FIM Superbike World Championship Monza, Italy May 4, 2012 Qualifying Session One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:42.327 2. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:42.380 3. Leon HASLAM, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:42.523 4. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:42.625 5. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:42.690 6. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:42.794 7. Max BIAGGI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:42.844 8. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:43.228 9. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Ducati 1098R), 1:43.393 10. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:43.408 11. Jonathan REA, UK (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:43.410 12. John HOPKINS, USA (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:43.576 13. Leon CAMIER, UK (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:43.837 14. David SALOM, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:43.943 15. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:44.042 16. Jakub SMRZ, Czech Republic (Ducati 1098R), 1:44.057 17. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:44.203 18. Niccolo CANEPA, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:44.321 19. Maxime BERGER, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:44.489 20. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:44.686 21. Leandro MERCADO, Argentina (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:45.156 22. Mark AITCHISON, Australia (BMW S1000RR), 1:45.841 23. Sergio GADEA, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:48.085 More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Fabrizio gets his BMW flying in first Monza qualifying session Monza (Italy), Friday 4 May 2012 Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia Gold Bet) led home a BMW 1-2-3 at Monza in the first qualifying session, thanks to a 1 minute 42.325 second lap set with only three minutes of the session remaining. He had earlier equalled the best top speed in SBK history when he clocked 334.8 km/h down the main straight. Another Italian, Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) was second fastest and Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) third. The Friday reign of the S1000RR at the fastest circuit on the calendar was only challenged by the Aprilia Racing bike of Eugene Laverty, who was fourth in the overall rankings. BMW Motorrad Italia Gold Bet rider Ayrton Badovini posted the fifth best lap time, one place up on Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team). Local great Max Biaggi went seventh for Aprilia Racing, while the third Aprilia in the field in 2012, the ParkinGO MTC Aprilia of Chaz Davies, ended up in eighth place, making him the last rider to lap within a second of the top spot. As expected the Ducati riders found themselves outgunned at this particular circuit with 2011 champion Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) only ninth and his team-mate Davide Giugliano tenth. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) was top Honda rider in 11th and both Crescent Fixi Suzuki men, John Hopkins and Leon Camier, followed him on the opening day timesheets. Assen race winner Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) was 15th on the first day at Monza. Times: 1. Fabrizio M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’42.327; 2. Melandri M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’42.380; 3. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 1’42.523; 4. Laverty E. (IRL) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’42.625; 5. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’42.690; 6. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’42.794; 7. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’42.844; 8. Davies C. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’43.228; 9. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’43.393; 10. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’43.408; 11. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’43.410; 12. Hopkins J. (USA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’43.576; 13. Camier L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’43.837; 14. Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’43.943; 15. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1’44.042; 16. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’44.057; etc. World Supersport Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) left it until the very last opportunity to record a lap time that gives him provisional pole after the first qualifying session at Monza. His lap time of 1 minute 47.601 seconds equalled to the same 1/1000th of a second – the track best, originally set by Eugene Laverty in 2010. Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki DeltaFin Lorenzini) got to within 0.437 seconds of the previous best lap at Monza as he took the second fastest lap of the first qualifying session. A strong day of work for the Kawasaki riders behind Lowes put Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki DeltaFin Lorenzini) and Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) third and fourth respectively, while wild card rider Stefano Cruciani (Puccetti Racing Kawasaki Italia) was an impressive fifth against the series regulars. Times: 1. Lowes S. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1’47.601; 2. