’32.724; 7. Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1’32.856; 8. Morais S. (RSA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’33.064; etc. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: FIXI Crescent Suzuki racer Leon Camier produced an encouraging first day’s work at Donington Park in England to get the fifth round of the World Superbike Championship off to a positive start for the team. Camier signalled his intentions by recording the second quickest time in this morning’s first free practice session and then followed that this afternoon by taking over a second off that time. Camier finished the 45-minute session in fifth place, but was only 0.278 seconds from provisional Pole Position. He held the lead for a large part of the session and only slipped to fifth when his rivals put on fresh rubber in the closing stages. Camier and his crew opted to continue working on a race set-up instead of changing to softer tyres. He was pleased with his first day’s work and is convinced there is more to come from his Yoshimura-powered Suzuki GSX-R over the weekend. Replacement rider Peter Hickman made an impressive start to his weekend onboard the FIXI Crescent Suzuki, as he immediately settled in with his temporary team and made several adjustments to the GSX-R to suit his riding style. Hickman used the first session to familiarise himself with the bike around the 4.023m Donington Circuit before stepping up his pace in the afternoon to knock over two seconds off his morning best time. He finished the day in 17th place, only 1.568 seconds from the top spot. Hickman is representing FIXI Crescent Suzuki at Donington as a substitute for injured rider John Hopkins. The regular Suzuki star broke his right foot and damaged his left hip at Monza last Sunday and is unable to ride in this weekend’s event. This afternoon’s qualifying session was held in dry conditions with track temperatures reaching 15°C, but with air temperatures only getting up to 11°C and a strong wind giving a chilly feel to the day’s events. Today’s fastest time was set by Jakub Smrz on a Ducati. Camier and Hickman have one more Qualifying session tomorrow morning when the pair will be going all-out to get into the top-16 to make sure they qualify for the Superpole session in the afternoon that will decide grid positions for the first four rows. Sunday’s first race gets underway at 12.00hrs local time (13.00hrs CEST); with the second outing scheduled for 15.30hrs local time (16.30hrs CEST). Leon Camier: “It’s nice to be up at the front for a change, even though four riders went faster at the end of the Qualifying session. It was good to be top of the leader-board for a while and I might have been able to stay there until the end, but we decided to concentrate more on getting a good race setting. It’s hard to get a perfect bike set-up at Donington, but we’ll keep trying to improve the bike tomorrow and hopefully the weather will stay dry. It’s been so good to have dry conditions today and manage to just put in the laps – something we’ve missed recently.” Peter Hickman: “I am pretty happy with everything today and I hope that it continues the same way tomorrow. This is my first time on the FIXI Crescent Suzuki and I’ve been spending the time learning the bike and getting as much experience of it as I can. The bike feels as if it is on rails and I felt comfortable on it pretty-much straight away. I would like to thank the team for giving me this great opportunity and my aim now is to finish in the top-16 in tomorrow’s Qualifying. I know there’s more in me to come, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.” Jack Valentine – Team Manager: “It’s been a very satisfying day for the FIXI Crescent Suzuki team. Leon has been on the top of his game all day and was fastest for quite some time in this afternoon’s Qualifying. He only ended 0.278 off Pole, despite not being on soft tyres at the end. Peter has done everything that’s been asked of him. I am confident in his ability and have given him the realistic goal of qualifying in the top-16 tomorrow. He’s very happy with the GSX-R and has worked well with the team. The dry conditions today have allowed us to get some decent laps in and it has made me feel that we’re actually going racing – and that’s a nice feeling!” Donington FIM Superbike World Championship Friday Qualifying: 1. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) 1’29.336: 2. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1’29.394: 3. Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1’29.507: 4. Leon Haslam (BMW) 1’29.604. 5. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) 1’29.614. 