FIM Superbike World Championship Motorland Aragon, Spain June 18 Final Qualifying Results, After Superpole (all on Pirelli tires): From Superpole Session Three: 1. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:57.634 2. Max BIAGGI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:57.790 3. Leon CAMIER, Great Britain (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:58.279 4. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Ducati 1098R), 1:58.472 5. Tom SYKES, Great Britain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:58.641 6. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:58.756 7. Joan LASCORZ, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:59.194 8. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:59.591 From Superpole Session Two: 9. Noriyuki HAGA, Japan (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:58.566 10. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:58.640 11. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:58.950 12. Mark AITCHISON, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:59.680 From Superpole Session One: 13. Jakub SMRZ, Czech Republic (Ducati 1098R), 1:59.355 14. Leon HASLAM, Great Britain (BMW S1000RR), 1:59.367 15. Maxime BERGER, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:59.507 16. Troy CORSER, Australia (BMW S1000RR), 1:59.565 The Rest of the Grid: 17. Ruben XAUS, Spain (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:00.432 18. Chris VERMEULEN, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:00.507 19. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:00.678 20. Lorenzo LANZI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 2:00.776 More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki: 2011 Superbike World Championship Round 7, Motorland Aragon, Spain, Final qualifying and Superpole, Saturday June 18th Circuit: 5.344 kms Conditions: Dry, mostly sunny, 23-26C (air), 46-47C (track) THIRD ROW FOR MICHEL Team Alstare Suzuki rider Michel Fabrizio managed to get into Superpole 2, in Aragon today, but he was unable to get into Superpole 1 and so will start tomorrow’s 20-lap races from the third row of the grid. Although his right arm and wrist were better today, they are nowhere near 100% and Michel knows that tomorrow is going to be very tough. Marco Melandri (Yamaha) won Superpole today, with a lap of 1:57.634, with fellow Italian Max Biaggi (Aprilia) second. Third quickest was Leon Camier (Aprilia), with series leader Carlos Checa (Ducati) fourth. Michel – 11th, 1:58.950 I was happy to do well enough to get into Superpole 2, but not happy because I didn’t get into the final Superpole. That would have guaranteed a place on the first two rows of the grid and that is something I have not had this season so far. So, once again I am a long way down the grid, with lot of work to do – particularly at the start. I really need two good starts and not have to spend the best part of the race trying to catch the leaders. I am confident in my race pace and know that my race pace would put me far higher than eleventh, so now I’ve really got to give it a go from the start if I am to get good results. My right arm is definitely better – not perfect – but it is definitely getting stronger. I did a longish run today (about twelve laps) and I didn’t have much pain, so I know that tomorrow it will be even better. At the moment, we are still trying to find the best set-up for the bike. I am losing time on the braking at the end of the long back straight. We go from flat out in sixth gear all the way down to first gear and our bike is not quite set up perfectly for this yet. We will try a little change in the warm-up tomorrow and see if we can improve the set-up. It seems that when the track temperature is high, the grip goes down, but the tyre life is better. When the track is cooler, the grip is better, but the tyre life is worse. But, I guess it’s the same for everybody and we just have to deal with it. If I can get good starts, I know that my race pace is good enough to fight with the leaders and that’s my goal. More, from a press release issued by PATA Racing Team: Superpole – Motorland Aragon Nitro Nori is ready to fight on the last two races after a great performance during the second qualifying day of this seventh round of the Superbike World Championship in Aragon. The japanese rider was immediately fast hitting the time for the Superpole and working on the tyres’ setting. At the end of the practices he came up with a fourth place affirming his aiming for the races tomorrow. After he easily handle the Superpole 1 without the need to use the soft tyre, later on he made flaw on the last sector compromising the Superpole 3 only by 1 tenth of second. So, tomorrow he’s going to start from the ninth place on the grid and he will have to use all his talent to make it up and get among the leaders. Noriyuki Haga – Aprilia RSV4R #41 – “Unluckily I was overlong at one of the firsts turns. And with such close gaps I screwed up the chance to place among the first two rows. But my aim is still the same. We did a good job today to prepare ourselves for the two manches so I’m positive about tomorrow’s outcomes.” More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: Weather conditions: Light clouds with strong wind. Temperature: Air: 23 26 °C, Track: 