FIM Supersport World Championship Brno, Czech Republic July 25, 2009 Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Cal CRUTCHLOW (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:02.060 2. Eugene LAVERTY (Honda CBR600RR), 2:02.908 3. Joan LASCORZ (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:03.217 4. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:03.220 5. Gianluca NANNELLI (Triumph Daytona 675), 2:03.428 6. Garry MCCOY (Triumph Daytona 675), 2:03.662 7. Fabien FORET (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:03.825 8. Michele PIRRO (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:04.042 9. Massimo ROCCOLI (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.135 10. Anthony WEST (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.192 11. Mark AITCHISON (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.279 12. Miguel PRAIA (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.303 13. Sheridan MORAIS (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:04.458 14. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.463 15. Danilo DELL’OMO (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.503 16. Robbin HARMS (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.608 17. Barry VENEMAN (Honda CBR600RR), 2:05.218 18. Jesco GÃœNTHER (Honda CBR600RR), 2:05.256 19. Arie VOS (Honda CBR600RR), 2:05.273 20. Michael LAVERTY (Honda CBR600RR), 2:05.387 21. Gianluca VIZZIELLO (Honda CBR600RR), 2:05.395 22. Patrik VOSTÁREK (Honda CBR600RR), 2:05.501 23. Matej SMRZ (Triumph Daytona 675), 2:05.536 24. Andrew PITT (Honda CBR600RR), 2:05.667 25. Jason O’HALLORAN (Honda CBR600RR), 2:05.999 More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: Laverty ready for Brno battle PARKALGAR Honda’s Eugene Laverty has secured second place on the front row of the grid ahead of round 10 of the World Supersport Championship at Brno in the Czech Republic. Laverty, who is currently second in the Championship, will be going all out for the race win on Sunday to pull back some points on Cal Crutchlow who is leading the way. A front row start is ideal to allow him to challenge for the race win. His team-mate Miguel Praia produced his best ever qualifying, achieving 12th position which gives him a third row start for the first time. The 5.403km Brno race track suits his riding style so having secured his best qualifying he is now looking for a best ever finish well inside the top ten. The World Supersport race takes place at 1325CET on Sunday, July 26th. Eugene: “That was pretty good; I’m in second place so I’m pleased. The bike has improved a lot and we have found something that I can now push with. The track is really smooth and we’ve got the front working and moving as before it was digging in. Brno is a really flowing track and it is enjoyable to ride. It is hard on rear tyres and everyone is sliding after a few laps. I think at the end of the race whoever has looked after their tyres will be in with a shout.” Miguel: “All weekend we have been challenging for the top 10 so this result is very good. Third row is perfect for us, I’m happy as this is my best ever qualifying. It will be a long race tomorrow and we still want to try a different set-up during morning warm-up. My Parkalgar Honda is strong here and the track suits me.” Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: “From our side it was a good session. Cal obviously has an advantage here as he has already tested at Brno. We have practiced our race pace and have closed down the gap. There will be more to come in the race and we are up for the fight. As for Miguel, that is his best qualifying ever, his aim is to better his best finish of 10th in the race and at this circuit it is more than achievable as it suits his style.” More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda World Supersport team suffered an uncharacteristically poor qualifying session this afternoon as Kenan Sofuoglu and Andrew Pitt prepare for tomorrow’s tenth-round race at Brno in the Czech Republic. Despite topping the timing sheets after a two-day test at Imola last week, Sofuoglu could manage only a fourth row start in 14th place, as Britain’s Cal Crutchlow took pole position at the 5.4km circuit. Sofuoglu’s Australian team-mate and reigning world champion, Andrew Pitt, faired even worse, qualifying 24th. Kenan Sofuoglu P14, 2’04.463s It’s really disappointing to be where we are after last week in Imola. I was actually slower today than yesterday and this morning! We made a very big change in gearing for this afternoon probably the biggest single change that I can remember but it wasn’t enough for today. The potential is there though, so I will stay with this tomorrow and look at all the data with the guys later to try and find some improvement in warm-up. Andrew Pitt P24, 2’05.667s I don’t really know what to say, but it’s been a very difficult day. The big change we made this afternoon didn’t really work and we just didn’t have time to try little changes to find an improvement. I went out on the number two bike but it wasn’t running so well and was also backing into the turns. About the only positive thing I can say is that my practice starts are as good as they’ve ever been, which is a bonus because we’re going to need a big one tomorrow. Ronald ten Kate team manager Yes, not good at all. It’s difficult to understand how we can take the bike from the Imola test, where Kenan was so fast, and then struggle so much here. It shouldn’t really happen, so I think we just need to go back to basics and hope we can find some good things in warm-up tomorrow. More, from a press release issued by ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing: Team ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing puts on another great performance in the qualifying round at Brno as Gianluca Nannelli and Garry McCoy will start from the fifth and sixth place respectively on the grid. The two previous practice sessions enabled the team to find a good bike setup and the riders did the rest. Both Nannelli and McCoy are confident they can perform at their best tomorrow as well, on a track they have had good results in the past. GARRY McCOY | Triumph Daytona 675 | 6th in 2’03.662: “I’m very happy with my qualifying result especially because I improved last year’s time. We’re getting better every day and the latest tests helped us make further steps forward. I’ll start from row 2 so I’ll be able to get in the leading pack right away and later try to do my best in the second part of the race”. GIANLUCA NANNELLI | Triumph Daytona 675 | 5th in 2’03.428: “We