FIM Superbike World Championship Magny Cours, France October 2, 2009 Qualifying Practice One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati 1098F09) 1:38.770 2. Jonathan Rea (Honda CBR1000RR) 1:38.821 3. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati 1098F09) 1:38.877 4. Ben Spies (Yamaha YZF-R1) 1:38.939 5. Carlos Checa (Honda CBR1000RR) 1:39.379 6. Troy Corser (BMW S1000RR) 1:39.435 7. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki GSX-R1000K9) 1:39.497 8. Jakub Smrz (Ducati 1098R) 1:39.613 9. Fonsi Nieto (Ducati 1098R) 1:39.772 10. Max Biaggi (Aprilia RSV4) 1:39.834 11. Leon Haslam (Honda CBR1000RR) 1:39.900 12. Karl Muggeridge (Suzuki GSX-R1000K9) 1:39.964 13. Broc Parkes (Kawasaki ZX-10R) 1:40.000 14. David Salom (Kawasaki ZX-10R) 1:40.017 15. Tom Sykes (Yamaha YZF-R1) 1:40.048 16. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda CBR1000RR) 1:40.101 17. Leon Camier (Aprilia RSV4) 1:40.103 18. Shane Byrne (Ducati 1098R) 1:40.354 19. Ruben Xaus (BMW S1000RR) 1:40.375 20. David Checa (Yamaha YZF-R1) 1:40.554 21. Luca Scassa (Kawasaki ZX 10R) 1:40.828 22. Roland Resch (Suzuki GSX-R1000K9) 1:41.007 23. Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki ZX-10R) 1:41.496 24. Matteo Baiocco (Ducati 1098R) 1:41.573 25. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Honda CBR1000RR) 1:41.908 26. F. Gentile (Honda CBR1000RR) 1:42.272 More, from a press release issued by InFront Motor Sports: Championship top 4 set cracking pace at Magny-Cours Michel Fabrizio’s magic moment continues as last Sunday’s Imola winner powered to the quickest time in the first Superbike qualifying session at Magny-Cours. The Ducati Xerox rider’s time of 1 minute 38.770 seconds was just three-tenths away from Haga’s best lap of 1’38.444. There was quite a scrap for second place, with Fabrizio managing to hold off Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and the two main title contenders Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) and Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike), with all four separated by 0.169 seconds and the only riders able to lap under the 1’39″mark. Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was back amongst the top echelons with fifth place, ahead of Troy Corser (BMW), the Australian looking much more at ease than Imola on the French track, and Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare), who brought back some morale to the Alstare team. The surprise of the day was Fonsi Nieto (Ducati DFX), who set ninth quickest time, ahead of Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing), victim of a harmless crash. It was a positive debut on the Aprilia RSV4 for BSB champion Leon Camier, the British rider posting 17th quickest time just two-tenths away from Biaggi. Times: 1. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’38.770; 2. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’38.821; 3. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1’38.877; 4. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’38.939; 5. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1’39.379; 6. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’39.435; 7. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1’39.497; 8. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’39.613; 9. Nieto F. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’39.772; 10. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’39.834; 11. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’39.900; 12. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1’39.964; 13. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’40.000; 14. Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’40.017; 15. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’40.048; 16. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1’40.101 Supersport The Supersport free practice session saw a two-way battle between Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com). The Turkish rider, who won at Imola last Sunday, eventually took the top slot with a time of 1 minute 41.885 seconds, holding off his rival by just 14 thousandths of a second. Lascorz also crashed out while trying to set the quickest time. The pace of the top two was far superior to the rest, with Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport) in third place, but seven-tenths behind, while Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) in fifth was almost a whole second off the pace. Massimo Roccoli again went well on the Intermoto Czech Honda in fifth, while the two title rivals Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) and Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport), were seventh and ninth respectively in the timesheets, albeit separated by a fraction. After his Imola crash, Crutchlow did the same today in the hour-long session, fortunately without any consequences. Times: 1. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1’41.885; 2. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’41.903; 3. Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’42.604; 4. Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1’42.851; 5. Roccoli M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’42.927; 6. Veneman B. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 1’42.931; 7. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1’43.022; 8. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’43.032 Superstock 1000 Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox) continued on his way towards the 2009 title in today’s opening free practice session at Magny-Cours. The Belgian rider, who just needs five points to be crowned champion, immediately made his mark with the quickest time of 1 minute 42.621 seconds in the Friday hour. He was quicker than second-placed Ayrton Badovini (JIR Aprilia) by just 0.041 of a second, but the Italian, following his disqualification for a technical infringement at Imola, confirmed the Italian bike’s potential today in Superstock. Third quickest was Claudio Corti (Suzuki Alstare), two tenths off the pace of the leader and Simeon’s only rival in the title race. Corti has always gone well at Magny-Cours and this was confirmed in the session. Behind the top 3 can be found two French riders, Sylvain Barrier (Garnier Yamaha) and Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda). Times: 1. Simeon X. (BEL) Ducati 1098R 1’42.621; 2. Badovini A. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’42.662; 3. Corti C. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1’42.858; 4. Barrier S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’43.084; 5. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1’43.250; 6. Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’43.370; 7. Mähr R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1’44.299; 8. Baroni L. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’44.409 Superstock 600 Two Italians set the pace in today’s Superstock 600 free practice session. The quickest time of 1 minute 46.389 seconds went to Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Trasimeno), who was three-tenths ahead of his team-mate Danilo Petrucci. The points leader, who crashed during the session, soon found his rhythm again to set his quickest time right at the final moment. Third place went to the young French rider Florian Marino (Race Junior Honda), ahead of his fellow-countryman Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Yamaha), while fifth quickest time went to Imola winner, Eddi La Marra (Honda Lorini). Championship challengers Britain’s Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda) and Vincent Lonbois (MTM Yamaha), were in seventh and eighth place respectively. Times: 1. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’46.389; 2. Petrucci D. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’46.666; 3. Marino F. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1’46.871; 4. Guarnoni J. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’46.876; 5. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’46.923; 6. Guittet B. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1’47.012; 7. Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1’47.217; 8. Lonbois V. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 1’47.393 More, from a press release issued by Team Sterilgarda: Shakey Byrne, who made his debut at Magny Cours, worked on bike setup today and will try to improve his time in qualifying practice tomorrow. The After getting to grips with the track in the morning, the British rider had a component problem at the bike which prevented him from performing at his best in qualifying practice later in the afternoon. As a consequence, he finished eighteenth, a position he will try to improve in qualifying and Superpole SHANE BYRNE | Ducati 1098R | 18th in 1’40.354: “II found myself at ease on the track although it’s a new one for me but unfortunately I couldn’t perform at my best. However, we already now what we’re supposed to change and I’m confident I can do well in Superpole”. More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Jonathan Rea set the second fastest time in this afternoon’s opening qualifying session for the penultimate round of the 2009 World Superbike championship at Magny-Cours in France. The 22-year-old Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider was pipped to provisional pole position by just five hundredths of a second by Italian Michel Fabrizio after lapping the 4.41km French circuit in 1’38.821s. Rea’s team-mate, Carlos Checa, was fifth fastest today for a provisional second row start ahead of a further qualifying session tomorrow morning followed by the three-part Superpole to determine grid positions for Sunday’s two 22-lap races. Jonathan Rea P2, 1’38.821s I’m really happy with this start to the weekend because the base setting we brought here from Imola was strong. The middle sector is where we’re having some problems, especially around the long left at turn 6. So, we’ll sit down tonight and see where we can improve things there. I’m happy to be at the top because my lap times have been consistently quick it’s coming naturally and I’ve got into a good rhythm here. I also did two practice starts today, one of which was my best ever! So I hope that’s a good omen for the races. Carlos Checa P5, 1’39.379s After the problems we had at Imola, we need to understand where we were losing time. We’ve just made the normal steps with the bike today some areas are good, some not so good. We’ve got a lot of things to talk about tonight so that we can find some more tenths tomorrow. As Imola showed us, it’s very easy to slip from the top five to something like 12th place because the