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’48.038; 3. Morais S. (RSA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’48.419; 4. Foret F. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’48.696; 5. Cruciani S. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’48.808; 6. Tamburini R. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’48.817; 7. Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1’48.910; 8. Scholtz M. (RSA) Honda CBR600RR 1’49.188; etc. Superstock 1000 Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) set the provisional pole time at Monza, very close to the track best, with a 1 minute 46.340 that kept him ahead of Lorenzo Savadori (Barni Racing Team Italia). Barrier’s team-mate Lorenzo Baroni (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) pushed his way to third, one place ahead of Savadori’s team mate Eddi La Marra (Barni Racing). A late charge from Bryan Staring (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) made him the top ZX-10R rider on display, fifth, with Christoffer Bergman (BWG Racing Kawasaki) right behind. Barrier was injured in a fall during the session and was declared unfit but he will go under medical review in the morning. Times: 1. Barrier S. (FRA) BMW S1000 RR 1’46.340; 2. Savadori L. (ITA) Ducati 1199 Panigale 1’46.776; 3. Baroni L. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’46.917; 4. La Marra E. (ITA) Ducati 1199 Panigale 1’46.973; 5. Staring B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’47.237; 6. Bergman C. (SWE) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’47.342; 7. Reiterberger M. (GER) BMW S1000 RR 1’47.792; 8. Lussiana M. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’47.814; etc. Superstock 600 Riccardo Russo (Team Italia FMI Yamaha) and his team-mate Luca Vitali stormed to the top of the first qualifying session at Monza, ahead of lap record holder Nacho Calero Perez (Team Trasimeno Yamaha). On a good day for R6 riders Franco Morbidelli (RCGM Team Yamaha) put himself fourth in a session that was red flagged and had to be restarted to complete the final six minutes of qualifying time. The first Honda rider home in the opening qualifying session was top all-round competitor Michael Vd Mark (EAB Ten Kate Junior Team Honda). Tony Covena (Team GOELEVEN Kawasaki) proved to be the top Kawasaki rider on show, seventh and 0.6 seconds behind the lead at this early stage. Times: 1. Russo R. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’51.356; 2. Vitali L. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’51.410; 3. Calero Perez N. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 1’51.529; 4. Morbidelli F. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’51.750; 5. Vd Mark M. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 1’51.964; 6. Duwelz G. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 1’51.991; 7. Cove�a T. (NED) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’52.006; 8. Chesaux B. (SUI) Honda CBR600RR 1’52.131; etc. European Junior Cup Adrian Pasek took the honours in the first outing for the European Junior Cup class riders, a category in which all the riders are on identical KTM Duke 690 single-cylinder machines. Joshua Harland from the UK posted second and like Pasek his was a result taken very near the end of the session. Previous leading rider Jean-Francois Demoulin, from France, was third. Lukas Wimmer from Austria went to fourth in the first session, with the top five rounded out by Spanish competitor Javier Orellana. Kevin Chili, son of SBK legend Pierfrancesco Chili, was placed sixth. More, from a press release issued by Effenbert Liberty Racing Team: Chasing! The Ducati suffer at Monza but the team doesn’t lose heart and hopes in the rain! The fourth round of the Superbike World Championship Edition 2012 officially took place today on the Monza circuit The clouds that have thickened the sky besides covering the park of Villa Reale have also befog, metaphorically speaking, the Ducati. It is known that for the Borgo Panigale’s bikes the fastest circuit of the WSBK would have been one of the most technically difficult of the season. Long straight give great advantage at the bikes with more powerful engines, and that gap becomes more visible especially during the sessions out of race time, when riders can hardly take advantage of the opponents’ slipstreams. The Effenbert Liberty Racing Team, however, didn’t lose heart and has put all its efforts into hitting the goal to be within the first 16 during the 45 minutes of Q1. Mission accomplished by Sylvain Guintoli, who signed the 15th time, and by Jakub Smrž, who, despite a crash, arrived 16th. At the moment Maxime Berger, who stopped the clock on the 18th time, is out Superpole. More, from a press release issued by Aprilia: FIRST PRACTICE SESSIONS AT MONZA. FRIDAY ENDS WITH TWO GOOD PLACINGS FOR MAX BIAGGI, FOCUSED AS ALWAYS ON THE SETUP OF HIS RSV4. EUGENE LAVERTY, SATISFIED WITH THE WORK DONE TODAY, PUTS THE FOURTH TIME ON THE BOARD IN THE QUALIFIERS. Monza, 4 May 2012 First sessions and first time verdicts for Aprilia Racing Team in anticipation of the Monza races. The two Friday sessions showed very close standings, the result of a continuous back and forth of positions among the top ten riders. The first day of practice is usually dedicated to the search for a good base which is then refined over the rest of the weekend in order to take on the two races on Sunday in the best possible conditions., Max Biaggi focused meticulously on adapting his RSV4 to the characteristics of the extremely fast Brianza track. A lot of laps and a lot of changes to the