33 47 °C Number of riders participating: 20 from 12 teams Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) 1:59.183 min Fastest lap Superpole 3: Marco Melandri (Yamaha WSBK Team) 1:57.437 min Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport experienced a disappointing Saturday at Motorland Aragón (ESP). Works riders, Leon Haslam (GBR) and Troy Corser (AUS), will start the seventh round of the 2011 FIM Superbike World Championship from the fourth row. Leon finished the Superpole qualifying in 14th, while Troy qualified in 16th. The best placed rider on a BMW S1000 RR was Ayrton Badovini (ITA) of the BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team who will start from the second row. The Italian was eighth fastest in Superpole one and set the fourth fastest time in Superpole two to progress safely to Superpole three. In that decisive session Badovini had to go out on race tyres as he had already used his qualifiers in the previous two sessions and eventually finished in eighth position. “I am very happy, the bike is working really well and I cannot wait for the races tomorrow”, said Badovini. Leon Haslam: Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: 2:00.007 min (P13) / Fastest lap FP: 2:00.075 min (P8) / Fastest lap Superpole 1: 1:59.367 min (P14) “We posted a good time in Superpole one on race tyres and decided to stay in the garage. Along with the guys, I thought we were safe and planned to save the qualifying tyres for the remaining two sessions. Sadly the gamble didn’t pay off. A lot of the other guys put a qualifying tyre on for their second run in SP1, and that pushed us down from fourth to outside the top 12. It’s a shame because I felt we had good pace, and the qualifying tyre seemed to be giving the other guys an extra second, so I think we could have done the same. Still we believe we have a good race pace for tomorrow, so will try to get a good start and see what we can do in the races.” Troy Corser: Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: 2:00.182 min (P16) / Fastest lap FP: 2:00.808 min (P15) / Fastest lap Superpole 1: 1:59.565 min (P16) “Today the bike just was not doing what we wanted it to do. We were struggling with the race tyre, so we put the qualifier on. But with that we struggled even more. It was a difficult day. We will work hard to sort out these issues for tomorrow. In the races anything is still possible. We just need a good start and to find a better setup with the bike.” Rainer Bäumel (Head of Race Operations): “On Leon’s side we just had bad luck. We were doing pretty well with the race tyres. At the end of Superpole one we thought his time would be good enough to make it to the next session, so we did not do another lap. But unfortunately this plan did not work out. On Troy’s side we had some issues with the chassis, as we did not have any grip. We are working hard to solve this for tomorrow. Let’s wait and see what is possible in the races. The fact that we were quite competitive with Leon on race tyres gives us reason to be confident.” More, from a press release issued by Castrol Honda: Hard work for Xaus at Aragon Ruben Xaus improved his lap time in this morning’s second qualifying session at Motorland Aragon in Spain but was unable to progress to the final Superpole sessions this afternoon. He will consequently start tomorrow’s two seventh round World Superbike championship races from the head of the fifth row of the grid. Pole position was taken by Marco Melandri this afternoon, the Italian lapping the 5.344km Aragon circuit in a best time of 1m57.624s, with Max Biaggi, Leon Camier and series leader Carlos Checa joining him on the front row. Despite shaving almost half a second off his best time, Xaus missed out on Superpole by one place and used this afternoon’s free practice session to try a number of different settings on his CBR1000RR. Ruben Xaus P17, 2m00.432s It’s been a difficult day and, of course, I was disappointed not to make it into Superpole for this afterno on. Everyone has been working very hard and I’ve been riding as well as possible, but as soon as the guys have found a possible way through one problem, I have found another. We’ll keep working this evening and in warm-up tomorrow to find some more improvements and I’ll ride my hardest in the races to get something. It’s great to be at this new track with the enthusiastic Spanish fans, and I hope I can give them something to cheer about tomorrow. Ronald ten Kate team manager It’s been a frustrating day for everyone and, after just missing out on Superpole, Ruben wanted to try a few things in this afternoon’s free practice. We weren’t able to improve anything, but at least we know which direction not to go in! There’s still some time to look at all the data and get the right kind of compromise for tomorrow morning’s warm-up. Then we’ll have to hope for a couple of go od starts and see how the races go. More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Mark of greatness for Melandri in Tissot-Superpole Motorland Aragon (Spain), Saturday 18 June 2011 Marco Melandri”ƒ(Yamaha World Superbike Team)”ƒput in a great performance in qualifying to take his first ever Tissot-Superpole success and also give Yamaha its first top grid slot of the season. Melandri set a new track best of 1 minute 57.634 seconds