fixed the problems we had thanks to some changes we’ve made suspensionwise. Now, when I push the gas the bike doesn’t go wide in mid corner anymore. I’m confident I can improve on my sixth place of last year, I’m only a bit disappointed I didn’t qualify in the front row, although I was very close with 20 seconds to go. Nevertheless, I did some fast laps today so that gives me confidence for the race tomorrow”. More, from a press release issued by Stiggy Racing Honda: Stiggy Racing Honda rider Anthony West finished tenth fastest in the second day of qualifying at Brno and will start Sunday’s 18-lap race from a third row on the grid. West continued where he left off in the morning’s free practice and set out for a front row place at the grid, but despite showing a good race pace, the Australian rider failed to squeeze out a fast lap and closed the qualifying practice tenth fastest. After a promising performance in the opening day of practice at Brno, Gianluca Vizziello struggled to reap the benefits of his updated engine in the qualifying session today, and relegated to an unsatisfying 21st position. Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow once again dominated the sheets in qualifying and took pole position for tomorrow’s tenth round of the World Supersport Championship. Anthony West – 2’04.192s: 1C;What can I say, I am just very disappointed with my results. After topping the sheets in yesterday’s session I was confident of making another step forward today, but we just failed to do so. If I can have a good start in the race tomorrow I can be up there at the front and make up for my low qualifying.” Gianluca Vizziello – 2’05.395s: 1C;I felt really bad today and uncomfortable riding my bike here at Brno. The track proves difficult to ride for me, even though we have tested here recently. We started of well yesterday with our new engine, but today everything just seems to go backwards. I hope we can solve some of the issues we have in the warm-up tomorrow and set out for a good race.” Johan Stigefelt – Team Manager: “I am really disappointed with our results here today. Yesterday things were looking bright and the bikes were working fine. The riders were pleased with the progress and we were confident that we could improve even further. But it was hard to improve the lap times today, and Vizziello even went backwards compared to his performance yesterday. He went 0.6s slower but should have improved at least half a second. We know that the engine and the set-up of the bikes is good and will have to see what we can do tomorrow. Anthony showed a good race pace despite his qualifying results so he should be able to do well in the race.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Two Kawasakis On The Brno Front Row WSS, Brno, Czech Republic, 25 July 2009 The 2009 Ninja ZX-6R powered both Joan Lascorz and Katsuaki Fujiwara to front row starting places at Brno, after a strong showing when it mattered in the lone qualifying session. Lascorz was third quickest, with Fujiwara only 0.003 seconds behind. The team has put two riders on the front row this season already, at Valencia. Pole was once more taken by championship leader Cal Crutchlow, who was almost a second head of second place rider Eugene Laverty. The latest Ninja ZX-6R proved to be over two seconds faster than Fujiwara’s 2008 qualifying pace from last year, boosting the team’s confidence that their development programme is progressing in a consistently and positive fashion. Joan Lascorz: “Yesterday we had some small problems moving the bike around the track but we found a good improvement this morning. In the qualifying session this afternoon we didn’t find exactly the best set-up for the optimum time, however. Crutchlow is very quick but if we find a little help in the warm-up we can definitely be there, fighting with Laverty and the other top guys.” Katsuaki Fujiwara: “All the work we put in yesterday and today has been very good, and every time we have made improvements with the bike. In the end we took a first row start, and I am two seconds per lap faster than I was last year. I am ready for the races tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Yamaha World Supersport sensation Cal Crutchlow kept the heat on in qualifying today, setting an incredible pace to finish the session over eight tenths of second faster than second placed rider Eugene Laverty. Crutchlow was never out of the number one spot for the duration of the session, repeating his performance of the morning’s free practice where he was again nearly a second and a half ahead of the pack. Team mate Fabien Foret was not as fast as yesterday’s free practice session, the French rider struggling to find a good rhythm for the circuit. Foret spent the majority of the qualifying session inside the top five however he dropped a couple of places to seventh for a second row start on the grid tomorrow for the race. Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World supersport Team (1st, 2’02.060) “it wasn’t so bad today considering we only used one set of tyres again. We found the new front tyre to be very good round here so we tried that and stuck to the rear we normally use. I did 15 good laps on them at the end so all good. I think the race will be different, Eugene will be able to tag along and do the pace, I just don’t think he’s showing it today. I had a few moments out there, the wind was really strong and picked me up in a few places when it got under the front wheel and pushed me wide. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow. Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (7th, 2’03.825) “I’m not very happy with seventh position, I think I messed my session up a bit and wasn’t able to manage a fast lap which is a shame. I think it will be better for the race because I’m more consistent then than fast for one lap so we’ll see tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll get a good start and then the race will be ok.” Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager “a couple of good laps again from Cal, he’s definitely ready for tomorrow and was ready to race today. Eugene picked up the pace today so tomorrow we have to fight and try to win it again. From Cal’s point of view I think he has everything under control and the set up is done. Fabien struggled a bit in qualifying, pushing a bit too hard and overshooting some corners, he was struggling to find the rhythm that he had in practice this morning. Second row is not brilliant, he expected to be at least eight tenths faster but couldn’t get it out. We’ll see tomorrow.”