set up, suspension and electronics, so without aiming for the best time. The eighth and seventh places in the two sessions do not worry Max: “I wasn’t particularly fast today, but I wasn’t so slow that it should create and alarm. The bike is beginning to work the way I like it. We definitely have good margin for improvement in order to catch up with the front runners. We’re talking about little tweaks, nothing radical. My mechanics and I will think about it and decide what the best strategy is now. Only having one bike certainly doesn’t simplify things. If I start pushing too hard and it starts raining, we’ll have to adapt as best we can”. Eugene Laverty, who demonstrated a good feeling with the Monza track right away, is also satisfied with the first day of sessions. Sixth in free practice and fourth in the qualifiers, the rider from Northern Ireland, despite some troubles in the first session, lived up to the expectations. Both the synergy with the Aprilia RSV4 and the pace that Eugene showed were excellent. “In the first session we had some small problems which slowed us down, but the qualifiers were just about perfect. I took a lot of laps, almost a full race’s worth, with good times even in the last laps. We still have room for improvement, but the foundation is definitely promising. I already have a better pace than the one that gave me a double win last year, so I’m satisfied with our work today”. More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: Monza Free Practice & Qualifying Practice 1. Friday, 04th May 2012. Weather conditions: Sunny with light clouds in the afternoon. Temperature: Air: 19 22 °C, Track: 39 43 °C Number of riders participating: 22/23 from 12/13 teams Fastest lap Free Practice: Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1:43.042 min Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team) 1:42.327 min It was a perfect Friday for BMW Motorrad at Monza (ITA): In the first qualifying practice for the fourth round of the 2012 FIM Superbike World Championship, four BMW S 1000 RRs were placed in the top 5, with three of them in the first three positions on the provisional starting grid. The Bavarian bike had already shown its potential in the free practice, with BMW Motorrad Motorsport factory rider Leon Haslam (GBR), Michel Fabrizio (ITA) of the BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team and factory rider Marco Melandri (ITA) finishing as the top 3 and Michel’s team mate Ayrton Badovini (ITA) in fifth position. Both factory riders from Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport consistently rode quick lap times, with Marco being quickest and Leon being second for most of the first qualifying practice. Only in the very last minutes did Michel do one faster lap to secure provisional pole position. Only 0.053 seconds behind, Marco qualified provisional second on the grid on his RR with Leon third. Ayrton completed the strong result with fifth position in the first qualifying practice. Save the date: BMW Motorrad Motorsport is delighted to welcome you to a Happy Hour with music, drinks and snacks on Saturday, May 5, 5:30 pm at the BMW Motorrad Motorsport Hospitality in the paddock. Please find the invitation attached. Marco Melandri: Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:43.171 min (P3)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:42.380 min (P2) “It was a good day for us. For Monza, we expected to be closer to the top than before, but today it actually went even better than we thought. I am not one hundred percent happy, because over the race distance I still have some issues with chattering. Today we tried put in as many consecutive laps as possible to understand the cause of the issue and how we can solve it. We also collected some good information for the race. Now I just hope that we have a dry race, and I also hope for good weather in the Superpole because this is a very difficult track in the wet.” Leon Haslam: Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:43.042 min (P1)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:42.523 min (P3) “I am pretty happy with the day. Today, we got through a few things that we wanted to do. This afternoon, we concentrated on race distance, doing longer runs. We started on a ten lap tyre and did another seven or eight laps on it. Even though we did that the times came easily and were close. It is a nice position to be in. We can now work on the little things and do not need to try to solve big things this weekend. Now we have to wait and see what the weather will be like tomorrow. If it is raining, it will be good to get a setting for the wet and then come Sunday, we will have worked in both conditions and be ready for everything.” Andrea Dosoli (Head of Race Operations): “It was a good day for BMW Motorrad, because having four RRs in the top five is amazing. I must say a big Thank You to all the guys in Munich and Stephanskirchen for the hard work they have done. This is the result. It means that the bike is competitive. We have seen already in Assen, and confirmed here, that we have made a step forward. I am really happy about the job done by both riders and their crews today. We knew that these two sessions might be the only ones in dry conditions, so we have been working quite hard in order to evaluate different set-ups and different tyres. We are ready for a dry race. Now we need to keep working hard and be also be prepared for the case that it is wet tomorrow, as the weather forecast is not so good. We also want to congratulate Michel Fabrizio and his