in Superpole 3 and he will start Sunday’s 20-lap races with his great rival Max Biaggi”ƒ(Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team)”ƒas his closest challenger. Biaggi’s team-mate Leon Camier and championship leader Carlos Checa”ƒ(Althea Racing) complete the front row. Marco Melandri: “It’s awesome, I’m very happy. I didn’t think it could happen, especially after Superpole 1 when I almost lost the chance to go to the next one. When I saw Max in front of everyone in Superpole 3, I had a few guys in the middle on race tyres so I passed them and followed Max to set my best time so I need to say thanks to him for my lap time!” Max Biaggi: “We’ve been working a lot to find the best set-up possible, I’m quite happy even though I’m not on pole, but tomorrow is a long race and it’s not going to be easy because it’s difficult to make the tyres last for the final eight laps. But we’re all in the same boat and we will see!” Leon Camier: “It makes a change for us to be up on the front row to be honest. I’m really happy with that, we’ve been working good all weekend. We made a couple of little changes since Misano and thought we were going to struggle a bit here but they have made the bike feel much better. Fingers crossed for tomorrow, it’ll be interesting to start from the front!” Carlos Checa: “I struggled here a bit in qualifying, and then made a small mistake in the last Superpole session going into the slow turn. It was difficult to fight for pole today, but we are confident for tomorrow’s races.” Tom Sykes”ƒ(Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) put in a late charge on race tyres to fifth, with Eugene Laverty”ƒ(Yamaha World Superbike Team), Joan Lascorz”ƒ(Kawasaki Racing Team) and Ayrton Badovini”ƒ(BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team)”ƒall joining him on row two. The competition for places in qualifying was remarkable at such a long 5.344km circuit, with combined qualifying (which determines the top riders who go forward to Superpole) ending with the top 16 riders within a second of each other. The four riders who had to exit Superpole after the second of three sessions were Misano podium finisher Noriyuki Haga”ƒ(PATA Racing Team Aprilia), Sylvain Guintoli”ƒ(Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing), Michel Fabrizio”ƒ(Team Suzuki Alstare)”ƒand the remarkable Mark Aitchison”ƒ(Team Pedercini) who had his most impressive qualifying of the year, ending up 12th from 20 riders in his rookie WSBK season on a privateer machine.”ƒ The first casualties of the stopwatch as the first session finished included a surprise figure, as Jakub Smrz”ƒ(Effenbert-Liberty Racing)”ƒwas second place in combined qualifying but he ended up 13th on the grid after Superpole 1. Even more of a surprise in some regards was that official BMW riders Leon Haslam”ƒ(BMW Motorrad Motorsport)”ƒand Troy Corser”ƒ(BMW Motorrad Motorsport)”ƒwere unable to compete the way they hoped and finished 14th and 16th respectively. Privateer Ducati rider Maxime Berger”ƒ(Supersonic Racing Team) took a fourth row start after posting some impressive times in earlier qualifying and practice sessions. Tissot-Superpole Times: 1. Melandri M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’57.634; 2. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’57.790; 3. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’58.279; 4. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’58.472; 5. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’58.641; 6. Laverty E. (IRL) Yamaha YZF R1 1’58.756; 7. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’59.194; 8. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’59.591; 9. Haga N. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’58.566; 10. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1’58.640; 11. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’58.950; 12. Aitchison M. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’59.680; 13. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’59.355; 14. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 1’59.367; 15. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1’59.507; 16. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’59.565; etc. More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: THE ALTHEA RACING TEAM AND CHECA EARN A FRONT ROW START FOR TOMORROW’S RACE AT RIDER’S HOME TRACK ARAGON Alcaniz (Spain), Saturday 18th June: in front of the Spanish crowds, home rider Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) took part in a closely fought Superpole this afternoon on the Motorland Aragon track, ensuring himself of a front row start, in fourth position, for tomorrow’s two Superbike races. For second qualifying this morning, the track temperature was more than 20ËšC cooler than it was yesterday afternoon and as a result times dropped significantly. Checa, having closed yesterday with the second fastest time (2m00.0), was able to improve by almost a second today. He completed several laps in under 2m00, the fastest of which was a 1m59.1, recorded mid-session and which propelled him to the top of the timesheets. He remained in first position until the session’s end, thus qualifying in first place for the afternoon’s Superpole. Superpole 1: temperatures increased greatly during the afternoon (47ËšC track