17. Peter Hickman (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) 1’30.904. More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: PROVISIONAL THIRD PLACE FOR CHECA (ALTHEA RACING) IN FIRST SBK QUALIFYING AT DONINGTON Donington Park (UK), Friday 11th May 2012: the Althea Racing team and riders Carlos Checa and Davide Giugliano were more than satisfied with the results of today’s first SBK qualifying session at the Donington Park track; Checa closed the session in third position, Giugliano in ninth. In cool temperatures (12ËšC air, 20ËšC track) and under cloudy skies, Carlos and Davide were on track for this morning’s free practice sessions. In the first part of the session, Checa was at the top of the timesheets; the Althea rider continued to improve on his lap times until he crashed ten minutes from the end of the session. He returned to the garage where his technicians immediately set to work to repair the damaged Ducati 1198. His best lap time, a 1m31.1, positioned him eleventh. Giugliano, who hasn’t raced at Donington since 2009, used the first session to familiarize himself with the track once more. He made consistent progress throughout the 45-minute session, recording a best time of 1m32.0 in the final minutes and closing in fourteenth position. The Althea men returned to the track later in the day for the first of two qualifying sessions. Thanks to a fast lap made in the opening stages Checa was almost immediately up in third place, a position that he held for most of the session. In the final minutes he made another step, lowering his best time by a further four tenths of a second and recording a 1m29.6 followed by a 1m29.5 on the very next lap. Giugliano made significant improvement in terms of lap times in the afternoon session, recording his best time in the final minutes (1m29.9) and thus lowering his morning’s time by over two seconds. Thanks to this time Davide closed in ninth position. Carlos Checa: “For some reason I was having more difficulty turning the bike in certain sections of the track today compared to last year. This morning I crashed, which came out of nowhere really, but luckily I am fine and we could carry on, and tomorrow we’ll continue with the planned work. We’ll need to make some changes to see if we can resolve the turning issue but in the meantime I’ll say that I’m feeling pretty confident.” Davide Giugliano: “It’s always great to ride here at Donington and I’m pretty happy with this afternoon’s result. In the morning I took things a little easy, to improve feeling with the track and the bike. Then in the afternoon I was able to do well. Unfortunately on the fast lap one of the wildcard riders caused me to lose a couple of tenths but I’m nevertheless fairly satisfied, though we of course have room to improve further tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Aprilia: NOT A SIMPLE FRIDAY FOR THE APRILIA RACING TEAM AFTER THE SEVENTH AND EIGHTH TIMES TODAY, MAX BIAGGI WILL BE LOOKING FOR A SET-UP TOMORROW THAT LEADS TO IMPROVEMENTS. SIXTEENTH TIME IN THE QUALIFIERS FOR LAVERTY WHO STRUGGLED WITH THE STRONG WINDS IN DONINGTON. Donington, 11 May 2012 A long technical briefing ended the first day of practice for the Aprilia Racing Team at Donington. The current championship leader, Max Biaggi, discussed at length with his mechanics, looking for a solution to the problems that slowed him down in the two sessions today. The goal is to improve on the eighth time he put on the boards in the qualifiers, a result which is good in any case as a starting place, considering the very tight gaps: thirteen riders are within one second of one another. The Donington Park track is ideally divided into two sectors. An initial, rather smooth and fast phase, is contrasted by a final section with abrupt braking zones and accelerations, characteristics which require compromises in the set-up which can adapt as best possible to the various conditions. In any case, the work done today provided some important indications for Max: “We suffered a bit today as well. We’re not far from the front runners… what’s missing is the confidence coming out of the turns in order to ride the way I like to. I like the track. It alternates between fast sections and sudden deceleration, so that forces us to look for a compromise which won’t stress the chassis and that allows us to be fast without working too hard. The tight time differences shouldn’t fool us into underestimating the situation. We’ll have to make a leap of quality tomorrow if we want to aim for a good result on Sunday”. The biggest problem for Eugene Laverty, on the other hand, is the wind, which particularly bothers the rider from Northern Ireland in the straight stretches. The sixteenth time he put on the boards in the last qualifying session is certainly not the result he had hoped for, but the Northern Irish rider looks at it as a promising interpretation for tomorrow. “Actually the bike is doing quite well in a few sections. The problem is that we lose a lot of time in the parts where we’re struggling. To make things worse there was a very strong crosswind today, especially in the straight stretches at the end of the track, and that prevents me from moving around in the saddle properly. If the conditions get better tomorrow I’m sure we’ll be able to find the right path toward being competitive. With my family and fans trackside I’d really like to ride two good races”. More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: