FIM Superbike World Championship Moscow Raceway Moscow, Russia August 24, 2012 Qualifying Session One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:35.074 2. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Ducati 1098R), 1:35.284 3. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:35.751 4. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:35.772 5. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:35.828 6. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:35.905 7. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:35.980 8. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:35.988 9. Leon HASLAM, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:36.039 10. Jonathan REA, UK (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:36.061 11. Niccolo CANEPA, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:36.143 12. Loris BAZ, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:36.174 13. Max BIAGGI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:36.236 14. John HOPKINS, USA (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:36.293 15. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:36.326 16. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:36.442 17. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:36.470 18. Leon CAMIER, UK (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:36.533 19. David SALOM, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:36.911 20. Alexander LUNDH, Sweden (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:38.163 21. D. McFADDEN, South Africa (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:38.372 More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Giugliano leaps ahead at new Moscow track Moscow Raceway (Russia), Friday 24 August 2012 The Althea Racing Ducati pairing of Davide Giugliano and Carlos Checa led the field in the eni FIM Superbike World Championship first qualifying session at Moscow Raceway with Giugliano setting the best lap so far of 1 minute 35.074 seconds. They each had a trip onto the gravel at one point of the session but ended their first day in the best possible positions in any case. Sylvain Guintoli (PATA Racing Team Ducati) made it a clean sweep for the Ducati riders inside the top three, with the first four-cylinder machine being that of Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) in fourth. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing Aprilia) carried on his strong form from the morning session to go fifth in qualifying and be top Aprilia rider on show. Fastest Kawasaki man Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was sixth, while PATA Racing Team rider Lorenzo Zanetti claimed a fine seventh on a good day for the Ducati crews. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) proved to be the fastest Honda man, in eighth place, having been inside the top four at one time. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) had a tough day and finished only 13th with John Hopkins (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) the first Suzuki rider in the day 1 rankings in 14th place. The first qualifying session was held in dry conditions with overhead cloud making its presence felt, leaving air temperatures at a mild 18°C and track temperatures at 22°C. Times: 1. Giugliano (Ducati) 1’35.074 average 148.848 kph; 2. Checa (Ducati) 1’35.284; 3. Guintoli (Ducati) 1’35.751; 4. Melandri (BMW) 1’35.772; 5. Davies (Aprilia) 1’35.828; 6. Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’35.905; 7. Zanetti (Ducati) 1’35.980; 8. Aoyama (Honda) 1’35.988; 9. Haslam (BMW) 1’36.039; 10. Rea (Honda) 1’36.061; 11. Canepa (Ducati) 1’36.143; 12. Baz (Kawasaki) 1’36.174; 13. Biaggi (Aprilia) 1’36.236; 14. Hopkins (Suzuki) 1’36.293; 15. Badovini (BMW) 1’36.326; 16. Fabrizio (BMW) 1’36.442; etc. World Supersport Championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Lorenzini) headed the first FIM Supersport World Championship qualifying session at the Moscow Raceway, the Turk setting a best time of 1 minute 37.875 seconds to head off the push of Bogdanka PTR Honda rider Sam Lowes by 0.304 seconds. Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products) was third with another of this year’s top riders, Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda), securing fourth place before tomorrow’s final qualifying session takes place. Local hero Vladimir Leonov (Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha) was fifth and in the leading mix once more after impressing all during testing on Wednesday. Qualifying today was interrupted by red flags at one time and some spots of rain fell for a short while in sector one, but to no real effect on the lap times. Times: 1. Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) 1’37.875 average 144.589 kph; 2. Lowes (Honda) 1’38.179; 3. Parkes (Honda) 1’38.398; 4. Cluzel (Honda) 1’38.434; 5. Leonov (Yamaha) 1’38.615; 6. Talmacsi (Honda) 1’38.888; 7. Foret (Kawasaki) 1’38.892; 8. Morais (Kawasaki) 1’39.050; etc. Coppa dei Due Paesi (Two Nations Cup) Denis Sacchetti (SD Rider Team Kawasaki) took the early advantage in the Coppa dei Due Paesi at Moscow Raceway, the Italian rider just edging out homegrown talent Sergey Vlasov (Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha) by 0.033 seconds. Dakota Mamola (Yakhnich Motorsports Yamaha) secured third place in a field of 24, with Jenez Prosenik (Japi Racing Team Yamaha) fourth. Times: 1. Sacchetti (Kawasaki) 1’43.681 average 136.492 kph; 2. Vlasov (Yamaha) 1’43.714; 3. Mamola (Yamaha) 1’44.793; 4. Prosenik (Yamaha) 1’45.488; 5. Rosivall (Yamaha) 1’45.645; 6. Kiselev (Honda) 1’45.829; 7. Sangiorgi (Honda) 1’46.127; 8. Orlov (Yamaha) 1’48.183; etc. More, from a press release issued by Honda: Honda riders in Moscow top ten Hiroshi Aoyama took a provisional second row grid slot with the eighth fastest time in today’s opening qualifying session at Moscow Raceway in Russia with his Honda World Superbike team-mate Jonathan Rea less than a tenth of a second further back in tenth place. Provisional pole position was taken by Italian Davide Giuliano, closely followed by his team-mate and reigning champion Carlos Checa. Third placed Sylvain Guintoli is less than three tenths faster than Rea, suggesting some close racing on Sunday. Following Wednesday’s official test, today marked the first time that the World Superbike machines had been ridden competitively on the new 3.931km Moscow Raceway track a narrow, tight and twisty circuit 75km west of the Russian capital. The riders will return for second qualifying tomorrow morning ahead of the afternoon’s Superpole sessions to determine final grid positions for Sunday’s two 25-lap races. Hiroshi Aoyama P8, 1m35.988s I think today we found a better set-up than during the test on Wednesday. Of course, I want to improve in a couple of places on the track both myself and the bike. In the last few minutes today we put in a new tyre, but there was a lot of traffic so I could not make the most of the grip level. The track is quite small so, even if another rider is slower, it’s difficult to pass. I also made a couple of mistakes so I think the lap time could have been better. Even on the harder tyre we were able to make some consistently good laps so, if the weather is OK tomorrow, we’ll see how much we can improve. Jonathan Rea P10, 1m36.061s We’re getting things together a little better but there are still some areas where we can improve the bike in all sectors. The more we talk, the more we realise what direction we need to go in. The weight transfer is a little bit too much under braking which makes it quite difficult to control on a tight circuit like this. The test on Wednesday helped us to get the right gearbox in the bike with the right gearing, so we don’t have to worry about that going into tomorrow. But we’re still not where we want to be the front two guys a little bit ahead, but it’s very close for the rest of us. Pieter Breddels technical co-ordinator Hiroshi finished a really strong eighth today and he already showed in the test that he clicks with the track here. His crew kept working and made some positive steps and Hiroshi was able to keep improving his times, right to the end of the session. It’s fantastic to see after the struggles he’s had so far this season. I’m really happy for him and that side of the team hopefully they can improve even more tomorrow. Jonathan lost a few tenths on his last run but it’s all very close so, on paper, it probably looks worse than it actually is. We’re in quite good shape considering we still have some improvements to make, so it’s work in progress. More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: PROVISIONAL POLE FOR GIUGLIANO (ALTHEA RACING), SECOND FOR CHECA IN FIRST QUALIFYING TODAY AT THE MOSCOW RACEWAY Moscow (Russia), Friday 24th August 2012: the first practice and qualifying sessions of the eleventh round of the SBK World Championship took place today at the new Moscow Raceway. Team Althea’s Davide Giugliano and Carlos Checa wasted no time in getting to grips with the track, concluding first qualifying in first and second place respectively. Two days ago, Althea Racing had a first taste of the track during a test day, and it was Althea man Checa who drew first blood, immediately at ease on the Russian track and recording the quickest time of the day (1m35.8). His team-mate Giugliano closed the test session in seventh position, with a best time of 1m36.7. This morning, first practice was interrupted almost immediately when crashes for Baz and Camier meant a red flag and a thirty-minute break. Carlos and Davide then returned to the track and after just a few laps Carlos was up in second position behind Melandri. Davide made solid progress throughout the remainder of the session, especially in the final stages when he recorded a 1m36.3 that positioned him third overall. Carlos finished in sixth place with a best time of 1m36.5. Afternoon qualifying took place in dry but cloudy conditions (air temperature 18ËšC, track 22ËšC). Althea’s riders continued to work well, demonstrating that they have great potential at this new track. During the first part of the session, Checa improved on his best time set in practice by over seven tenths, recording a 1m35.8 that put him in first place towards mid-session. A few minutes later Giugliano moved in front of his team-mate thanks to an impressive flying lap of 1m35.0. The Italian rider’s time remained the quickest of the session and he therefore secured provisional pole, followed by Carlos who, in the final minutes, dropped his time by another few tenths to close with a best of 1m35.2 (half a second quicker than Guintoli, third). Carlos Checa: “We’ve tried the tyres and are also working to adapt the setting of the bike because this track is different to the others, it has a unique character. We need to prepare the bike in a certain way and probably go with a set-up that we’ve not used before. In the end Davide and I were able to make some fast laps with the softer tyre; maybe through certain, slow sections of the track the Ducati has less trouble changing direction than the other bikes, I don’t know. But if we look at race pace, we’re all very close in terms of times. I’m happy for now, but there is more work to do, as in certain sections I think we can improve further.” Davide Giugliano: “For now everything’s going well. I say ‘for now’ because a race weekend is long and hard and in Superbike, with all these great champions, you never know exactly how well you’re doing as everything can change from one session to the next. But I think that if you’re inside the top five or six it’s a good result at this level. I really like the track and, although I’m not 100% fit after Silverstone, the bike and my team are really helping me a lot here and I’m pleased with the work done so far. The important thing is to stay focused for Sunday’s races.” TIMES (Qualifying): 1. Giugliano (Ducati) 1’35.0; 2. Checa (Ducati) 1’35.2; 3. Guintoli (Ducati) 1’35.7; 4. Melandri (BMW) 1’35.7; 5. Davies (Aprilia) 1’35.8; 6. Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’35.9; 7. Zanetti (Ducati) 1’35.9; 8. Aoyama (Honda) 1’35.9 More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: Moscow Free Practice & Qualifying Practice 1. Friday, 24th August 2012. Weather conditions: Overcast and windy. Temperature: Air: 18 °C, Track: 22 27 °C Number of riders participating: 21 from 12 teams Fastest lap Free Practice: Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1:35.799 min Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) 1:35.074 min Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport began the first ever Russian round of the FIM Superbike World Championship by qualifying for the provisional first and third row. The eleventh round of the 2012 season is being held at the brand new “Moscow Raceway” near Volokolamsk (RUS). On Wednesday the team took part in the official Infront testing to get familiar with the track. Today, the normal race weekend began. Factory rider Marco Melandri (ITA) finished the first qualifying practice in fourth after having set the fastest lap in the free practice this morning. His team-mate Leon Haslam (GBR) qualified provisional ninth on his BMW S 1000 RR. Ayrton Badovini and Michel Fabrizio (both ITA) of the BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team finished 15th and 16th respectively. Marco Melandri: Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:35.799 min (P1)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:35.772 min (P4) “It is difficult because the conditions are changing very quickly. We have to try to understand which is the best tyre for the race and the best one for a lap time. Unfortunately we are struggling with the soft tyre. We get a lot of chatter and it is difficult to ride. But I am quite happy about the race. It will be difficult to fight for victory because the twin cylinder bikes are very fast on this track. They ride very easily in the first section. In the short tight corners there they gain four to five tenths on us so it will not be easy for us. For sure we will do our best.” Leon Haslam: Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:36.720 min (P8)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:36.039 min (P9) “In comparison to the test we had some issues today. It was difficult to find the same feel as we had on Wednesday. We worked on this all day and also tried the different tyres that Pirelli have given us for the weekend. Our pace on race tyres was pretty good. We just need to fine tune so we can get the same feel we had here at the test. We definitely need to improve but overall it was a normal Friday.” Andrea Dosoli (Head of Race Operations): “We are making progress with our work. We have improved the set-up and our knowledge of the track compared to the Wednesday test. Both riders improved their performance with the race tyre but we are struggling with the soft tyre and this could be an issue in the Superpole. We think the SC1 does not work properly for us. It will be tough against the twin cylinder bikes which evidently have an advantage in the first section and we have to work hard to reduce the gap to them on that part of the track. There is still room for improvement and we are confident that we will be ready for tomorrow’s qualifying and Superpole to fight for the front row.” More, from a press release issued by Aprilia: A DIFFICULT FRIDAY FOR THE APRILIA RACING TEAM RIDERS AT THE “MOSCOW RACEWAY”. TWO UNEXPECTED HURDLES KEEP MAX BIAGGI AND EUGENE LAVERTY FROM TAKING FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE SESSIONS. Moscow, 24 August 2012 The initial feedback on the new Russian “Moscow Raceway” circuit, where World Superbike is racing for the first time, makes this a complicated Friday for the Aprilia Racing Team. After the morning session that the riders use to gain familiarity with the circuit and the weather conditions, the afternoon qualifiers found both the ranking leader, Max Biaggi, and his team mate, Eugene Laverty, forced to make some unexpected pit stops which compromised their progress. Once back on the track Max picked back up with the scheduled work, stopping the clock with a good thirteenth position before the chequered flag came out to signal the end of the session. And so, the most serious difficulties are due to a lack of actual time on the track, extremely valuable in order to find the right feeling, especially with the toll this track takes on the front end. Max Biaggi is well aware that there is much work to be done: “It’s always hard when you find yourself trying to catch up with the rest, especially at this point in the season. Unfortunately the forced pit stop during the second session today (due to a serious problem) ruined our game plan. We had wanted to try out some new configurations but we weren’t able to move ahead according to schedule. There