temperature) and in the first Superpole phase Checa made just one lap on race rubber. The time recorded, 1m58.7, was enough to allow him safe passage to phase two; he closed in second position. Superpole 2: this time the Spanish rider and his technicians opted to use the first qualifying tyre. As in the first phase, Carlos needed to make only one lap, which saw him close in a safe second position once again. Superpole 3: Carlos went out on track in the third session with the second qualifer available to him and immediately made a fast lap. A small error made during a subsequent fast lap cost him a few tenths and he thus closed the session with the previously recorded best time which awarded him fourth place on the grid for tomorrow’s races. Carlos Checa: “Today a few of the other riders went really well. We knew we had the pace needed to finish on the front row and we did it. Unfortunately I made a small mistake at one point in the final Superpole phase and without that I think I could have gone a few tenths faster. Anyway we are satisfied to be on the front row and I’m feeling confident ahead of the races because we’ve shown that we have strong pace. All that’s left is to select the best tyre for the races, but we’ll wait to see exactly what conditions and temperatures are like tomorrow before making a decision. I know that the races will be a lot of fun in the presence of the Spanish fans.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Sykes And Lascorz Qualify Well In Spain WSBK, Motorland Aragon, Spain, 18 June 2011 Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz will start each 20-lap WSBK race at Motorland Aragon from the second row after finishing Superpole qualifying fifth and seventh respectively. Sykes has never dipped out of the top five in any session of practice or qualifying and was then sixth, fifth and finally fifth again through the three Superpole sessions. Tom even stayed in contention for a front row starting spot right until the end of the final Superpole session and posted his impressive lap time on a race tyre. Lascorz had a slightly more complex practice and qualifying experience before Superpole, ending up tenth after combined qualifying. He was only 0.647 seconds from the leading rider at that point. Lascorz’ seventh place after Superpole puts him in a good position to take an early advantage in what will be his lone home race in 2011. Seventh was his best qualifying performance of the year so far. The tall Spanish rider had the opportunity to test Aragon recently but was only able to do a few laps back then. It was another tough weekend of practice for the recently returned Kawasaki Racing Team rider Chris Vermeulen but although 18th in combined qualifying, he was only 1.324 seconds from the very fastest; a respectable margin at a circuit which measures 5.344km in length. Mark Aitchison (Kawasaki Pedercini Team) was on strong form, making it into Superpole and finally qualifying 14th, by far his best pre-race position of the year so far. His team-mate Roby Rolfo was 19th, one place behind Vermeulen. Tom Sykes: “We have been in the top five places all weekend and I am quite happy. I still don’t think we made the best out of the qualifying tyres and in superpole we had no option but to run with the race tyre and we produced quite a good lap. I was happy with that. I was just a little bit disappointed we lost out on a front row start but that is just me putting pressure on myself and wanting to achieve more things. I am confident with our race pace and over 20 laps we are quite consistent, so it just depends what the other guys do and which tyres they choose. We did a bit of a race run this afternoon and without busting a gut it seems we were very strong and consistent, so we will see tomorrow. I just pray that I get real good starts, that is all I need. If we get away clean I will have a big smile on my face ready to battle away for the rest of the races.” Joan Lascorz: “I found things easier at this circuit with the qualifying tyre on the bike. We improved by a second when we made that change. On the entry to corners on closed throttle it turned better and that made the whole machine work better. I made a good adjustment in the final Superpole sessions but we were losing a bit of time because the bike was sometimes trying to do a wheelie. So we will work on that aspect of set-up. We have made one step more and every time I start nearer the front we can improve. We have not chosen a tyre yet, it just depends on the weather conditions we find in the morning.” Chris Vermeulen: “We improved it a little bit this afternoon, and as my chief mechanic Marcel said, our race pace is not that far away on race tyres. As far as the bike set-up is here, I am having the same sort of issues I was having in Misano. Just not being able to stop the bike and get confidence in the front while braking. We made a little bit of a step forward using the tyre we expect to be racing on. I used the hardest front too, just because I wanted to try it out. We were only a couple of tenths off getting into Superpole but I could not get a good feeling this morning. The lap times are close so it should be an exciting race.” More, from a press release issued by Effenbert Liberty Racing Team: WORLD CHAMPHIONSHIP SBK 2011 EFFENBERT LIBERTY RACING