FIM Superbike World Championship Phillip Island, Australia February 24, 2012 Qualifying Session One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Jonathan REA, Great Britain (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:31.959 2. Jakub SMRZ, Czech Republic (Ducati 1098R), 1:32.116 3. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:32.198 4. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Ducati 1098R), 1:32.228 5. Max BIAGGI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:32.318 6. Niccolo CANEPA, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:32.343 7. Tom SYKES, Great Britain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:32.402 8. Joan LASCORZ, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:32.443 9. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:32.553 10. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:32.609 11. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:32.644 12. Leon CAMIER, Great Britain (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:32.817 13. Chaz DAVIES, Great Britain (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:32.874 14. Bryan STARING, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:32.884 15. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:33.040 16. Maxime BERGER, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:33.075 17. David SALOM, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:33.128 18. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:33.136 19. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:33.148 20. Josh BROOKES, Australia (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:33.477 21. Leon HASLAM, Great Britain (BMW S1000RR), 1:33.532 22. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:34.189 23. Mark AITCHISON, Australia (BMW S1000RR), 1:34.239 24. David JOHNSON, Australia (BMW S1000RR), 1:34.855 25. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:34.979 More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: Phillip Island Free Practice & Qualifying Practice 1. Friday, 24th February 2012. Weather conditions: Sunny. Temperature: Air: 25 27 °C, Track: 41 53 °C Number of riders participating: 24/25 from 15 teams Fastest lap Free Practice: Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) 1:31.973 min Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: Jonathan Rea (Honda WSBK Team) 1:31.959 min Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport rider Marco Melandri (ITA) will go into Sunday’s season opener of the 2012 FIM Superbike World Championship after setting a time that would put him on the provisional third row. Marco finished today’s qualifying practice at Phillip Island (AUS) in ninth position. His team mate, Leon Haslam (GBR), underwent surgery on his fractured tibia on Thursday morning. The operation went according to plan. After being declared fit in the morning to take part in Friday’s first free practice session by the circuit’s medical officer, the team management and team doctor, Dr. Vincenzo Tota, made a joint decision to let Leon complete two flying laps in qualifying practice later in the day. The circuit’s medical officer will review Leon again before a final decision is taken to let him ride on Saturday. BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team rider Michel Fabrizio (ITA) finished qualifying practice in tenth, and his team mate Ayrton Badovini (ITA) was 18th. Marco Melandri: Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:32.888 min (P11)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:32.553 min (P9) “Today was difficult. We worked a lot on the bike, and improved it in some areas, but went in the wrong direction in some other areas. I still cannot carry good speed going into the corner. It seems we need time to get this fixed. Thanks to everyone for working so hard.” Leon Haslam: Fastest lap Free Practice: DNS/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:33.532 min (P21) “The surgery went really well. A big “Thank You” to surgeon Dr. Blackney, to Dr. Vincenzo Tota, to the guys at the circuit and at Clinica Mobile for sorting me out. I only did two flying laps today to see how I felt on the bike. That was the objective, and we will now leave it until tomorrow. I did not want to do anything silly. Actually I was not pushing at all, but rather cruising around. If it is the case that I feel well enough and we believe we can be in the points then I would like to race.” Andrea Dosoli (Head of Race Operations): “We jointly decided to let Leon go out today in order to see if he can safely ride the bike. This test ride was not about performance at all. We did not want to take any risks, as Leon only underwent surgery on Thursday morning. He felt well on the bike. The circuit’s medical officer will review him again later. A decision as to whether he will ride tomorrow will be taken then. Marco worked on setting up his chassis and his engine brake during this morning. Although we have improved compared to Monday and Tuesday, it is not enough to be competitive at the moment. We are working hard to be there tomorrow.” Please find also attached a PDF version