Aprilia’s Max Biaggi snuck in one last lap on his RSV4 Factory during Friday’s World Superbike qualifying session at Miller Motorsports Park, and that lap, a 1:49.820, took him to the top of the time charts and earned him the provisional pole position. Sterilgarda Yamaha Motor Italia’s Ben Spies had moved into the top spot late in the session with a string of fast laps, his best being a 1:49.901, but Biaggi’s late flyer knocked the American down to second. HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s Carlos Checa, the winner of both World Superbike races at Miller last year, continued his strong run of form in the qualifying session with a third-fastest 1:50.144. The fourth-fastest rider was Guandalini Racing’s Jakub Smrz, who lapped the 3.0-mile course in 1:50.282 on his customer-spec Ducati 1098RS. Xerox Ducati’s Michel Fabrizio was ninth with a 1:51.836 during practice, but he improved to fifth with a 1:50.457 in qualifying. Fill-in rider Jamie Hacking also improved his position in qualifying, when he did a sixth-best 1:50.457 on his factory Kawasaki ZX-10R. In spite of never riding at Miller Motorsports Park before Friday, Sterilgarda Ducati’s Shane Byrne kept himself firmly in the top 10 with a 1:50.512, the seventh-quickest time. Suzuki Alstare Brux’s Yukio Kagayama suffered a huge highside crash during qualifying but was able to return to the pits and record a 1:50.556 (eighth) on his second GSX-R1000. Ten Kate Honda’s Ryuichi Kiyonari was ninth in provisional qualifying with a 1:50.701 on his CBR1000RR, and Checa’s teammate Jonathan Rea rounded out the top 10 qualifiers with a 1:50.740. Superbike World Championship leader Noriyuki Haga shaved a second from his best time (1:51.799 to 1:50.755), but that was only good enough for 11th in provisional qualifying. American Jake Zemke, riding the Stiggy Racing Honda in place of injured countryman John Hopkins, qualified 16th with a 1:51.072, just 1.252 seconds behind the fastest time. The World Superbike riders will have a final timed qualifying session Saturday morning to determine which 20 riders will proceed to the three-round knock-out Superpole Saturday afternoon. FIM Superbike World Championship Miller Motorsports Park Tooele, Utah May 29, 2009 Provisional Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Max Biaggi (Apr RSV4 Factory), 1:49.820 2. Ben Spies (Yam YZF-R1), 1:49.901 3. Carlos Checa (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:50.144 4. Jakub Smrz (Duc 1098RS), 1:50.282 5. Michel Fabrizio (Duc 1098F09), 1:50.457 6. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:50.466 7. Shane Byrne (Duc 1098RS), 1:50.512 8. Yukio Kagayama (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:50.556, crash 9. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:50.701 10. Jonathan Rea (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:50.740 11. Noriyuki Haga (Duc 1098F09), 1:50.755 12. Karl Muggeridge (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:50.757 13. Troy Corser (BMW S1000 RR), 1:51.002 14. Gregorio Lavilla (Duc 1098RS), 1:51.046 15. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:51.072 16. Ruben Xaus (BMW S1000 RR), 1:51.216 17. Shinya Nakano (Apr RSV4 Factory), 1:51.228 18. Tom Sykes (Yam YZF-R1), 1:51.387 19. Leon Haslam (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:51.389 20. Luca Scassa (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:51.430, crash 21. David Salom (Yam YZF-R1), 1:51.577 22. Lorenzo Lanzi (Duc 1098RS), 1:51.596 23. Tommy Hill (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:51.821 24. Fonsi Nieto (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:52.037 25. Erwan Nigon (Yam YZF-R1), 1:52.932 More, from a press release issued by Team Sterilgarda: Team Sterilgarda had a great day 1 as Byrne set the seventh fastest time in the first qualifying session of the US round. “Shakey” got a good result despite the fact he did not know the track. He hopes to improve tomorrow when the three rounds of the Superpole will determine the starting grid for Sunday’s race. Byrne confirmed team manager Marco Borciani’s prediction who saw him at his ease on this track. However, the gap between the front runners is not very big and the order of the starting grid could change dramatically. SHANE BYRNE | Ducati 1098R | 7th in 1’50.512: “I’m happy with what we did today. We got on the track with two bikes each of which had a completely different setup and so we know now what we’re supposed to do. In this afternooon’s session we chose a setup that fits my style and I actually was almost as fast as the top riders. I hope to do the same thing in both practice and qualifying tomorrow”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Spies shows there’s no place like home in the Utah sunshine As the Superbike riders got down to the first day of qualifying at the Miller circuit today it was no surprises for Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies as he showed the form that’s seen him win here in five of his last six visits in the AMA Championship. The Texan’s smooth lines and confident pace saw him finish the first free practice session of the day top of the leader boards. The afternoon qualifying session saw much of the same as Spies laid down consistently fast laps to end the day one place off provisional pole with a time of 1’49.901. Team-mate Tom Sykes spent the free practice session working hard to familiarize himself with what is another new circuit for him in the 2009 championship. The afternoon’s qualifying saw him capitalize on the earlier session, finding an extra second and a half through qualifying whilst he worked hard with his team to find a good set up for the track. Ben Spies Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (2nd, 1’49.901) “today went really good, we got down to some decent times and we were working on the race set up. We definitely can improve it though. We were stuck with the gearbox setting today and didn’t have time to change it before the end of the session, it wasn’t ideal but it was good to get some good times with what we had. Tomorrow we’ll go in and make some changes with the bike and come out swinging.” Tom Sykes Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (19th, 1’51.387) “It was quite a steady day, but I think we have a lot of improvements to make. We found 1.5 seconds in the last session from this morning which is great, I’m sure we can make another significant step tomorrow. We’ll go to bed tonight, have time to sleep on it and think about the circuit, take it all in and am pretty confident the boys and I will have something even better tomorrow.” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team “Part of the day went well for us. We have some more time to spend on Tom’s side. The track is not so easy to learn and it’s his first time riding here. We will maybe make some comparisons between Tom and Ben and help Tom find where he’s missing something on the lap. We will continue to work hard on both sides of the garage to find improvements for tomorrow’s sessions.” More, from a press release issued by Stiggy Racing Honda: First day of Superbike qualifying at Miller Motorsports Park High temperatures and moderate lap times opened the first day of qualifying for the Stiggy Honda squad in the seventh round of the Superbike World Championship at the Miller Motorsports Park in Utah today. Leon Haslam and Jake Zemke, who is wearing the Stiggy colours for the second time, substituting the injured John Hopkins, started their first laps around the 4.907 km long track in Utah in a moderate but positive way. Haslam showed his pace and rhythm are not so bad, but is still looking for the adjustments to further improve his lap times and find the connection with the front of the field. The Miller Sports Park is a regular feature in the AMA championship, and Jake Zemke used his experience on the Utah track to find a good set up for his bike and aim for his first Superpole qualifying tomorrow. Max Biaggi topped the sheets on his Aprillia in 1’49.820s, while Jake Zemke finished the first day of qualifying in a best time of 1’51.072s, closely followed by Leon Haslam in 1’51.389s. Jake Zemke, 1’51.072s: ” It has been an encouraging day. We have definitely made a lot of progress with the bike from where we started at. We kept on moving forward, but it is a tough series. Just when you think you’ve improved half of a second, the rest of the field does the same. We are definitely working in the right direction and have some good ideas for tomorrow. I am a lot more comfortable riding the bike this time, than I did in Monza. The team is working hard to give me the settings I am more familiar with. We still have some time to improve, but we are getting closer to where we should be.” Leon Haslam, 1’51.389s: ” I had a problem with one of my bikes in the first Free Practice session. We are not sure what it is yet, but will work on sorting that out tonight. For some reason, we seem to struggle a little with the set up of the bike on this track. I have done a lot of in-and-out laps, and towards the end I was able to put in consistently fast laps. We are still 1.5s off the time we should be riding, but to be able to ride consistently fast lap times is a good thing on this track. I hope we can make a leap forward tomorrow in the second qualifying. ” Johan Stigefelt, Team Manager: “Jake is doing a good job here on the track he knows well. We have some issues with the suspension of the bikes, specially with Leon’s machine. He is far off from where he should be at the moment. We will be working on that overnight and prepare a better machine for tomorrow’s session. It is Leon’s first outing on this track and with this team, but even though, we should be able to progress to the front of the field. We will consider this day as a learning day