Donington Free Practice & Qualifying Practice 1. Friday, 11th May 2012. Weather conditions: Sunny at noon, cloudy in the afternoon, strong winds. Temperature: Air: 11 12 °C, Track: 15 20 °C Number of riders participating: 23 from 13 teams Fastest lap Free Practice: Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) 1:30.756 min Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: Jakub Smrz (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) 1:29.336 min On a very windy Friday at “Donington Park Circuit” (GBR), Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport qualified for the provisional first row. Factory rider Leon Haslam (GBR) finished the closely fought first qualifying practice on his home track in fourth. Just six tenths of a second separated the top 10 riders. Leon’s team-mate Marco Melandri (ITA) qualified provisional 12th. He was prevented from putting in a close to ideal lap time throughout the session and his final attempts to improve were hindered by dirt on the track after other riders had crashed. In the free practice session, Marco was fifth and Leon sixth. The Donington circuit, host of the fifth round of the 2012 season, welcomed the FIM Superbike World Championship with very cold but dry weather. BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team rider Michel Fabrizio (ITA) finished the first qualifying practice in seventh; his team-mate Ayrton Badovini (ITA) was tenth. Leon Haslam: Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:30.962 min (P6)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:29.604 min (P4) “It is great to be back at Donington. The conditions were quite tricky today with the wind and the cooler temperatures. This morning we had a few issues but this afternoon went well. We were consistently fast on the hard tyre and that is why I ended up qualifying in fourth. From that side of things I am quite happy. A big ‘Thank you’ to the guys who did a great job again. We have a few things to try for tomorrow, for example we have to make some small changes to the balance of the bike and work on the set-up but I think these are overall tweaks to make the RR more stable. We will just be working on small things nothing major.” Marco Melandri: Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:30.895 min (P5)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:30.245 min (P12) “It was a difficult day because at the moment I feel that the bike is quite nervous on the bumps and that it is not easy to ride. It was also quite difficult to ride in these windy conditions, but that was not the reason why I struggled so we have a lot to work to do tomorrow. On the final two laps, I lost the chance to improve my lap times, because after Jonathan Rea crashed, there was a lot of grass and gravel on the track. I hope the conditions are stable tomorrow. Overall, I am confident that we can improve.” Andrea Dosoli (Head of Race Operations): “First of all we are glad that we had two dry sessions after the unpredictable weather we experienced at the previous events. Even though the wind was quite strong, we were able to work through quite a few things. Leon and his crew did a good job. It seems that they have found a good set-up for this track and now it is just a matter of fine tuning. Marco was unable to show his talent this afternoon. It is a pity because this morning, he had a promising start to the weekend but it seems that small changes made to the bike did not help to improve his lap times. If you look at the ideal sector times, the situation is better than the result shows. Marco is losing the time mostly in one sector, but on this track you need to be consistently fast to achieve a good result. We will work hard for tomorrow to give Marco a bike which enables him to show his potential and we are confident that we will be able to do that.” More, from a press release issued by Liberty Racing Team: BACK ON TRACK. RIGHT FIRST. The Liberty Racing Team closed first the Q1, confirming, with Smrž, the positive trend of the Czech team. After only seven days from the Monza round, Superbike is back on track at the historic Donington Circuit, where in a typical British weather, 10 degrees Celsius in the air, ended the first official session, that tomorrow with Q2, will designate the sixteen riders who will contest the Superpole. Great start of the weekend for Kuba Smrž, the Czech rider has secured, with a time of 1’29 “336, the provisional pole position, detaching of 58 hundredths of a second the English Rea. Sylvain Guintoli, star of the season and poleman at Monza a week ago, snapped with a time of 1’30 “225 the eleventh position. Maxime Berger stopping the clock at 1’30 “539 has centered the fifteenth place which, if , it will be confirmed, it will give him the access to the final round of the Superpole on Saturday afternoon. So the Liberty Racing Team on the shields just from the first day of the long weekend with technicians, mechanics and riders united and more determined than ever to play at Donington the role of protagonists, once more!