of the 2012 BMW Motorrad Motorsport Media Guide in standard resolution. For example the Media Guide contains information about the 2012 season, Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport, factory riders, Marco Melandri and Leon Haslam, the BMW S 1000 RR, the regulations for the FIM Superbike World Championships, the race calendar, the circuits, the other motorsport programmes and the history of BMW Motorrad Motorsport. More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: GIUGLIANO AND CHECA (ALTHEA RACING) THIRD AND FOURTH IN FIRST SBK QUALIFYING AT PHILLIP ISLAND! Phillip Island (Australia), Friday 24th February 2012: team Althea Racing took part in the opening sessions of the 2012 World Superbike Championship today at the Australian track of Phillip Island with some very encouraging results young Althea rider Davide Giugliano closed first qualifying in third position, followed by Carlos Checa in fourth. Checa, current SBK world champion, got straight to work in the first practice session of the morning, projecting himself into first place after only ten minutes. In very warm conditions (air temperature 26ËšC, track 41ËšC), Carlos continued to improve throughout the 45-minute sessions, closing with a best time of 1m31.9. He was the only rider to lap in under 1m32. His team-mate Giugliano began to make progress in the second part of the session, working hard to increase feeling with his Ducati 1198 and improving on his times to close the practice in sixteenth position with a best time of 1m33.1. Later in the day, in afternoon qualifying, Checa put in a similar performance, recording some very fast times at the start of the session and moving into first position once more. He maintained a very good pace throughout the entire session which, on a track now 53ËšC in temperature, bodes well for Sunday’s races. Having found a better setting this morning, Giugliano made a convincing step up mid-session to join his team-mate near the top of the timesheets. Both Althea men made a tyre choice that suited the warm conditions and, as a result, first qualifying saw Giugliano close in third position with a best time of 1m32.1, followed by Checa in fourth (1m32.2). Carlos Checa: “We’ve worked well today. All went well apart from the incident of course; I lost the rear, maybe because of tyre wear, and couldn’t keep hold of it but luckily I didn’t collide with the small wall in front of me! I was able to get back to the garage where we sorted the handlebar and changed the tyre. I had the chance to try the narrower tyre but we saw that the wider tyre lasts longer. The tyres were the focus of our work today really, identifying the best solution to ensure good race pace. I’m satisfied with what we’ve got done. I’ve always gone well with the Ducati at Phillip Island and so I think we can benefit from this ‘track factor’ come Sunday.” Davide Giugliano: “It didn’t go at all badly. I had lost some feeling after my crash on Tuesday and so this morning was difficult but, with the team’s help, I was able to regain confidence by the afternoon. Concentrating on finding feeling means that we couldn’t work on race pace but that will be on tomorrow’s schedule. I had Carlos’ help in putting together those fast laps and it looks like we have the potential to be fast now I just need to go out and find consistency on my own, which is difficult as I don’t yet have all the references. Anyway, we’ve worked hard and we’ll see what happens tomorrow but today we leave the track very happy.” Genesio Bevilacqua, General Manager of Althea Racing: “It was a very positive first qualifying session. Today we identified a better setting with Davide after carrying out some final tests this morning but the key was selecting the most suitable tyre for him this allowed Davide to put in a fantastic time that puts him in third place for now. I have to say that Carlos also gave him an involuntary hand in making that fast lap but the performance was nevertheless strong. Carlos, having more experience, concentrated on finding a race pace that will allow him to complete the races at the highest level and was less worried about setting the kind of times he’d set in practice. He also selected the right tyre that will probably be the race tyre. All of the members of team Althea did a top job today which allowed our two Ducati riders to be so fast. Tomorrow it should be hotter, meaning less grip, so I expect a difficult day as far as tyres are concerned.” TIMES (Qualifying): 1. Rea (Honda) 1’31.9; 2. Smrz (Ducati) 1’32.1; 3. Giugliano (Ducati) 1’32.1; 4. Checa (Ducati) 1’32.2; 5. Biaggi (Aprilia) 1’32.3; 6. Canepa (Ducati) 1’32.3; 7. Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’32.4; 8. Lascorz (Kawasaki) 1’32.4; 9. Melandri (BMW) 1’32.5; Fabrizio (BMW) 1’32.6 More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Rea leaves it late to be fastest on the first day of the season Phillip Island (Australia), Friday 24 February 2012 Jonathan Rea pulled off the surprise of the day in first qualifying at Phillip Island as the Honda World Superbike man put in the only sub-1m32s lap in the last couple of minutes to head the field. Rea’s time of 1 minute 31.959 seconds put him in front of three Ducati riders, who had dominated the session until then. Second place went to Jakub Smrz on the Liberty Racing machine, followed by Superstock 1000 champion Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) in third and his team-mate Carlos Checa in fourth. The Italian rookie actually led at one point, before the others put in faster laps close to the end of the 45-minute session. Jonathan Rea: “Going fastest was a pleasant surprise and also kind of our plan. We went out and got on a decent pace right away, sort of 1’32 lap times, but with old tyres. Then we developed a problem with the bike and we lost a bit of time during the session. When we did go out again I went out with what I think the race tyre is going to be fitted to the rear, but it did not have the pace of the tyre I used at the end. I did about ten laps on that tyre, all very consistent but it was not going to be the fastest lap of the day. I came in to the pits near the end and got a new tyre then went out and we got a bit of a feel good factor; just to see that we were not that far away from the pace really.” Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) was next up in fifth place ahead of the Red Devils Roma Ducati of another rookie Niccolò Canepa, while the final two places on the provisional second row went to the two Kawasaki Racing Team riders, Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz. Lascorz had a fall in the timed session, Sykes a tumble in the earlier free practice session. Joshua Brookes (Crescent Suzuki), Checa and Maxime Berger (Effenbert Liberty) all went off during the official session, but without any consequences, while Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing) again crashed, picking up a head knock, but was declared fit after medical checks. Italian stars Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) and Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) rounded out the top ten places. Top Suzuki rider was Leon Camier (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) with privateer Aprilia rider Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) 13th from 25 entrants. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) returned to the track today after his big testing crash and did three laps to see how his recovery from very recent surgery was holding up. He set a 1’33.5 lap time and has qualified to race if he is deemed fit enough to do so. Times: 1. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’31.959; 2. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’32.116; 3. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’32.198; 4. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’32.228; 5. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’32.318; 6. Canepa N. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’32.343; 7. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’32.402; 8. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’32.443; 9. Melandri M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’32.553; 10. Fabrizio M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’32.609; 11. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1’32.644; 12. Camier L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’32.817; 13. Davies C. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’32.874; 14. Staring B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’32.884; 15. Aoyama H. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1’33.040; 16. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1’33.075; etc. Superbike records at Phillip Island Fastest Lap: Troy Corser (Yamaha) 1’31″826 (2007) Best Lap: Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1’30″882 (2011) More, from a press release issued by Aprilia: THE FIRST TIMES ARE IN FOR THE APRILIA RACING TEAM FROM THE PHILLIP ISLAND TRACK. MAX BIAGGI CAME THROUGH TWO SESSIONS SEARCHING FOR THE RIGHT RHYTHM ON HIS RSV4, WITH GOOD RESULTS AS HIS TIMES CONFIRM. TEAM MATE EUGENE LAVERTY FELL VICTIM TO A CRASH IN THE AFTERNOON TESTS WITHOUT SERIOUS PHYSICAL CONSEQUENCES. Phillip Island, 24 February 2012 The second and final testing session just ended on the Australian circuit of Phillip Island, the first round of the 2012 World Superbike season. The Aprilia Racing Team continues the work they began during the recent five days of testing, searching for the ideal set-up on the RSV4 bikes ridden by five time world champion Max Biaggi and Eugene Laverty. Max, as his times confirm, worked at race pace during both sessions. The times achieved in various conditions were good and earned him second and fifth place in the two 45 minute sessions. The most striking aspect of the sessions was the consistency shown by the Corsair, who took quite a few laps, as is his habit. The responses from the bike and tyres were encouraging, but there is still room for improvement. “We did some good work today confirmed Max taking a lot of laps and trying to solve the problems on various parts of the track. Our race pace is good, even if there is still some work to do to catch Checa. Tomorrow