competition is always so strong. So we need to keep finding something extra because I want to stay at the top tomorrow. Ronald ten Kate team manager It was a good start to the weekend today, although there are still a few areas where we need to improve the bike. From the timing sheets we can see that things are very close, so, even though we are at the front, we’ll have to work as hard as ever to find a few tenths here and there. More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda: Ryuichi Kiyonari battled against the pain of an injured shoulder to set the 16th fastest time in this afternoon’s opening qualifying session for the 13th round World Superbike meeting at Magny-Cours in France. The Japanese ace crashed during free practice this morning while lying in sixth place, damaging the shoulder that he injured during a test at the 4.41km French circuit last season, causing him to miss the two races. Ryuichi Kiyonari P16, 1’40.101s The crash was high-speed but I was sliding along OK when my should was wrenched by something in the gravel, I think. There’s nothing broken and I thought I would be OK this afternoon, so I didn’t take any pain killers. But it was very painful, so I think I will tomorrow. Ronald ten Kate team manager It was a shame for Kiyo-san that he crashed because he was looking quite comfortable in this morning’s free practice. He obviously felt the pain of the shoulder this afternoon, which made it uncomfortable for him on the bike. We hope it will be a little less painful tomorrow and will probably have to give him some pain killers in the morning. More, from a press release issued by Aprilia: SBK: BIAGGI TENTH, CAMIER DEBUTS Just one week after the wonderful round held at Imola, the SBK returned to the track again, this time at the French circuit of Magny Cours. It was a cool, cloudy day and Michel Fabrizio turned in the best time at 1:38:770, ahead of Rea and his teammate Haga. It was tenth place for Max Biaggi with a time of 1:39:834, finishing 1:064 behind the Ducati Factory. During his first experience on the French track, the Roman driver concentrated his work on the quest for the best set-up for his RSV4. And Leon Camier, after Marco Simoncelli, is Shinya Nakano replacement, both at Magny Cours and in the next round at Portimao. The twenty-three year old English driver, fresh from his 2009 BSB National Championship victory, made the most of his two trial rounds in order to familiarize himself and gain confidence with the RSV4, which he had never driven before, as well as with the trans-Alpine track. In the end, he managed to place seventeenth with a time of 1:40:103, 1:333 behind Fabrizio. “We still have a lot of work to do to in order to succeed in doing better,” said Biaggi. “There’s a portion of the track where we’re still losing a lot of time and this really penalizes us. We still have to adjust the suspension and the management of the electronics, obviously never having raced here complicates the work to be done, such as the tuning of the engine and the gears. We’ll need a little time. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.” “I’m very happy,” said Camier. “At the beginning of this experience, I didn’t know what to expect, given that I had never driven this motorcycle, now I realize that the RSV4’s potential is impressive. Now we’re working to find the best alignment for my driving style and I still need some time to improve my feeling with the bike and with the track, but I’m sure I’ll be able to do well this weekend.” More, from a press release issued by Stiggy Racing Honda: Stiggy Racing Honda rider Leon Haslam opened the first day at Magny-Cours by posting the second fastest time in the first free-practice session. Haslam, who rode here last in 2004, quickly found his pace at the 4.441 km long French circuit to further improve his laptimes. He set his fastest time of the day in the afternoon’s qualifying session with a best lap of 1’39.900s. On the opposite side of the garage, progress was steady for Supersport rider Anthony West. The Australian managed to improve step-by-step throughout the 60 min free-practice session but was disappointed to end up in 21st place after first qualifying. Leon Haslam – P11-1’39.900s: 1C;This morning it felt pretty good. I had not been here for five years, and last time it was a cold Ducati day, so come here and put it straight into P2 felt pretty good. We tried a few things, a new tyre that didn 19;t work this afternoon, but all-in-all we went a little bit quicker, we are still up there, and still have a lot to come. I feel pretty confident. 