and use the data we have collected now to further improve and do better tomorrow. More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Checa on provisional front row Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Carlos Checa today earned himself a provisional front row starting position for Sunday’s two seventh round World Superbike championship races at Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City, USA. In hot conditions with track temperatures around 52 degrees, the Spanish ace set the third fastest time in this afternoon’s first qualifying session, with Italian Max Biaggi taking provisional pole position for the two 21-lap races around the 4.9km Miller circuit. On his first visit to the circuit, Checa’s team-mate, Jonathan Rea, who was on the podium last time out at Kyalami in South Africa, set the tenth fastest time this afternoon and is confident of improvement in tomorrow’s qualifying and Superpole sessions. Carlos Checa P3, 1′ 50.144s Well, it looks like we’re on the pace at the moment. As we know from last year, the track suits the whole package really well but I think it will be a lot more difficult this year. Ben (Spies) and Max (Biaggi) are up there, too, and I’m sure Haga will come good tomorrow as well. But we have the speed and consistency of speed, which is important. The tyres are working well, although we have a couple of issues with the softer tyre, which is causing the bike to chatter a bit. However, I’m sure this is something we can work on and I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend. Jonathan Rea P10, 1’50.740s All my problems seem to be in the first sector, which is where I need to pull my finger out. We don’t know what the specific problem is but it seems to come when I’m leant right over on the tyre. We’ll have a good look later and overlay the data from my two team-mates to see what we can improve. We haven’t even started throwing tyres at the bike yet but, of course, there’s a lot more time to come from me it’s my first visit here and I’m learning the track a little more in each session. But I really like it here; it’s fast and flowing and really suits my style, so I just need to remove that mental block in the first sector and we’ll be there. Ronald ten Kate team manager We were pretty quick out of the blocks this morning, especially with Carlos, so we’re really now working on fine-tuning the set-up and improving the race pace. We weren’t too bothered about a single fast lap in that qualifying session. I’m happy for Jonathan, too, who is one of very few guys out there who haven’t been here before. His only real problem is in the first sector, so we’ll analyse that with the data guys tonight and see what we can improve for tomorrow. More, from a press release issued by InFront Motor Sports: MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK 7th ROUND 29, 30 and 31 MAY 2009 Tooele, Friday 29th May 2009 Biaggi powers to the top in Miller first qualifying Max Biaggi powered his Aprilia RSV4 to the top of the timesheets in today’s opening qualifying run at Miller Motorsports Park. The Italian made a late surge towards the end of the one-hour session to edge American Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) off the top slot with a time of 1 minute 49.820 seconds. Spies was just one-tenth away from Biaggi’s time, and the two riders were the only ones to dip under the 1m50s mark around the 4.907 km long Utah circuit. Biaggi also looked pretty impressive in top speed as well, his Aprilia clocking almost 307 km/h on the long Miller straight. Equally impressive was last year’s double race winner Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) of Spain, who has been quick out of the box since the start of the day, and who led a total of 12 riders in one second, while Czech Republic rider Jakub Smrz on the Guandalini Ducati 1098 headed Italian Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) for fourth. American Jamie Hacking is standing in well for the injured Makoto Tamada in the Kawasaki World Superbike team, the American grabbing the sixth slot ahead of Britain’s Shane Byrne on the Sterilgarda Ducati 1098 machine. Yukio Kagayama, quickest in free practice, crashed his Suzuki Alstare GSX-R in qualifying but still managed to notch up eighth place, while points leader Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) is currently languishing in eleventh place. Still with work to do for the moment are the BMWs of Troy Corser, who had previously gone second in free practice, and Ruben Xaus, in fourteenth and seventeenth place respectively. Times: 1. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’49.820; 2. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’49.901; 3. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1’50.144; 4. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’50.282; 5. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’50.457; 6. Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’50.466; 7. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1’50.512; 8. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1’50.556; 9. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1’50.701; 10. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’50.740; 11. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1’50.755; 12. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1’50.757; 13. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’50.961; 14. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’51.002; 15. Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’51.046; 16. Zemke J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 1’51.072 World Supersport The FIM Supersport World Championship made its first appearance at Miller Motorsport and for this reason riders and teams had two free practice sessions instead of one so they could get to grips with the Utah circuit. Quickest time of the day went to Spain’s Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Provec) in 1 minute 53.350 seconds, a couple of tenths ahead of Ireland’s Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) and Frenchman Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport). Points leader Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) was quickest in the first session but could only manage sixth in FP2, just behind the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda champion pairing of Kenan Sofuoglu and Andrew Pitt. The afternoon session was brought to a halt just before the end due to a crash involving Portugal’s Miguel Praia (Parkalgar Honda), who was immediately taken to the medical centre for checks. Times: 1. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’53.350; 2. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1’53.549; 3. Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’53.573; 4. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1’53.637; 5. Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1’53.844; 6. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1’53.956; 7. Aitchison M. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1’54.333; 8. McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 1’54.339 More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: HAGA AND FABRIZIO (DUCATI XEROX), 1ST AND 2ND IN THE STANDINGS, COMMENCE BATTLE IN SALT LAKE Miller – Salt Lake City (USA) Friday 29th May: the Ducati Xerox Team kicked off their quest for Stateside victory today at the Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City. With track temperatures in the high forties, factory riders Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga completed the first qualifying session in fifth and eleventh place respectively, after battling against some tough competition that included Biaggi, Spies and Checa. Noriyuki and Michel, currently first and second in the rider classification, both remain optimistic for tomorrow despite one or two small problems suffered throughout today. Noriyuki, who rode at the Miller circuit with a broken collarbone in 2008, has worked a lot today on the set-up of his Ducati 1198, riding with a full tank and race tyres. His team-mate Michel suffered from a technical problem in the crucial final stages of the qualifying session which prevented him from attaining a provisional place on the front row of the grid. Michel Fabrizio 1m50.4s “Towards the end of the session I had a problem with the gear box and I couldn’t put the bike into first so had to use second. Having said that, this is a track that I really like and we seem to be all set for tyres so if it hadn’t been for that set back I’d have been able to lap much faster in the final stages I think. So we hope all goes well tomorrow morning and that I am able to improve my lap times.” Noriyuki Haga 1m50.7s “I am fairly happy for the moment. Obviously I was here for the first time last year but with the crash and having to race with a broken collarbone, I remember very little and so today I have got to grips with the track again and I have to say that I’m enjoying riding my 1198 here. In the last part of the qualifying session we tried a harder tyre compound but unfortunately it didn’t allow me to improve my lap times, but despite this, I am feeling comfortable on the bike and we have time tomorrow to make further adjustments and pick up our performance.” More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda: Ten Kate Honda Racing’s Ryuichi Kiyonari set the ninth fastest time in today’s opening qualifying session in the seventh round World Superbike championship event at Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City, USA. The Japanese ace, who scored a double podium result during round five at Monza in Italy earlier this month, set a time of 1’50.701s, less than a second off provisional pole sitter, Max Biaggi. Kiyonari is already more than a second faster than