we’ll focus on performance in the fast lap, trying to take the best advantage of the tyres in that situation so that we can line up on the grid Sunday with our papers in order to battle with the best”. Team mate Eugene Laverty, back in the saddle after an injury to his hand last Wednesday, took advantage of the first session to regain familiarity with the bike and the track. But in the first few minutes of the afternoon qualifiers the Northern Irish rider took a spill in turn 9. Eugene was treated at the track medical centre, not for any particular physical injury, but for a state of confusion due to minor concussion. His participation in the sessions tomorrow shouldn’t be a problem: “In the first session I just wanted to see how my hand would perform. In the second the feeling was good from the first laps. I was on a used tyre and I lost the back end and took a slide, hitting my head and my foot. I’m fine now and there don’t seem to be any problems for tomorrow, but I’m still disappointed about the important time we lost because of the crash. Tomorrow the goal is to stay in the top sixteen in order to get into Superpole and try to bring home good results in the two races”. More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing team: Rea leads the way at Phillip Island Honda World Superbike rider Jonathan Rea took provisional pole position for the opening round of the 2012 World Superbike championship at Phillip Island in Australia after setting the fastest time in this afternoon’s first qualifying session. Rea was the only rider to lap the 4.445km circuit below 1m32s, with Jakub Smrz, Davide Guigliano and reigning world champion, Carlos Checa, joining the 25-year-old Ulsterman on the provisional front row. Rea’s Honda World Superbike team-mate, Hiroshi Aoyama, had a difficult first morning in World Superbikes, with a crash at Phillip Island’s turn two. With the new one-bike rule coming into force this season, the Japanese rider managed to get back to the pits where his crew re-built his machine for the last ten minutes of free practice. Aoyama was 15th in this afternoon’s qualifying session, but is confident of progress in tomorrow’s practice and qualifying and is hoping to make his debut in Superpole tomorrow afternoon. Jonathan Rea P1, 1m31.959s The day started quite poorly for us as we used the smaller, less preferred tyre at this track and it wasn’t going good. I got a bad rhythm and felt like I wasn’t riding good but in the afternoon we worked on a long run with the harder race tyre to see what consistency is like with that. Consistency is really good, but the lap time is not so good, so right at the very end of the session we used the softer tyre, but still the bigger one, and the lap time was good. So I know my pace is good and the bike’s working well in the conditions, but it’s still a compromise with tyres. Tomorrow we’ll do more long runs on both the tyres and make our mind up for the race, but the target’s to be on the front row, for sure. Hiroshi Aoyama P15, 1m33.040s Well, for me, the first day of the superbike experience wasn’t so easy because I had one crash and some kind of trouble. We could not do what we wanted to do today so there was a little stress for everybody. I think we know what we should change for tomorrow and I hope that it’s another day to feel better. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Team Crescent Fixi Suzuki began its World Superbike Championship assault at Phillip Island in Australia today at the opening round of the 2012 World Superbike Championship with Leon Camier ending first qualifying in 12th and Josh Brookes 20th, but both confident of big improvements tomorrow. Held in mostly hot and sunny conditions, the morning session started a little cool, but as the day wore on, the temperature grew and caused a few problems with grip; highlighted when injured John Hopkins’ stand-in rider Brookes lost the front end of the Yoshimura-powered GSX-R1000 and crashed. Leon Camier – 12th, 1:32.817: “I am a little disappointed how things turned out today, but racing is like that sometimes. We made some changes to the bike for the morning session, but the changes didn’t make the improvements we thought they would. So we put the bike back to the way it was at the end of the official tests and started working all over again. In the afternoon session, we had some problems with the clutch, which caused some corner entry issues, so I couldn’t push as hard as I would’ve liked. It was a bit frustrating, but if we can find just half a second, we’ll be there or thereabouts and that is definitely possible. Josh Brookes – 20th, 1:33.477: “I am not very happy because everything had been going well until I crashed this afternoon when I lost the front end in MG corner. Although the conditions were not conducive to fast lap times this afternoon, I actually did my best laps at the hottest time of the day – and that’s not normal. I was pleased with the improvement from the morning and now I am looking forward to more progress. I cannot quite feel the limit of the bike and the tyre yet, but once I do that, I’ll be able to go faster for sure.” Jack