1D; Anthony West – P21- 1’44.639s: “It had my first go at the track today and so I spent most of the first half of the session learning it. I had some problems with my number one bike, leaving me to run my second bike for most of the session. Although we are still too far off the pace and have a long way to go, I still think we found a good direction to continue working in for tomorrow. I like the track so far but there are some corners where I need to learn the braking point to get a better entry. Hopefully we can get my number one bike to work properly for tomorrow and get the speed up. Johan Stigefelt – Team Manager: “Leon has performed well today right from the start, which looks very promising for the weekend ahead. As always there is work that has to be done in order for him to improve but that’s something we will manage for tomorrow 19;s sessions. Anthony is new to this track and is still learning as he is going around. He had some issues with his number one bike, which left him on his second bike for most of the session. That’s not an ideal way to start the weekend but we 19;ll try to sort that out for him so he has a chance to improve tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies enjoyed a good start to the French Superbike weekend, ending his first qualifying session less than two tenths of a second off fastest rider Michel Fabrizio. It was the American rider’s first experience of the Magny Cours circuit, however as normal it took very little time for him to get up to a decent race pace. Team mate Tom Sykes finished the qualifying session in 15th position, just over a second off provisional pole. Sykes made improvements to his set up and speed over the session and with more to come tomorrow was confident of moving up the standings in advance of Sunday’s race. Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (4th, 1’38.939) “It was a good first session, I’ve worked out where the track is going and we’ve been making improvements to the settings over the day. I think we’ve found a good pace for race distance, but there are still a couple of things we can improve on for tomorrow. The track is still a bit slippery in parts, but I still think we can find some more speed for the next session and get up there. For the first day I’m happy.” Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (15th, 1’40.048) “I think we made some improvements in qualifying today, obviously we need more but we’re heading in the right direction. I definitely think there’s a bit more to come from myself and from the bike as well. We’re struggling in a couple of corners, I think if we can sort that problem we will make a big difference. We’ve played with some tyres in that session as well so I think we know what race rubber we’re going to need for Sunday. Tomorrow morning we’ll continue to work on the settings, I certainly feel we can do more tomorrow.” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager “It has been a good day for both riders today. Ben has never raced here so it’s good to see he is still picking up circuits very quickly. To end the day less than two tenths of the fastest rider is not bad. Tom was improving his pace well during the session and I think there is more to come for both riders tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW SPOTS AT MAGNY-COURS FOR DUCATI XEROX MEN FABRIZIO AND HAGA Magny-Cours (France), Friday 2nd October 2009: the penultimate round of the World Superbike Championship commenced this afternoon on the French circuit of Nevers Magny-Cours and the inevitable battle between the championship contenders was immediately evident when Ducati Xerox man, and current leader, Noriyuki Haga closed the first qualifying session in third position, just one tenth of a second faster than Yamaha rider and rival Ben Spies, and one tenth of a second slower than team-mate Michel Fabrizio, the fastest rider on track today. During the morning’s opening free practice session, both Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio immediately got into their rhythm, lapping consistently fast throughout the sixty-minute session and both registering their respective fastest times in the last few minutes. With the fastest fourteen riders lapping within a second of each other, the weekend promises to be characterised by some extremely close racing. Later in the afternoon, in the first of the weekend’s two qualifying sessions, Noriyuki and Michel continued to lap quickly, but both were hindered slightly by a lack of grip in the first section of the track. The Ducati Xerox riders, together with Ben Spies and Honda’s Jonathan Rea, currently the top four riders in the general classification, were the only four riders to lap in under 1m39 this afternoon. Fabrizio ultimately made the quickest lap of the day, just 0.107 of a second faster than team-mate Haga. The Ducati Xerox Team is therefore feeling confident ahead of tomorrow’s Superpole. Michel Fabrizio 1m38.7s “Today I had no particular problems. We found a setting and a tyre that I liked almost right away and I was able to make constant improvement throughout the day. I was losing a couple of tenths in the first split but I think it’s linked more to a characteristic of the four cylinder bikes than to the tyres. Anyway we are very satisfied and hope it bodes well for the rest of the weekend.” Noriyuki Haga 1m38.8s “Well it didn’t go so badly. I am consistently losing a few tenths in the first split, but I hope that by finding more grip I can make up for the lack of top speed. We lost time during the first part of qualifying working with one particular tyre that I wasn’t particulary comfortable with but then, towards the end of the session, we found a better solution and I was able to make some faster laps. The times are all very close but I think I’ll be able to improve on my fastest time tomorrow morning.” TIMES: 1. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1’38.7; 2. Rea (Honda) 1’38.8; 3. Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1’38.8; 4. Spies (Yamaha) 1’38.9; 5. Checa (Honda) 1’39.3; 6. Corser (BMW) 1’39.4; Kagayama (Suzuki) 1’39.4; 8. Smrz (Ducati) 1’39.6