FIM Superbike World Championship Phillip Island, Australia February 25, 2012 Final Qualifying Results, After Cancellation Of Superpole (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Tom SYKES, Great Britain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:31.323 2. Max BIAGGI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:31.477 3. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Ducati 1098R), 1:31.621 4. Jakub SMRZ, Czech Republic (Ducati 1098R), 1:31.783 5. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:31.832 6. Leon CAMIER, Great Britain (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:31.904 7. Niccolo CANEPA, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:31.953 8. Jonathan REA, Great Britain (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:31.959 9. Maxime BERGER, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:31.966 10. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:32.068 11. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:32.069 12. Leon HASLAM, Great Britain (BMW S1000RR), 1:32.082 13. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:32.123 14. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:32.198 15. Chaz DAVIES, Great Britain (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:32.338 16. Joan LASCORZ, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:32.411 17. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:32.576 18. Bryan STARING, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:32.613 19. David SALOM, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:32.640 20. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:32.703 21. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:32.782 22. Josh BROOKES, Australia (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:33.384 23. Mark AITCHISON, Australia (BMW S1000RR), 1:33.396 24. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:33.401 25. David JOHNSON, Australia (BMW S1000RR), 1:33.816 More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: SUPERPOLE CANCELLED; ALTHEA RACING AND CHECA QUALIFY THIRD FOR THE FIRST SBK RACES OF THE SEASON, TOMORROW AT PHILLIP ISLAND Phillip Island (Australia), Saturday 25th February 2012: a tragic start to the 2012 World Superbike championship when a serious accident occurred during the Australian championship’s Superstock 600 race this afternoon at Phillip Island, proving fatal for young rider Oscar McIntyre, from Queensland, Australia. Team Althea Racing sends its condolences to the family and friends of Oscar McIntyre. Consequently, the Superpole sessions were cancelled and the Superbike riders grid positions were decided according to the combined qualifying times. Team Althea Racing and its riders Carlos Checa and Davide Giugliano will thus line up in third and fourteenth position respectively on tomorrow’s race grid. Checa and Giugliano, already fourth and third respectively in yesterday’s first qualifying session, were out on track this morning, determined to make further improvement. On a cooler track with respect to yesterday afternoon, nearly all of the riders were able to improve on their times, Checa included. Mid-session the 2011 champion recorded a 1m31.6 that positioned him second behind Sykes on the Kawasaki. Thanks to that time, Carlos qualified in third position. Unfortunately Giugliano was unable to improve on his best time set in first qualifying but the work done yesterday placed him in fourteenth position at the end of qualifying, enough to enter the Superpole, subsequently cancelled. In the final practice of the early afternoon, both Althea men worked with their technicians to make final modifications ahead of tomorrow’s races. Checa closed the session in second place, Giugliano twelfth. As explained above, the race grid was determined according to qualifying times, meaning that Carlos will start from the front row, in third position, while Davide will line up on the fourth row, in fourteenth. Both Althea Racing riders feel ready for the first challenge of the 2012 championship. Carlos Checa: “First of all I want to send my condolences to McIntyre’s family, a terrible tragedy. Superpole was understandably cancelled as a result. As far as my day was concerned, I can say that qualifying went well. We worked once again on finding a strong race pace and the times came down too. We’ll start from the front row based on the qualifying times which is good news for us. Today I was able to find better pace and am therefore pretty confident for tomorrow. Having said that, it won’t be easy, firstly due to the heat and mainly due to the extra six kilos we have on board, especially when we’re losing 15km/h on the straight to the other riders. I will do my best as always and we’ll see.” Davide Giugliano: “I was shocked and sorry to hear about McIntyre and send my condolences to his loved ones. To talk about how my day went seems inconsequential but I can say that this morning I had trouble riding in such a strong wind. I didn’t expect that and really had difficulty in the conditions. Starting from the fourth row means I need to get