FIM Superbike World Championship Nurburgring, Germany September 4, 2009 Provisional Qualifying Results (wet conditions, all on Pirelli tires): 1. Jonathan REA (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:11.278 2. Tom SYKES (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2:11.781 3. Troy CORSER (BMW S1000 RR), 2:12.086 4. Michel FABRIZIO (Ducati 1098F09), 2:12.354 5. Noriyuki HAGA (Ducati 1098F09), 2:12.635 6. Shane BYRNE (Ducati 1098R), 2:12.819 7. Leon HASLAM (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:12.979 8. Jakub SMRZ (Ducati 1098R), 2:13.089 9. Ryuichi KIYONARI (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:13.215 10. Luca SCASSA (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:13.238 11. Richard COOPER (BMW S1000 RR), 2:13.391 12. Carlos CHECA (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:13.550 13. Ben SPIES (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2:13.898 14. Max BIAGGI (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 2:13.928 15. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 2:14.073 16. Matteo BAIOCCO (Ducati 1098R), 2:14.075 17. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 2:14.214 18. Matthieu LAGRIVE (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:14.653 19. Shinya NAKANO (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 2:14.791 20. Makoto TAMADA (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:14.954 21. John HOPKINS (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:15.249 22. David CHECA (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2:15.913 23. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:17.332 24. Fonsi NIETO (Ducati 1098R), 2:17.539 25. David SALOM (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:17.896 26. Broc PARKES (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:17.965 27. Roland RESCH (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 2:18.830 More, from a press release issued by Infront Motorsports: Brits Rea and Sykes revel in poor conditions at Nurburgring British riders Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Tom Sykes (Yamaha World Superbike) revelled in the poor conditions in today’s opening qualifying session at the Nurburgring. Braving the cold, wind and the rain at the German circuit Rea posted the quickest time of the day in 2 minutes 11.278 seconds to head the timesheets. The Northern Ireland youngster was half-a-second ahead of Sykes, who also pirouetted his YZF machine at one of the slower corners on his first visit to the circuit. An impressive third place went to Australian Troy Corser, who made further progress for BMW at the German manufacturer’s home race. Another British rider, youngster Richard Cooper, standing in for the injured Ruben Xaus, put in an impressive eleventh quickest time on the second BMW. Both Ducati Xerox riders were well up in the timesheets. Michel Fabrizio was in fourth place while Noriyuki Haga shrugged off any residual damage from his recent injury to take fifth, three-tenths behind his team-mate. Sterilgarda Ducati’s Shane Byrne also came off his 1098 machine during the session but was able to post the sixth quickest time of the day, ahead of Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda), Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) and Ryuichi Kiyonari (Ten Kate Honda). Italian Luca Scassa made up the top 10 with a confident performance in the damp conditions on his Kawasaki Pedercini ZX10R. For the moment championship challenger Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) is down in 13th place as he gets to grips with another circuit he has never raced on before, one place ahead of Brno winner Max Biaggi on the first of the Aprilias, the Italian focusing on setting up the bike for tomorrow’s decisive sessions. Suzuki Alstare’s stand-in rider Karl Muggeridge was fifteenth quickest but would surely have improved had he not crashed out five minutes from the end. Times: 1. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2’11.278; 2. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 2’11.781; 3. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 2’12.086; 4. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2’12.354; 5. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 2’12.635; 6. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 2’12.819; 7. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2’12.979; 8. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 2’13.089; 9. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 2’13.215; 10. Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2’13.238; 11. Cooper R. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 2’13.391; 12. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 2’13.550; 13. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 2’13.898; 14. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2’13.928; 15. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2’14.073; 16. Baiocco M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2’14.075 Supersport Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) powered to the first two places in today’s single free practice session. Heavy rain at the start faded by the end, allowing the Supersport riders to get their times down, but the points leader and his Turkish rival proved to have an extra gear and Crutchlow went quickest with a time of 2 minutes 13.170 seconds. The rest were some way behind, Garry McCoy leading the chasing pack on his ParkinGo Triumph 675, but almost two seconds off the pace. McCoy grabbed third by just a whisker from newly-crowned Italian champion Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini), while Mark Aitchison (Honda Althea), Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Provec), Anthony West (Stiggy Racing Honda) and Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) made up the next four places. Crutchlow’s title rival Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) was some way off the pace in ninth place, over three seconds behind Cal. Times: 1. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 2’13.170; 2. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 2’13.480; 3. McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 2’15.119; 4. Pirro M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 2’15.120; 5. Aitchison M. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2’15.675; 6. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’15.688; 7. West A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2’15.861; 8. Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2’15.863 Superstock 1000 The rain also conditioned the free practice session for the Superstock 1000 riders, but points leader Xavier (Ducati Xerox) appeared not to have any problems as he powered to the front with a time of 2 minutes 15.737 seconds The next man, second-placed Javier Fores (Kawasaki Pedercini) was a full 2.5 seconds down, with Sylvain Barrier (Garnier Yamaha) in third. Both Simeon’s rivals were in difficulty, Claudio Corti (Suzuki Alstare Brux) stuck in seventh but 6 seconds slower than the Belgian, with Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda) one place further back. Times: 1. Simeon X. (BEL) Ducati 1098R 2’15.737; 2. Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2’18.226; 3. Barrier S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 2’18.844; 4. Lammert D. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2’19.269; 5. Lowes A. (GBR) MV Agusta F4 312 R 2’20.440; 6. Antonelli A. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 2’21.501; 7. Corti C. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2’21.801; 8. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 2’22.029 Superstock 600 Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Trasimeno) was the quickest on the first day of action in the European Superstock 600 category. The Italian was three-tenths faster than Britain’s Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda) and eight-tenths quicker than points leader, team-mate Danilo Petrucci. The next place went to Belgian Vincent Lonbois (MTM Yamaha), making it four of the title contenders in the top 4., while the fifth contender, Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Yamaha), was in eighth. Times: 1. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 2’24.259; 2. Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 2’24.579; 3. Petrucci D. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 2’25.173; 4. Lonbois V. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 2’25.243; 5. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 2’25.353; 6. Von Gunten C. (SUI) Suzuki GSX-R600 2’27.188; 7. Morelli N. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 2’27.434; 8. Guarnoni J. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 2’27.966 More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea set the fastest time in today’s wet opening qualifying session for Sunday’s 11th-round World Superbike championship races at Nurburgring in Germany. The 22-year-old spent most of the hour-long session some of which was held in torrential rain at the top of the timing sheets with a comfortable 1.5-second margin. The gap was reduced to half a second by Britain’s Tom Sykes right at the end of the session, but Rea remained comfortably the fastest rider today. His team mate, Carlos Checa looked to be heading for a provisional front row slot with his final lap. He was slowed by another rider at the final chicane but remains comfortable in the progress made in today’s sessions. Jonathan Rea P1, 2’11.278s I thought the guys in the team would have rested during the summer break but it seems they’ve been working right through, developing new things to try. We’ve been working on how the rear behaves on corner entry and the work they’ve done has helped a lot, especially in the wet today. We did a lot of laps to confirm things but I really think we’re just scratching the surface of the potential we have it really is working. I’m feeling really at ease on the bike and with the whole way the team is working together. If I have a problem, I come in, we fix it, and I go faster again. It’s feeling really good. Carlos Checa P1, 2’13.550s We worked on wet settings throughout today and the important thing is that the balance of the bike, the overall feeling on the brakes was all good. I didn’t want to risk too much in the conditions