FIM Supersport World Championship Portimao, Portugal October 15 Final Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. David SALOM, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:45.095 2. Broc PARKES, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:45.145 3. Chaz DAVIES, Great Britain (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:45.253 4. Florian MARINO, France (Honda CBR600RR), 1:45.590 5. Massimo ROCCOLI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:45.706 6. Sam LOWES, Great Britain (Honda CBR600RR), 1:45.787 7. Florian FORET, France (Honda CBR600RR), 1:45.877 8. Luca SCASSA, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:45.968 9. Gino REA, Great Britain (Honda CBR600RR), 1:45.988 10. James ELLISON, Great Britain (Honda CBR600RR), 1:46.167 More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: PARKALGAR HONDA’S Miguel Praia is 13th on the grid for tomorrow’s 12th and final round of the World Supersport Championship at his home track of Parkalgar near Portimao in Portugal and is determined to put on the race of his life in front of his fans. Parkalgar Honda’s Sam Lowes is sixth on the grid but has pace in hand as he never pulled together the perfect lap – he is targeting the podium. The race starts at 1330GMT on Sunday, October 16th at the stunning Parkalgar track on the Algarve coast in Portugal. Miguel: “I am a little disappointed with 13th but the quality of the field is better than ever and the times are close. My Parkalgar Honda is working well and we can make it even better for tomorrow so I think we will find more pace. I am always a better racer than qualifier so I am ready for the race – it will be one of the biggest of my life and I want to score a season’s best in front of the Portuguese fans – the best fans in the world.” Sam: “That was a tough qualifying session but the second row is not so bad and we know that we can run with any of the other bikes here. My Parkalgar Honda is a great package and I really want to reward the team with a good result and finish the season on a positive note in front of our fans. It’s incredible for me, I am being welcomed here like I am part of the Portuguese family with so many people wishing me well – thank you and I can assure you that the support makes a difference.” Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: “Miguel is riding very well and 13th is a good position. It is a platform for him to get a good start and then to mix it with the riders in front because he has the pace to challenge them for sure. He has the bike, the team, the support and the ability, it’s going to be a big race for him, he is so motivated. “Sam is in very good shape for the race but is not used to being on the second row in qualifying. He never quite got a clear lap but if he had then he would have been on the front row, the ideal times show that. It’s his last chance this year to show what he can achieve and I am confident he will be challenging for the rostrum again. “If you are Portuguese and like bike racing then please get to Parkalgar tomorrow and support your home team, it’s going to be a great climax to the season.” More, from a press release issued by Bogdanka PTR Honda: BOGDANKA PTR HONDA’S Pawel Szkopek will start from a well-earned 16th place on the fourth row of the grid in tomorrow’s 12th and final round of the World Supersport Championship at Portimao in Portugal and is well placed to score valuable points. James Ellison on the second Bogdanka PTR Honda will start from 10th and is looking to make improvements in morning warm up so he can challenge at the front. The race starts at 1330GMT on Sunday, October 16th at the stunning Parkalgar track on the Algarve coast in Portugal. Pawel: “I am happy with 16th and this is a good position to start. If I get off the line well I can follow and fight with the group in front I am sure. There is nothing more I want than to finish the season with my best result of the year and set a new record for Polish World Championship success. I am fired up and my Bogdanka PTR Honda is a great bike, I can’t wait.” James: “I tried very hard and although we have gone faster than yesterday by a second, we are still looking for more grip. I think everyone is probably the same to be fair. We are looking to find something to give us more speed and that’s the focus for warm-up. Then I want to get as good a start as possible and challenge at the front.” Simon Buckmaster, Bogdanka PTR Honda Team Manager: “Pawel is riding well, probably the best he has all season and is a good and well-deserved 16th on the grid. He has every opportunity to score points and finish the season on a peak. “James is looking for a bit more so he can step up and challenge at the front as he has been in recent rounds. There are some good ideas on how to progress in warm-up and his race pace is already good. He is still a podium contender but will have to dig deep in the race.” More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda: Front row for Marino in Portugal Florian Marino set the fourth fastest time in this afternoon’s World Supersport championship qualifying session at Portimao in Portugal to take a front row start for tomorrow’s final race of the season. Pole position was taken by Spanish rider David Salom, whose team-mate Broc Parkes was second fastest, with recently-crowned champion Chaz Davies in third. Marino’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Fabien Foret had a difficult qualifying session today and suffered a small crash with 30 minutes of the session remaining. His crew got him out again with a little over ten minutes to spare and Foret managed a second row grid slot with the seventh fastest time. Florian Marino P4 1m45.590s I didn’t think that I managed the session very well today because I made many mistakes. I made a lot of laps running wide in some places and it was frustrating for me. We tried a different s etting at the beginning of the session which was not so good so, with our last set of tyres, we went back to this morning’s setting. It was quite slippery with the temperature this afternoon and it took me some time to adapt. Finally I found a clear lap and got on to the front row, which is great. I’d like to make a good warm-up tomorrow and not push too many laps on the brake because that’s where my problem was today. Thanks to the team for all their work today, I hope I can repay them tomorrow. Fabien Floret P7 1m45.877s It was difficult today and the crash didn’t help the session go smoothly because the guys had to spend some time repairing the damage. They did a good job though and allowed me to get out for a few laps at the end to salvage something. It’s still not perfect and we were not able to continue the step forward that was made right at the end of yesterday’s session. But we can try something in warm-up and race day is always a little bit different anyway. Ronald ten Kate team manager Florian has done quite a good job today. A front row start is a great result for him and the team. Fabien had a complicated session with a little crash, but luckily he was able to rejoin and was still able to make his fastest lap. We are not there yet but we’re not far away either, so we’ll keep working tonight to find what we can give both riders for the best possible chance in the final race of the season. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Salom And Parkes Earn A Superb 1-2 In Qualifying WSS, Portimao, Portugal, 15 October 2011 Kawasaki Provec Motocard.com duo David Salom and Broc Parkes qualified ahead of all their many rivals in Portugal, setting up an epic fight as they each now try to take second in the final standings. For Salom qualifying in Portugal has gone well, with his machine well suited to the elevation changes and hot temperatures experienced during some welcome unseasonably hot weather for October. Salom and Parkes pushed each other on, with only new 2011 champion Chaz Davies able to stay close behind them. Parkes made improvements as the weekend went on and nearly nailed a pole lap himself and he declared himself happy to be able to start the final round from the first row. Sunday’s 20-lap Supersport race offers many opportunities to the lead Kawasaki duo, as they are currently tied on points in third and fourth place overall and each have their own designs on going for overall second before Sunday night. In a strong show of prowess by the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R in general, Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki rider Massimo Roccoli posted fifth place in qualifying. Vittorio Iannuzzo, Roccoli’s Lorenzini by Leoni team-mate, was 15th on the grid. David Salom: “A very good performance from our team today and we enjoyed a great starting position. For me pole is very important for tomorrow as this is the last race of the year. I think these kinds of practice lap times will not be possible in the race, but I think we can keep a good pace. Broc, Chaz and other riders are also very fast, and it is all very close. Tomorrow there will be a big fight in the race for the second place in the championship.” Broc Parkes: “Qualifying went all right even though we have not had the best pace all weekend. We made a lot more time up today in the morning and in the afternoon we really arrived. The bike feels quite good but maybe my qualifying lap wasn’t the best one. That said I am happy to be where I am on the grid for the race tomorrow. We’re on the front row, so we cannot complain. Congratulations to David and I think we gave each other a good ‘race’ in qualifying, but we’ll see what happens tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Yamaha ParkinGO riders to start the final race of the season from first and second rows Yamaha ParkinGO riders Chaz Davies and Luca Scassa will start tomorrow’s season finale race at Portimao from first and second rows on the Portuguese grid. Chaz Davies has already snatched the WSS championship title since the last round in Magny Cours but the Yamaha ParkinGO team is determined to claim the Manufacturer’s title tomorrow with Yamaha currently holding a significant 12 point lead in the standings. In search of better grip ahead of tomorrow’s race, Chaz Davies 2011 World Supersport Champion, made the most of the morning’s free practice session to make various changes to his R6 set up. Having found a better solution, the Welshman proceeded this afternoon to better his lap times and dominated the time sheets mid-session before wrapping up the day in third place just 0.158 off pole position. Team-mate Luca Scassa had a less successful second qualifying session this afternoon. A minor crash after just two laps in the second qualifying session caused the Italian to lose out on valuable track time while his machine was being repaired. Heading back out with just 4 minutes to go, Scassa managed to complete a further three laps and secure eighth place and second row on tomorrow’s grid. Despite the little track time this afternoon, the Yamaha ParkinGO rider is confident that he made important steps in the morning’s free practice sessions and will be strong enough to fight for a podium in tomorrow’s final race of the 2011 season. The Yamaha ParkinGO Team aim to add another race win to their spectacular list of achievements this year, having scored an astounding eight race victories from the 11 rounds already completed. Chaz Davies Yamaha ParkinGO Team – 3rd, 1’45.253 “We still have some fine tuning to do on the front of the bike in tomorrow’s warm up session but everything else seems to be quite good. We made great progress today and I’m confident ahead of tomorrow’s race. I’m aiming for a one final race win to add to my achievements this year and I’m sure we have the competitive package it takes. I’ll give it my best shot but it’s nice to know that I’ve nothing to lose.” Luca Scassa Yamaha ParkinGO Team – 8th, 1’45.968 “Unfortunately when I was on my way into the pit box, I came across another rider going quite slow, I widened my lines and tried to overtake on the inside but I bumped into him and crashed. It was disappointing and I lost out on a lot of track time as a consequence. The team worked in record time to repair the bike so I could get back out there and improve lap times just before the end of the session. I really want to race to win tomorrow and I’m pretty sure that I can be up there fighting at the top and I expect to be stronger in the second half of the race.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha ParkinGO Team: Yamaha ParkinGO is ready for the last race of the season of the World Supersport Championship. Race that the team will handle with exactly the same determination. The world Champion, Chaz Davies, will start from third place, after two sessions of great work to improve the feeling of the bike. A crash caused by slower rider has stopped Scassa to battle for the first row of the starting grid. The Italian rider in eighth position, is ready for tomorrow’s race confident after the last session of yesterday where he got a good set up on his R6. Chaz Davies – Yamaha YZFR6 #7 – “My goal for tomorrow is to fight for victory. During the free and qualifying practice we have been able to solve almost all the problems. Tomorrow morning, we only want to do a little adjustment on the front but I think we have a good chance to increase my number of victories.” Luca Scassa – Yamaha YZF R6 #9 – “While I was on the in lap I found a rider going really slow. He was out of the race line so I decided to pass him through the inside, but suddenly he cut the corner and bumped on me, making me crash. The mechanics have done an excellent job rebuilding my bike allowing me to do a couple of laps at the end of the qualifying session. My goal is to fight for victory and I am confident of my skills for the second part of the race.”