off the line as quickly as possible of course and see what I can do. We’ll have to see how hot it is as I seem to go better the hotter it is; I think the temperatures will condition tomorrow’s races.” TIMES (QUALIFYING): 1. Sykes (Kawasaki) 1m31.3; 2. Biaggi (Aprilia) 1m31.4; 3. Checa (Ducati) 1m31.6; 4. Smrz (Ducati) 1m31.7; 5. Guintoli (Ducati) 1m31.8; 6. Camier (Suzuki) 1m31.9; 7. Canepa (Ducati) 1m31.9; 8. Rea (Honda) 1m31.9; 9. Berger (Ducati) 1m31.9; 10. Fabrizio (BMW) 1m32.0… 14. Giugliano (Ducati) 1m32.1 More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: Second row start for Rea at Phillip Island Honda World Superbike rider, Jonathan Rea, will start tomorrow’s two first round World Superbike championship races at Phillip Island in Australia from the second row of the grid after today’s qualifying practice. Following a fatal incident in an earlier national race, this afternoon’s Superpole session was cancelled, leaving Rea in eighth place based on his combined qualifying times. His team-mate, Hiroshi Aoyama, will start the two 22-lap races from the fourth row while British rider Tom Sykes took pole position. Rea lost time in this morning’s second qualifying practice following a crash at Phillip Island’s turn 10 and was unable to better his provisional pole position time from yesterday. However, he and his crew found a better race set-up in the subsequent free practice session and were confident of an improved qualifying position. Aoyama missed out on a Superpole debut in his first World Superbike championship meeting but will start from 16th place on the grid after British rider, Chaz Davies, withdrew following a wrist injury. On behalf of the extended Honda family, everyone in the Honda World Superbike Team wishes to pass their condolences to the family and friends of 17-year-old Oscar McIntyre, who lost his life in this afternoon’s crash at Phillip Island. Jonathan Rea P8, 1m31.959s Yeah, today was a bit of a weird situation without having a Superpole, so we were just sitting and waiting to go out. I didn’t know at the time but afterwards I got told that a young rider in the Aussie 600 class, Oscar McIntyre, lost his life. So, before I talk about my day, I want to send my thoughts and regards to his family and friends. On my side of the box, everything’s been going OK. We had a slip off this morning at MG and lost a bit of time which put us in a bad rhythm in Qualifying 2. But in free practice we got the rhythm again, did another long run on a tyre which worked OK. I was quite happy with the pace we had on it and basically I think I’m ready for the race. It’s going to be a big task to win tomorrow, but our goal is still to be on the podium, and it has been since we got here. The guys have given me a good bike to ride and we’ve been concentrating on getting it to lap 22 in good shape. We’ll see tomorrow and I&rsq uo;m as excited as anyone to see the result. Hiroshi Aoyama P16, 1m32.576s We were expecting a little bit more progress today but had some problems with braking and corner exit, especially at the last corner and turn 11. It seems that we couldn’t improve so much, and although in qualifying we improved the lap time a little, it was not enough. Position 17 is not ideal for us but we’ll see tomorrow, when I hope the feeling with the bike will change a little bit and let me push more on the corner exit. This afternoon the ground temperature went to 55 or 60 degrees, which made things worse for our programme and it wasn’t easy to ride in those conditions. It’s possible tomorrow will be even hotter than today, so we will have to consider this, too. It’s going to be the first time for me with two Superbike races in one day so I want to see what it is like and try my best. [Added later]: I also want to send my best wishes to the family of the rider who died today. Ronald ten Kate team manager Firstly, and most importantly, we would like to pass on our sincere condolences to the family of Oscar McIntyre, who died in this afternoon’s crash it naturally casts a big shadow over the whole weekend. Jonathan seemed to be gelling better with the machine this afternoon and the aim for Superpole would have been a front row start, which helps around here. In the last free practice we did a proper race run and we’ve found a very clear direction to go. With Hiroshi, we’re chipping away at the lap time but unfortunately it’s not coming in big steps. Every time he goes out there he improves and gets closer to the front guys. Hopefully he can take tomorrow’s experience of two races under his belt into the next round at Imola and be in a higher position. More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: Weather conditions: Sunny. Temperature: Air: 33 34 °C, Track: 42 51 °C Number of riders participating: 25/23 from 15/14 teams Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) 1:31.323 min Fastest lap Superpole 3: cancelled Leon Haslam: Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: 1:32.082 min (P12) / Fastest lap FP: 1:32.971 min (P7) Marco Melandri: Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: 1:32.123 