TEAM 7 th ROUND – Motorland Aragon – 18.6.2011 QUALIFICATIONS AND SUPERPOLE ARAGON, June 18, 2011 – The Effenbert Liberty Racing Team, after the adventure in San Marino at the Misano Adriatico circuit “Motorland Aragon” , arrives at the Grand Prix of Spain with great motivation and looking forward to achieve a result that will improve its overall and individual riders classification with Sylvain Guintoli and Jakub Smrz. QUALIFICATIONS – The first Friday of free practices did not bring positive results to the team, because after the first qualifying session we had only the 17th best time with Guintoli (2’01 .484, 21 laps), and the 20th with Smrz (2’01 .829, 15 laps ). Marco Melandri (Yamaha YZF R1) finishes with the lead achieving a record time of 1’59 .726 ,being the only rider able to run under two minutes per lap, in a day characterized by very hot temperatures. This morning’s qualifications however, it has been a different story for the Effenbert Liberty Racing Team riders, because “Kuba” Smrz stopped the chronometers at 1’59 .262 , the best personal performance with the second best time behind the championship leader Carlos Checa and just ahead of the reigning world champion Max Biaggi. Many riders are very close to eachother, with very small differences of timings , Sylvain Guintoli being in the 15th position with 2’00 .133 , timing that allowed the French rider to qualify for the Superpole. SUPERPOLE The afternoon’s Superpole reserved a lot of emotions as the riders improved their timings lap by lap . After the convincing responses given by the bikes in the morning qualifications , the Effenbert Liberty Racing presents its riders Guintoli and Smrz ready to snatch a result of prestige. Sylvain Guintoli immediately scores the timing that will allow him the access to the second round of the Superpole, while, for the first time this season, the talented Czech Jakub Smrz is forced to raise the white flag having to settle for 13th position, when, on his last qualification lap he went straight in a bend and out of the road, a mistake that did not allow him to improve the position obtained so far. In this first round of the Superpole the use of one of the two supersoft qualifiers tires made the difference. The best time is managed by Eugene Laverty (1’58 .621). The Team’s engineers, mechanics and Guintoli focused on the work on the bike and looking for a prestigious position in the second Superpole but after the first interesting time clocked (1’58 .640) after the first lap, here came the “best laps” by Sykes, Laverty and Lascorz who draw back the Liberty Racing Team rider into the tenth position and in the third row. Max Biaggi doesn’t waste his time and sets a new sensational lap record stopping the chrono on 1’57 .841. But it is Marco Melandri who tomorrow will start in front of everyone, obtaining a position on the starting grid that he was missing from November the 2nd, 2002, the final race that the rider from Ravenna run in the 250cc class, in Valencia. Melandri first, Max Biaggi second, and Leon Camier third. Carlos Checa fourth, completing the front row. These are statements of our two riders: Jakub Smrz will start only from the 13th position on the grid, but despite that, the Czech rider is confident for the race: “The bike has had some big improvement from yesterday – he said – I was out of the second Superpole for my mistake on the final lap and this is why I could not fight with the others for a better placement. It ‘ s the first time this season that I don’t pass the cut on the first Superpole, this surely will bring me extra motivation for the race tomorrow, to redeem this bad position and be among the protagonists. ” On the same line is Sylavain’s statement concerning the improvements of the bike, and he also is ready to give out a good fight on tomorrow’s Grand Prix: “This is a different track from the others – the Frenchman says and it took me some time to understand it well. On top of refining the setting of the bike, I have to say that the more we ride on this track, the more I feel in tune with the circuit , it has to be discovered lap by lap and there are still places where the skill of the rider can make the difference . We are improving day by day and I am convinced that tomorrow I can be a protagonist in the race. “. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Melandri Claims Spectacular Maiden Pole at Aragon In a thrilling Superpole session today at Aragon, Marco Melandri was flawless, qualifying in pole position with an impressive time of 1’57.634, while setting the new track record in the process. The Italian completed two laps in the opening Superpole heat and confident to have recorded a sufficiently fast pace decided to save his qualifiers for the coming heats. The nail-biting dying seconds of the session saw several riders improve their lap times, bumping Melandri back to 12th.Team-mate Laverty wisely changed to a set of qualifiers with just 3 minutes to go and produced a flying lap taking him comfortably into Superpole two in first place. The second phase of the Superpole knockout was equally impressive with Laverty and Melandri concluding in third and seventh place respectively. Melandri performed impeccably in the third and final session, producing his fastest time on the first lap, setting the record time on