today but the last lap was OK until I got to the final chicane where another rider almost high-sided and crashed in front of me. I though I might get another lap in but the flag was down. I hope we can get some dry track time tomorrow because the forecast for Sunday is for dry conditions. Ronald ten Kate team manager It was good to see both riders up to speed today. Jonathan was clearly on it from the very first moment with his bike and some new settings and he fully attacked Friday! Tomorrow may be a different ball game with some dry track time and Sunday is showing a fully dry forecast. It’s good to see that the progress we were making before the summer break is being maintained here and we look forward to some more tomorrow. More, from a press release issued by Team Sterilgarda: Shane Byrne set the sixth fastest provisional time in today’s first qualifying. The Sterilgarda BRC Racing rider displayed a great performance despite having to finish practice ahead of time due to a slip without consequences. It was a typical rainy autumn day throughout the entire first practice session and qualifying practice that the riders employed trying to find the right setup in case of rain. However, good weather is forecast tomorrow which will probably have an impact on the starting grid. SHANE BYRNE | Ducati 1098R | 6th in 2’12.819: “I knew I could I improve my time but I just didn’t get to race an entire lap whitout being slowed down by other riders. Unfortunately, when I pushed the gas I lost control of the bike and crashed to the ground. I’m nonetheless happy with what we’ve done today. However, if tomorrow we’ll race on a dry track, it’s very important that we get the right setup in order for us to reach Superpole. We’ll then focus on the race and the Superpole stage in the afternoon practice session”. More, from a press release issued by Stiggy Racing Honda: Stiggy Racing Honda’s Leon Haslam had never been to Nurburgring before, but found enough similarities with his favourite English track Cadwell Park, to place himself in seventh position in the first day of qualifying for the eleventh round of the championship at the German track. In cold and wet weather conditions the Superbike riders made their first appearance on track after their six-week summer break. Englishman Leon Haslam parked himself firmly at the top of the sheets in the opening minutes of the afternoon’s qualifying session and showed that he has mastered the track in just a short time. Heavy rain halted the session midway just after Jonathan Rea snatched the pole-position. Leon Haslam went out again in the last minutes of the session on a drying track in attempt to further sharpen his fastest time of 2’12.979s. John Hopkins is another newcomer to the Nurburgring and was pushing hard to adapt to the German track in the two 60-mintes sessions. Technical issues and heavy rainfall limited his track time in the first day of qualifying, and the american closed his first sessions in a best time of 2’15.249s. Leon Haslam – 2’12.979s: 1C;I am pretty happy with today’s sessions. I went straight out of the box with some ideas to improve the set-up we used in the first session this morning and managed to set the fastest time. Johnny managed to improve my time before the rain came in and put me to second place. We tried a few things right at the end that might work. I am not sure where we ended up, but we are not that far off and I am pretty confident of further improvement tomorrow.” John Hopkins – 2’15.249s: 1C;It was just freezing conditions here today. We made a lot of changes from this morning when we encountered a few technical problems that kept us of the track for the first half hour of the session. It started to pour down halfway the second session and sat out the downpour. In the final minutes I went back out again after we made some changes to the suspension, but it was too late to push for a better lap time. I am positive we can improve tomorrow.” Johan Stigefelt – Team Manager: “We have had a good first day if qualifying. Leon has been doing very well in the wet in his first outing on the track and is getting better and better every lap. His crew made some changes towards the end of the qualifying session that didn’t work out as they had planned. But he had a good start here and I am confident he will improve more. John is taking it step for step and is not rushing into things at the moment. He also makes his first appearance at this track. I expect him to be up to speed as well tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda: Ten Kate Honda Racing’s Ryuichi Kiyonari earned himself a provisional top ten grid position for Sunday’s two 11th-round World Superbike championship races at Nurburgring by setting the ninth fastest time in today’s opening qualifying session. Provisional pole position was taken by Kiyonari’s Ten Kate Honda team-mate Jonathan Rea but the Japanese ace worked steadily with his crew today to make improvements to his Honda Genuine Accessories backed CBR1000RR Fireblade. The 5.13km Nurburgring circuit in Germany is the second circuit at which Kiyonari has used the team’s new Ohlins suspension and he and his crew declared themselves satisfied with the progress made