team for securing the provisional pole position.” More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: TOP TEN FOR CHECA AND GIUGLIANO (ALTHEA RACING) IN FIRST SBK QUALIFYING AT MONZA Monza (Italy), Friday 4th May 2012: the Althea Racing team and its riders Carlos Checa and Davide Giugliano were greeted by warm and sunny conditions at the Monza racetrack, where the fourth round of the 2012 World Superbike Championship is taking place this weekend. Checa and Giugliano closed today’s first qualifying in ninth and tenth place respectively at the fastest track on the SBK calendar. Checa and Giugliano were out on track this morning for the first free practice session of the weekend. With a track temperature of 39ËšC, both riders worked to refine the set-up of their 1198 bikes ahead of this afternoon’s first qualifying session, using last year’s data as a base from which to work. Concentrating on preparing the bike itself rather than on lap times, Carlos closed in thirteenth position with a best time of 1m44.4 and Davide in fourteenth place, just one tenth of a second behind his team-mate. The first qualifying session was also completed in good conditions. Both Althea flagbearers worked hard to improve on the morning’s performances. In the opening phase, Giugliano dropped his time by more than a second, recording a 1m43.4 which positioned him tenth at the session’s end. Carlos’ times began to fall in the second half of the session; the current world champion registered his fastest time in the final minutes, with a 1m43.3 that put him in ninth position, once again a fraction of a second ahead of his team-mate. The results bode well, especially considering the chances of bad, or at least variable, weather that is forecast for the rest of the weekend. Carlos Checa: “Considering the track, one of those at which we have always had trouble, I’d say that we’ve grown during today’s two sessions. I’ve even improved in T2, a point of the track that usually gives me problems. There are sections where we can definitely make further improvement but, all things considered, I’m satisfied with the work we’ve done so far.” Davide Giugliano: “It went quite well today. This morning we worked hard on the bike, knowing that we needed to do as well as possible this afternoon, in case of rain tomorrow. The important thing is that Carlos and I are the first Ducatis, and it’s no surprise that the four-cylinders are all up ahead. The weather looks like being very changeable but I’m feeling ready and confident whatever the conditions over the rest of the weekend.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Crescent FIXI Suzuki’s World Superbike riders John Hopkins and Leon Camier spent the opening day of practice and qualifying at Monza in Italy learning the circuit and also testing new bike settings. Monza first-timer Hopkins – now fully-fit and recovered from his pre-season injuries – and team mate Camier, made sure of a provisional Superpole place tomorrow afternoon after finishing well within the top 16 today and will both work on testing new settings on their Yoshimura- powered GSX-Rs tomorrow morning, confident of improvement. Today’s quickest time was set by Michel Fabrizio on a BMW as he led home a BMW 1-2-3 at the fastest circuit on the calendar, which also saw the Italian equal the highest speed ever recorded in World Superbikes as he clocked 334.8kmh down the main straight. Hopkins and Camier have one more qualifying session tomorrow morning, followed by the important Superpole in the afternoon where Crescent FIXI Suzuki will be going all out to secure the best grid positions for Sunday’s two races. John Hopkins – 12th, 1:43.576: “I’ve never been to Monza before, so I spent part of the day learning the track. In truth, it’s not a hard track to learn, so once I got it dialled in, I began working on my brake markers. I feel happy because I managed to put in some decent lap times and now I can play with the set up of the bike and try and improve it. We got the Crescent Fixi Suzuki handling well by the end of the afternoon session, but I’m sure there’s more to come if the weather stays dry. Physically I feel great and I’m looking forward to more time on the bike and some good races on Sunday.” Leon Camier – 13th, 1:43.837: “This morning we tried a lot of different things and made a few experiments. Some of the stuff we tried worked and some didn’t, but we understood more about what happens with the changes and we got some ideas about which directions to take. We went towards a more conventional gearing set-up this afternoon and continued our work improving the electronics. The speed trap shows that our bike is down on power compared to our rivals, but I could put in some pretty good times by slipstreaming. Tomorrow, we’ll see if we can get a bit more power and top speed – both very useful at a track like this.” Jack Valentine – Team Manager: “I’m happy because we accomplished our first mission, and that was to have both John and Leon in the top 16 and provisional Superpole. If the weather forecast does what it says and it rains in tomorrow’s qualifying, the times set today will be OK for Superpole. We knew that this weekend would be very hard for us because this track is all about power and speed. Considering that it’s John’s first time here, I think he’s done a good job. I think he would’ve been higher up the standings today if he hadn’t overshot a turn. Hopefully, it will be dry tomorrow and we can continue to improve the bike, but if it rains, then our next step will be to get as high up the grid as we can.”