the new Spanish track and claiming his maiden pole position in his World Superbike career. Having used his qualifiers in the previous heats, Laverty completed Superpole three in sixth place on a set of used race tyres. A track temperature of at least 20 degrees less than that recorded in yesterday’s first qualifying session permitted all riders to improve their lap times in this morning’s second qualifying. Eugene Laverty had a less than perfect session, struggling with wheelie issues which he managed to improve prior to the afternoon’s free practice. A competitive qualifying session saw all 16 riders heading into the Superpole knockout with less than a second between them Both Yamaha World Superbike rookies face tomorrow’s two races confident to be on top form and proving strong contenders for a Spanish podium. Melandri has his sights on a victory, in what will be a very competitive race day, on higher track temperatures. Marco Melandri Yamaha World Superbike Team – 1st, 1’57.634 “This is an amazing day. I really didn’t think I’d be in pole position, especially after the first Superpole where I risked not qualifying. My team has been working harder than ever since Misano and we’ve really come a long way and the bike is working very well. I’m really happy with today and I want to say thanks to Yamaha and all my team. The race tomorrow will be very difficult and competitive. A lot will depend on the heat of the track and tyre wear but hopefully it won’t be as windy as today.” Eugene Laverty Yamaha World Superbike Team – 6th, 1’58.756 “It was a very tough morning. I didn’t find a good set up, so I wasn’t very confident. The team worked hard and we made huge improvements in the afternoon’s free practice and I regained confidence prior to Superpole. I knew I had to go out again in the first heat and improve my time even if that meant using a qualifier and only have one left. Unfortunately I also knew that then I couldn’t produce a faster lap in the third session. Marco, Checa and Biaggi will be very strong tomorrow but I’m sure I’ll be competitive as well.” Andrea Dosoli – Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager “A great result for Marco today. He has had a good weekend overall and has found a good race set-up. He was fortunate in the first Superpole, having saved his qualifiers for the final heats. It’s important to be on the front row and it will be crucial to get ahead and try and save on tyre wear. He did a long run in the afternoon which highlighted the necessity not to over use the tyres in the first few laps. Eugene struggled this morning but managed to improve on his race setting before the afternoon’s session. The second row is a very good result and from there I’m confident he will be strong and battle for a position amongst the leaders.” More, from a press release issued by Aprilia: SUPERPOLE AT ARAGON: SECOND PLACE TIME FOR MAX BIAGGI AND THIRD PLACE FOR LEON CAMIER. THE APRILIA ALITALIA RACING TEAM STANDARD BEARERS TOGETHER ON THE FRONT ROW FOR THE FIRST TIME. Aragon Motorland (Spain), June 18th 2011 It wasn’t as easy as the end result seems to suggest: for the two Aprilia Alitalia Team riders the road to the front row was paved by hard work. But in the end the Aprilia riders will both start from the first row and this is a first since Leon Camier had never before earned a spot among the top four. World Champion Max Biaggi, after searching all weekend for the right feeling on this track compromised compared to the tests in the autumn by the asphalt temperature conditions found the right solutions, making the most of the times right down to the last second in the morning free practice sessions which precede the Superpole. The result was the second spot on the starting grid, but it will be the heat and its effect on the tyres explains Max that will influence the results of the races tomorrow: “We worked very hard with my team looking for the best possible set-up and also exploring various avenues to improve our situation. Unfortunately all of the information we logged during the autumn tests was useless because of the different conditions which we found this time. Sure, I’m pretty happy about the second place, but the two races tomorrow will be long and difficult, especially with the unknown factor of how the tyres will react to the heat and how long they will last. But we have no choice because a switch to harder tyres would compromise performance too much. Anyway, this is what we have to work with, so we’ll bring out the most of what we have”. Leon Camier, after confidently sailing through the first and second Superpole sessions, which had troubled him so much in other weekends, he closed out the third session with a decisive third place. For the first time in his World Superbike career, the Englishman will start from the front row behind Marco Melandri, his team mate Max Biaggi, and in front of the leader in the standings, Carlos Checa. Leon was quite obviously satisfied: “From the very beginning of the weekend, and with the last race at Misano fresh in our minds, we decided to make some changes to my RSV4 to get back some confidence. So we made a few important modifications to the chassis and now the feeling is good. Now I’m enjoying the result, but I want to stay focused for the races tomorrow, which will be difficult”.