min (P13) / Fastest lap FP: 1:32.585 min (P3) Today saw a sad start to the 2012 FIM Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island in Australia. The Superpole qualifying session was cancelled after a tragic accident in a support race. Young Australian rider Oscar McIntyre was fatally injured in a crash in the Australian Superstock 600cc Championship race. This incident has deeply saddened every member of Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport. We send our sympathies to Oscar McIntyre’s family and want to show our respects for them and the young rider at this difficult time. Under these circumstances, the sporting aspects are secondary to the loss of such a young life. With the cancellation of Superpole, the combined qualifying times from Friday afternoon and Saturday morning will determine the line-up for tomorrow’s two 22-lap races. Leon Haslam (GBR) will start 12th from the third row on the grid, just in front of new team-mate, Marco Melandri (ITA), who qualified in 13th for the fourth row. BMW Motorrad Italia Goldbet SBK Team’s new rider Michel Fabrizio (ITA) qualified tenth fastest today and will start from the third row, while Ayrton Badovini (ITA) qualified on the fifth row in 20th place. More, from a press release issued by Aprilia: SUPERPOLE CANCELLED AT PHILLIP ISLAND AFTER A FATAL ACCIDENT IN THE AUSTRALIAN SUPERSTOCK 600 RACE. THE STARTING GRID FOR THE TWO RACES TOMORROW WAS LINED UP BASED ON THE LAST QUALIFIER STANDINGS: BIAGGI SECOND, LAVERTY ON THE THIRD ROW. Phillip Island, 25 February 2012 The Superpole scheduled for this afternoon on the Australian track at Phillip Island was cancelled. During the first race of the national Superstock 600 championship, a serious accident in the second of twelve scheduled laps involved three riders, causing the race to be suspended. Sadly, seventeen year old Oscar McIntyre died from the injuries he sustained, while the other two riders are out of danger. The starting order for the two Superbike races tomorrow was therefore decided by the standings from the morning qualifiers, which place Max Biaggi in the second block of the grid, while Eugene Laverty will start from eleventh place. “Any statement seems superfluous was the first reaction from Max we are very saddened about what happened. We don’t know the details but suspending the session seemed like the logical thing to do. We’ll start from the second spot on the grid tomorrow and I don’t think Superpole would have made any great changes to the balance that came out of the test sessions. My goal is to get a good start and to try for two good results. It would seem that the work we’ve done the last few days will allow us to do that”. Eugene Laverty’s physical condition has improved since his crash yesterday. The Northern Irish rider participated in the test sessions, coming in eleventh in the qualifiers which will also determine his spot on the grid. “Today went much better. Yesterday was a complete disaster with the crash, which was maybe favoured by the condition of my hand. I was able to get in some good times this morning, thanks also to the Mobile Clinic. Unfortunately our work was interrupted by a serious accident. We’ll start from the third row and if I think about what happened yesterday I can only be happy about that”. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Sykes On Pole As Superpole Contest Is Cancelled WSBK, Phillip Island, Australia, 25 February 2012 After the cancellation of Superpole due to a fatal accident in a support class race the final grid places were determined by the results of combined qualifying, putting KRT rider Tom Sykes on pole. Sykes recovered from a crash on day one to make an immediate improvement in the final qualifying session this morning, pushing his way to the top of the time sheets with a 1’31.323 lap, edging out Max Biaggi by 0.154 seconds. This is Tom’s third career pole, all set on Kawasaki machines, the most recent before today coming at Misano last season. Tom’s team-mate Joan Lascorz took the second Kawasaki Racing Team Ninja ZX-10R to 16th and would have qualified for Superpole had it been run. Joan has found it difficult to match his machine set-up to this circuit but hopes for a breakthrough in tomorrow’s warm-up before facing two 22-lap races. Pedercini Team Kawasaki regular David Salom was 19th while riding with a painful injured right wrist, and he was one place behind his team-mate for the weekend, Bryan Staring. Two 22-lap Superbike races will take place on Sunday at Phillip Island, during what is the opening weekend of a 14-round season. The entire Kawasaki Racing Team extends its deepest sympathies and condolences to the family and friends of the young rider who suffered a fatal accident during the Australian Superstock 600cc Championship race today, Oscar McIntyre. Tom Sykes: “Pole position has come with mixed emotions because of some very bad news and first and foremost I want to pass on my condolences to the family and friends of Oscar McIntyre. It seems unimportant in many ways now but as far as our on-track weekend has worked