will be a lot of work to do tomorrow, especially to find confidence on the front end during braking”. Eugene Laverty also had to deal with a shortened session (11 total laps) that forced him to put in some overtime in the last few minutes. Despite his team’s efforts, Eugene was unable to move past seventeenth place, a result which could become problematic if it rains tomorrow morning during the qualifiers. In fact, only the top 16 riders from the combined results of the two qualifying sessions earn a spot in the Superpole sessions which decide the starting grid for the races on Sunday. “Definitely a difficult day. Looking at seventeenth place in the qualifiers is a bit of a worry because if it rains tomorrow we could be out of Superpole. This is no small problem, especially when you consider the problems overtaking on this new track. Unfortunately we had a small problem with the bike that cost us precious time. Once I got back out there I tried to find the pace, but it wasn’t easy. It looks like we’ve got a demanding Saturday ahead of us”. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: FIXI Crescent Suzuki’s Leon Camier escaped serious injury after being involved in a 200kmh high-speed crash at the Moscow International Raceway in Russia today during practice for Sunday’s 11th round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship. The British rider smashed into Loris Baz’s machine after the Frenchman high-sided directly in front of him exiting the last turn during the morning session. Camier was launched into the air and slid down most of the start straight, but walked away with nothing more than bruising to his right hip. The session, at the newly-inaugurated circuit on the outskirts of the Russian capital, was immediately red-flagged to allow marshals to clear up the debris, but Camier’s bike was too damaged for his team crew to rebuild it in time for the restart. He was forced to sit out the rest of the session and his earlier time of 1’36.533 – almost half-of-a-second under his time set during Wednesday’s test day – gave him 18th for the day, as tyre issues prevented him improving on this time in the afternoon session. Team mate John Hopkins finished the day in 14th position with a time of 1’36.293 – almost a second quicker than his Wednesday test time – after he too was affected by tyre issues in the afternoon. Both riders are happy with the set-ups of their Yoshimura-powered GSX-R1000s and are confident of improvements on Saturday, with the pair eager to get into the all-important Superpole tomorrow afternoon. Today’s first-ever qualifying session around the brand new 3’931m long Russian circuit was headed by Davide Giugliano on a Ducati, with reigning champion Carlos Checa – also on a Ducati – second. Current championship leader Max Biaggi was 13th. FIXI Crescent Suzuki has one more qualifying session tomorrow morning when Hopkins and Camier will be aiming to qualify for the afternoon Superpole session, to give them a chance of good starting positions for Sunday’s races, the first of which is scheduled for 12.00hrs local time (09.00hrs BST), with the second due to start at 15.30hrs local time (12.30hrs BST). Leon Camier: “I’m a bit sore and bashed up but when I’m on the bike there are no problems. My right hip is pretty bruised, but considering I was doing over 200kmh when I hit Baz’s bike, I’m lucky I am not more injured than I am. It wasn’t a nice crash and I felt I was in the air for a long time, followed by a lot of time sliding down the track. The boys did a great job to get the FIXI Crescent Suzuki ready for the afternoon timed qualifying, because there was a lot of stuff to replace. Funnily enough, when I got on the bike this afternoon, I was pretty quick straight away. “The bike was chattering a lot so we tried different tyres, but the problem wasn’t solved. In the end, I did my fastest lap on old tyres. The track has improved since the test, is getting quicker; and is not too bad when you get into it. I’m happy with the bike’s set-up. The team will make a full check of the bike and will look at all the telemetry to see if we can pin-point where the problem is. Hopefully I will not be too sore when I wake up tomorrow morning and we can qualify well.” John Hopkins: “I know we can be better than this position for sure. I am happy with both the performance and set-up of my FIXI Crescent Suzuki and the base setting that we found at the test on Wednesday is pretty good. The track now has more rubber down and it definitely feels a bit better. Our package is good and I am feeling confident, though the bike is better than me at the moment and maybe I didn’t put in a decent-enough run at the end. Our problem is tyres – specifically the rear. There is only one type of rear I can get to work on my GSX-R, so we’re going to have to manage them carefully so we have enough for race day.” Jack Valentine – Team Manager: “Leon had a pretty big crash this morning, soon after he had set the fastest lap, and hurt his hip, but fortunately he was able to ride again in the afternoon. Despite bad bruising and discomfort walking, he went pretty quickly at the start of qualifying this afternoon and would’ve been much further up the order if it had not have been for the tyre consistency problems, which had been causing the chatter. “It’s good to see John’s confidence coming back and without similar issues to Leon he should end up qualifying with a good grid position. Both riders are happy with their bikes but this series is so competitive that fractions-of-a-second can make big differences, so it’s necessary to have everything working well – and consistently.”