his corresponding time on the opening day of last season’s event at the 4.9km Miller circuit and the Japanese ace is confident of further improvement in tomorrow’s practice and qualifying sessions, including the three-stage Superpole shoot out to determine grid positions for Sunday’s two 21-lap encounters. Ryuichi Kiyonari P9, 1’50.701s It was very hot this afternoon and I found it very hard to improve the lap time that I set quite early in the session. I have a much better feeling with the track than last year, but everybody else has improved as well. The bike is very good, though, so we’ll only make some small changes tomorrow. We need a small improvement in every corner something from the rider and something from the bike. Ronald ten Kate team manager Kiyonari-san was in much better form today than on the first day last year, and he has shown that he has the pace to be near the front. We’ll continue working hard tonight to look for ways to improve and we’ll aim to put that into practice for tomorrow’s sessions to give Kiyo a good starting position for Sunday’s races. More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: TROY 14TH, RUBEN 17TH AT MILLER ON DAY ONE. BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders Toy Corser and Ruben Xaus suffered some grip problems today, finishing 14th and 17th quickest respectively, but both are looking forward to improving their bike set-ups tomorrow and moving up the grid. The track was very hot in the afternoon session and that affected the grip level, but Troy and Ruben continued to put in as many laps as they could and give the team as much information as possible. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) ended the day with the fastest lap, with local favourite Ben Spies (Yamaha) second. Carlos Checa (Honda) was third fastest, with Jakub Smrz (Ducati) fourth. Troy – 14th, 1:51.002 Miller is not such a bad track for setting up a bike, but what we are finding this year is that the track seems to have a lot less grip than last year. I know that there was a car race recently and that may have affected the grip but, whatever the reason, there is definitely less grip this year. We more or less found a tyre that orks, but we have a limited number and that means we have to be careful and work out what we have to do and when. When I tried a different tyre, I was out of the seat a few times and almost crashed. Ruben – 17th, 1:51.216 My lap time is not far from Troy and although its been a difficult day, it has not been a black Friday. Nobody said that this year was going to be easy, but we are all working our hardest every time out and I am happy with the way I rode today because I know that I am giving 100% on the bike. Its always a bit hard going fast so soon when we only have two hours to get all the work done. There are some points on the bike we need to work on, but if we can sort those out, I am sure that Troy and I could finish in the top four or so for sure. Berti Hauser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director) First let me say that we are happy to have Troy back and after free practice we were really thankful for his feedback and information about what was happening with the bike and the track. At the moment there seems to be only one tyre that is really working with our bike and because we have a limited number we have to control this situation over the next two days. This is a bit of a new situation for us, but we have to learn how to manage it quickly and get on with our work as best we can. We shall have to see what happens tomorrow, but for sure we have to be quicker. More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: Troy Corser finished the first day of practice and qualifying at the Miller Motorsport Park in 14th place despite problems with grip. He also suffered a few ‘moments’ in today’s two sessions, but was able to recover and not crash. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) ended the day with the fastest lap, with local favourite Ben Spies (Yamaha) second. Carlos Checa (Honda) was third fastest, with Jakub Smrz (Ducati) fourth. Troy – 14th, 1:51.002 I don’t know why, but to me it seemed that the track had much less grip than last year and that made it difficult for us with our tyre choices. At the moment we have one tyre that works OK, but we have a limited number, so we have to try and manage them over the weekend. If we used too many tomorrow for example, we’d be in a difficult situation on raceday. When I did try some other tyres, I had a few scary moments and was out of the seat a few times. There was a car race at Miller not so long ago, but one of the drivers there (an ex-bike racer) also said that they had experienced problems with grip and getting a good set-up. We’ll sit down with the telemetry guys and try and work out a solution for tomorrow and hopefully we will be OK for final qualifying and Superpole. Wish me luck.