out yesterday we just made sure things were right with the bike and pushed a bit more in this morning’s cooler qualifying session. My pole lap was not a clean one but we still set the fastest time, which shows a good level of progress. Phillip Island has not been a great track for me in the past but Kawasaki has put in a huge amount of work during the winter on the Ninja ZX-10R. We will see what tomorrow brings but I want to get two good races under my belt before I head back to Europe.” Joan Lascorz: “I want to give my sincere condolences to the family of Oscar McIntyre first of all and his accident puts all other things into perspective. In the final qualifying session I did not get the lap times I wanted and then in the afternoon in the free session the strong wind blowing down the straight affected me and the bike, so we did not make the improvements we were looking for. I do not have as much confidence as usual right now so I hope tomorrow morning we can make a change in the set-up for the races.” More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: Sunny conditions and hot temperatures for the second day of qualifying for the Pedercini Team Superbike riders at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia. During the morning’s qualifying, both Bryan Staring and David Salom improved on their best lap times, but unfortunately not quite enough to be able to enter the Superpole. Staring reached eighteenth place (1’32″613) while Salom closed nineteenth (1’32″640). The Spanish rider used an anaesthetic on his right wrist that he injured during last week private test. The team is still working very hard on the bikes set up. The riders and team’s technical staff are satisfied with the improvements made over the last two days and the bike’s performance is improving with each exit the riders make. In the afternoon, during the final free practice session, Staring was able to work on settings for tomorrow’s 22 lap races while Salom preferred to rest. Both team Pedercini riders will start from the fifth row of the starting grid. Qualifying second session : 1) Sykes (Kawasaki) 2) Biaggi (Aprilia) 3) Checa (Ducati) 4) Smrz (Ducati) “¦”¦. 18) Staring (Kawasaki) – 19) Salom (Kawasaki) Free practice second session : 1) Biaggi (Aprilia) – 2) Checa (Ducati) 3) Melandri (BMW) 4) Rea (Honda) 5) Sykes (Kawasaki) 6) Guintoli (Ducati) “¦.. 17) Staring (Kawasaki) Bryan Staring: “I’m really disappointed because I missed out on Superpole for just a few tenths. Anyway we have a good setting for the races and I’m feeling good on the motorbike so I’m confident for tomorrow. I can do a lot of consistent fast lap times and I’m improving every time I enter the truck. The team has been fantastic and we have been making strong progress over the weekend. We did a good job again in the afternoon’s free practice, improving my bike’s setting, and tomorrow I’ll try my best to take some good results.” David Salom: “It was a difficult day for me mainly because of my physical condition. I decided to use an anaesthetic on my wrist and was able to work with my mechanics to further improve the bike for this track. I’m disappointed because I was able to improve on my best lap time, but not enough to enter the Superpole. I still have pain in my wrist and have a little bit of a problem when braking to enter the corners. I will go to the Clinica Mobile again later and hope to feel better in myself tomorrow. Tomorrow the races will be very difficult for me, not only because of my fifth row start but over all because of my physical condition but I’ll try my best to obtain a good result for me and for my whole team.” More, from a press release issued by Pro Ride Motorsports: Phillip Island The Team Pro Ride Real Game Honda has finished the qualifying day and free practice in Phillip Island with a good balance: the Pro Ride rider Raffaele de Rosa has improved his lap time in more than 1 second and the bike presents also an improvement and is more competitive at the track. De Rosa feels more integrated with his new Honda CBR 1000 RR and the team is dedicating a lot to solve a problem with the electronics that disturbed the free practices in the afternoon. The bike is going better on the track and the team is excited to see the performance of Raffaele on the races tomorrow. Raffaele de Rosa, pilota “This morning we put the bike the way it was before, I mean the configuration of Monday tests, and at this point it started to let me work better. We did not have problems and then we understand better what is necessary and what we want for this bike. During the afternoon I made a kind of race simulation, but the wind was really annoying. At the end of the practice we had some problems with the electronics and I hope it can be sorted out. But anyway the bike is better now and we are ready for the race.” Ing. Marco Nicotari, Team Manager and Technical Director “For the qualifying we finally found a solution that Raffaele likes to ride, the bike is little by little adapting itself to him and the other way round. He has actually riden faster during the qualifying today and we could make a step further. I think we could even do better but there were the strong wind that disturbed a bit and the new situation for Raffaele, but we are quite happy: a safe qualifying with a good lap time. In the afternoon we tried the long run and everything was ok but a problem with the electronics that we are solving for the warm up tomorrow. The bike setting for the race we do have, the tyre choice has been made, I think it will be a very tight race since the weather is extremely hot (we faced air temperature 40 degrees and track temperature 60 degrees today in the afternoon, let’s see how the bike will behave and also Raffaele in his first race at the World Superbike Championship.