today. Ryuichi Kiyonari P9, 2’13.215s My lap timer stopped working towards the end of the qualifying session but I think my last lap was looking OK until I nearly highsided at the final chicane and I was lucky not to crash. We made some progress today and the feeling is definitely continuing to improve, step by step. The new suspension is still a challenge, especially in the conditions we had today, but we are making forward steps maybe two steps forward and then one back. But it is in the right direction! Ronald ten Kate team manager Kiyonari-san is definitely showing that he is getting to grips with the new components a lot better now. During the summer break we spent a lot of time analysing data and creating new suspension settings. The work definitely paid off for Kiyo today and we’re looking for further improvements tomorrow. More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: TROY THIRD IN THE WET! Both practice and qualifying sessions took place in the wet at the Nurburgring today, but Troy rode superbly and took third position despite the difficult conditions. Richard Cooper, his team mate this weekend, managed to embarrass many of the established stars by finishing in eleventh position – all on his World Superbike debut. Briton Jonathan Rea Honda) took provisional pole, with a time of 2:11.278, with fellow countryman Tom Sykes (Yamaha) second. Troy – 3rd, 2:12.086 It was full wets all day today and conditions were not so easy. Halfway through the afternoon session it rained so hard and there was a lot of standing water around and it was dangerous to stay out so I pulled in instead. It’s funny because this track has two different surfaces – the old part and the newer part – and the grip level in the wet on the old part is actually better than the new part. I am quite happy because I feel that the connection between the throttle and the engine now feels very direct and so the bike is easier to ride. The power delivery feels more smooth and I am really looking forward to riding the bike in the dry – hopefully tomorrow. I had a bit of a slide on my final lap and lost some time, otherwise I would’ve ended second for sure. Richard – 11th, 2: 13.391 I am really enjoying this experience and it’s so nice to walk into the garage and feel that everybody is 100% behind me. That makes me happy and that makes my job easier. I supposed the rain played into my hands a bit, but it felt good to go faster than a lot of the regular riders. I crashed because of the standing water in one part of the track in first practice. The back end just came round without warning and I couldn’t save it. I’ve got a bit of a sore backside, but otherwise I’m OK. Berti Hauser (Director BMW Motorrad Motorsport) I am more than happy how today has gone and think both riders have done a superb job. Troy has returned from the summer break smiling and that is giving the whole team a boost. This is Richard’s first WSBK race and he has done an excellent job. His crash was just a slow speed fall in difficult conditions and could’ve happened to anybody. He is very professional and is working very well with all the guys and today he should be happy because he finished in front of many of the top guys. More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: STRONG START FOR THE DUCATI XEROX TEAM AT A COLD AND WET NURBURGRING Nurburgring (Germany) Friday 4th September: The German Superbike race weekend got off to a damp start with both the free practice and first qualifying sessions characterised by grey skies and a persistent rain, with temperatures in the region of 12-14°C. The Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio have both returned from the summer break more determined than ever in a championship that is still wide open and so, despite the adverse conditions, they didn’t waste any time in getting back to grips with their Ducati 1198 machines. Noriyuki made consistent progress throughout the first hour to close the session with the fastest overall time, while Michel and his team spent time making modifications to the set-up, concluding free practice in ninth place. Later in the afternoon, the first qualifying session was also conditioned by rain but despite this almost all the Superbike riders were able to improve on the times set in free practice, Noriyuki and Michel included. The two Ducati Xerox riders thus closing day one in a promising fourth (Michel) and fifth place (Noriyuki). Michel Fabrizio 2m12.3s “I am fairly satisfied for now. It’s always difficult in these unpredictable conditions but I guess the weekend will be conditioned by this type of weather. We’ve made good progress however and I hope I can further improve the feeling I have on the wet tomorrow morning, as we’ve already seen that several riders are going strong here in the rain. With the tyres we don’t have much choice, only the soft compound gave me confidence and I made 23 laps on the same tyre to evaluate its wear. I hope for two dry races but even if it’s wet I feel I’ll be competitive.” Noriyuki Haga 2m12.6s “I’m feeling fairly comfortable on the bike and the testing we did earlier this week in Mugello has definitely benefitted me because my shoulder is feeling a lot better and hasn’t bothered me too much today in these cool conditions. During those tests we tried different set-ups and decided on the best path to follow this weekend. So far it’s been going ok in the rain but of course we don’t know how it will be tomorrow. I’m looking to ride in the dry on Sunday but it’s impossible to predict.