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Leon Camier will start tomorrow’s opening round of the World Superbike Championship from the second row of the grid after qualifying his Crescent Fixi Suzuki in sixth position. With Superpole cancelled at the Phillip Island circuit due to a fatality in the Australian Superstock 600 race, positions were taken from the previous qualifying session. Leon Camier – 6th, 1:31.904 “With the problems from yesterday fixed, we began with an older setting we knew worked well and ended with a good base setting. That, coupled with the new Yoshimura engines, gave us a definite improvement. I knew straight away that the engines were stronger. I did a bit of a race simulation in the free practice today and one thing I know is that the heat is going to be a bit of a problem for all of us. Phillip Island is well known for being hard on tyres, especially when the track temperature is very hot. I am really enjoying riding the Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R – I feel very comfortable and I like its character.” Josh Brookes – 22nd, 1:33.384: “This morning we started with stiffer springs in the front forks, but it made the bike a bit worse, so we went back to our previous best setting. But although the bike was better, it wasn’t enough to get into Superpole. With nothing to lose, we tried the forks and set-up John Hopkins used last year and almost immediately I began to get a better feeling about the bike. The very high track temperature and strong winds this afternoon, made it difficult to tell how much further we can improve, but I’m sure I can go quite a bit faster. We’ll try some things in the warm-up tomorrow and even in the first race if necessary, but one thing is sure – I’m not giving up.” Jack Valentine – Team Manager: “We made very good progress today and, with yesterday’s issues behind us, Leon qualified in a great sixth place on the grid. Josh found a much better feeling with the bike using John’s settings and, knowing him, I’m sure he’ll be on it come the races. I think Leon could’ve improved his grid position in Superpole, but unfortunately it was not to be as it was cancelled due to fatal accident in the Australian Superstock 600 championship race. Leon, Josh and all at Crescent Fixi Suzuki would like to extend our condolences to the family of Oscar McIntyre in their sad times.” More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Sykes starts at the front after cancellation of Tissot-Superpole Phillip Island (Australia), 25 February 2012: Kawasaki Racing Team rider Tom Sykes will start from pole position for the third time in his career at the opening round of the year by heading the field after combined qualifying. Tissot-Superpole today was cancelled after a fatal accident suffered by young Australian Superstock 600 rider Oscar McIntyre in a support race before the session was due to start. Tom Sykes: “Pole position has come with mixed emotions because of some very bad news and first and foremost I want to pass on my condolences to the family and friends of Oscar McIntyre. As far as our on-track weekend has worked out so far, yesterday we just made sure things were right with the bike and pushed a bit more in this morning’s qualifying session in cooler conditions.” Second on the grid for Sunday’s two 22-lap Superbike races will be Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) who was 0.54 seconds behind Sykes. World Champion Carlos Checa secured third spot while another Ducati rider, Jakub Smrz on the Liberty Racing machine, completed the front row. Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli was fifth on his Effenbert Liberty Racing vee-twin, and Leon Camier was sixth on his Crescent Fixi Suzuki. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma Ducati) was an impressive top seven qualifier, with the last place on row two being taken by Honda World Superbike official rider Jonathan Rea. Infront Motor Sports and the entire SBK paddock offer their condolences to the McIntyre family and all those affected by his loss. Superpole was cancelled to allow the authorities to carry out the necessary routine investigations regarding the accident. The track was then reopened 90 minutes later than scheduled for the subsequent Supersport qualifying session. In World Superbike history the last time Superpole was cancelled was at Donington in 1998 due to the snow.