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Team Suzuki Alstare Brux riders Yukio Kagayama and Karl Muggeridge took things steadily in practice and qualifying today at a rain-lashed World Superbike Championship round at Nurburgring. Qualifying was blighted by heavy rain and hailstones and the standing water on many parts of the 5.148 kilometre circuit caused many problems. In the end, Muggeridge finished 15th fastest and Kagayama 17th. Jonathan Rea (Honda) splashed his way to the day’s quickest lap, with fellow Briton Tom Sykes (Yamaha) second and Aussie Troy Corser (BMW) third. Karl Muggeridge – 15th, 2:14.073: “Despite the conditions, today has been good and it has been great working with this bunch of guys and I’m happy how the day went. My biggest problem today was entering the corners and every time it felt like the back end was coming round. But we have some solutions to try tomorrow and we’ll see what happens then. This track has two different parts – an old part and a newer part – and the interesting thing is that the grip feels better in the old part! There was a lot of standing water around this afternoon and when I crashed it was when the back came round suddenly at a downhill corner. I managed to save it at first, but then the front gripped and I was down. Fortunately I wasn’t hurt, but it has given the mechanics some extra work to do on the bike.” Yukio Kagayama – 17th, 2; 14.214: “I did not want to take any chance or do anything stupid in the rain, so I was steady in both practice and qualifying. There was a lot of water in many places on the track and it was difficult to know the grip level in those areas so I used caution. Basically, I feel today was not so bad, but I did not have a lot of feel from the front end and that made entering the turns not so easy. I hope it is dry tomorrow because I think we can make a lot of improvement in better conditions.” Friday WSB Qualifying: 1 Rea (GBR-Honda) 2:11.278, 2 Sykes (GBR- Yamaha) 2:11.781, 3 Corser (AUS-BMW ) 2:12.086, 4 Fabrizio (ITA-Ducati) 2:12.354, 5 Haga (JPN-Ducati) 2:12.635, 6 Byrne (GBR-Ducati) 2:12.819. 15 Karl Muggeridge (AUS-Suzuki Alstare Brux) 2:14.073. 17 Yukio Kagayama (JPN-Suzuki Alstare Brux) 2:14.214. WORLD SUPERSTOCK: Team Suzuki Alstare Brux rider Claudio Corti rode with caution and ended the first day of practice at a soggy Nurburgring with the seventh fastest time. Series leader Xavi Simeon (Ducati) took provisional pole with Javi Fores (Kawasaki) second and Sylvain Barrier (Yamaha) third. Claudio Corti – 7th, 2:21.801: “It was not so easy out there today and the conditions made it hard for all of us. I did not want to risk anything today so I rode fairly cautiously and so I am not bothered about my lap times because I know I can improve – wet or dry. I had no big problems but the grip level was different in different parts of the track and it would’ve been so easy to crash. We tried some new suspension today, but the front was more of a dry set-up than wet, so it wasn’t right for the conditions. I am confident of improvement tomorrow and I am hoping that it will be dry so I can push a lot harder.” Friday Superstock Qualifying: 1 Simeon (BEL-Ducati) 2:15.737, 2 Fores (ESP-Kawasaki) 2:18.226, 3 Barrier (FRA-Yamaha) 2:18.844. 7 Claudio Corti (ITA-Suzuki Alstare Brux) 2:21.801. More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY SPLASHES HIS WAY TO A SUPERB THIRD IN THE WET! Today’s practice and qualifying sessions at the Nurburgring took place in the wet, with the afternoon qualifying blighted by heavy and even hailstones! Despite the appalling conditions Troy rode superbly and ended the day with the third fastest time. And it so easily could’ve been second! On his final lap of the day, Troy suffered a rear end slide at the final chicane and lost some time. Were it not for that, Troy would’ve taken second spot for sure. Briton Jonathan Rea (Honda) took provisional pole, with a time of 2:11.278, with fellow countryman Tom Sykes (Yamaha) second. Troy – 3rd, 2:12.086 Conditions weren’t so good today and all I can say is that it was wet! Actually the grip level was not too bad, but definitely a bit better on the old surface than the new part. The rain really came down about halfway through qualifying and I pulled in because the standing water made it too dangerous to continue. The bike seems to have made another little step forward since Brno and it is easier to ride than earlier in the season for sure. My connection feeling between the throttle and the engine is now very direct and the power delivery feels nice and smooth and I am enjoying riding the bike, even in these conditions! I reckon I would’ve finished with the second fastest lap, if it had not been for a bit of a slide on my final lap. I hope tomorrow is dry because I am looking forward to riding the bike flat-out and seeing how much the team have improved the bike since last time out.