Valentine – Team Manager: “It’s been a hard day, but nothing we cannot handle. The things we tried with Leon’s bike in the morning did not improve the bike, so we returned to what we knew worked. In the afternoon he had some clutch issues, but still managed to do a great job and qualify in the position he did. Josh tipped off at MG, but we can see that he’s progressing and that’s a positive. We’re new to this Championship and are under no illusions how competitive this series is. On a positive note, all of us at Crescent Fixi Suzuki are very pleased with the performance-gain of new-spec Yoshimura engines.” More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: The World Superbike Championship officially got underway at Phillip Island today. Bryan Staring and David Salom spent the practice and qualifying sessions exploring the limits of their 2012 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R bikes. This was the first real opportunity for the riders to put into practice what they had learned during testing at the Phillip Island circuit last week and also earlier this week. The Team Pedercini riders completed the first free practice of the 2012 season this morning on a dry track. An excellent performance from Bryan Staring; the Aussie rider (1’33’020) reached the twelfth position, improving on his best lap times set during testing. Salom is suffering because of a fracture to his right wrist. David’s physical condition affected his performance today, preventing him from achieving the results he had hoped for. He was able to complete only 14 laps and, with a best lap time of 1’33″798, he finished in twentieth position. In the qualifying session both riders worked hard with their technical staff to find a competitive set-up for their Kawasaki bikes. Staring improved on his morning’s best lap time, closing in fourteenth position. Salom unfortunately continued to suffer with his wrist and was unable to improve, closing in seventeenth place. Tomorrow morning the riders will continue to work with their technicians as they strive to gain entry to the Superpole. Free practice : 1) Checa (Ducati) 2) Biaggi (Aprilia) 3) Smrz (Ducati) – 4) Sykes (Kawasaki) 5) Rea (Honda) “¦”¦.. 12) Staring (Kawasaki) “¦.. 20 Salom (Kawasaki) Qualifying session : 1) Rea (Honda) 2) Smrz (Ducati) 3) Giugliano (Ducati) 4) Checa (Ducati) 5) Biaggi (Aprilia) “¦”¦..14) Staring (Kawasaki) “¦.. 17 Salom (Kawasaki) David Salom: “It’s difficult for me to ride in my current physical condition. I thought I was doing better but unfortunately I’m still feeling pain in my right wrist. I’m experiencing a lot of pain now, but hopefully tonight I’ll be able to rest and feel better for tomorrow. I hope the doctors at the Clinica Mobile will be able to help me reduce the pain so that I can ride in the best possible manner. The feeling with the bike was good today but I am disappointed for my team and also with my position.” Bryan Staring: “I’m pleased to be able to say that I’m very happy. We improved the times lap after lap and, although I think there are still areas where we can improve further, I’m satisfied. I thank the whole team and my suspension technician too for having done an amazing job today. Tomorrow morning we need to pick up the pace again as the track will be faster and everyone will be pushing to make it to Superpole but I have more confidence now and will be pushing as hard as I can.” More, from a press release issued by Effenbert Liberty Racing Team: Smrž 2nd fastest in first Australian qualifying! Jakub Smrž had a fantastic start to the season opener. The world superbike engines were started this morning, local time, in Australian Phillip Island, on occasion of the opening round of the 2012 world championship. Riders completed a 45-minute long free practice session and 1st qualifying, where our Effenbert Liberty Racing rider Jakub Smrž put his Ducati on a fantastic 2nd place of the provisional starting grid with 1.32.116, less than 0.2 seconds behind the potential pole man Jonathan Rea. Jakub was very happy with his first marked performance: “The bike is very smooth and I feel comfortable with the tyres. I wasn’t pushing very hard, because of the asphalt temperature. We have to fix a small problem that we experience coming out of corners, but I’m sure we will handle it. I hope I can improve my time tomorrow.” Kuba did 3 runs during the qualifying session, recording a very fast lap time just before the chequered flag. At that point, he was the fastest man on the circuit. Sylvain Guintoli did only 12 laps trying to find a good feeling. He is finally starting to recover from flu. “The bike works fine. We were working on set-up, mostly on race pace, and made many adjustments,” commented Guintoli. He finished 11th with 1.32.644. His younger countryman Maxime Berger was doing a very satisfying job, but he was pushing too hard, losing the front in turn one in the course of his first lap on a new tyre. “I’m not injured, so that is positive and I will do my best to get over it and be stronger tomorrow, “said Berger. He finished 16th with 1.33.075. Second qualifying and SUPERPOLE takes place tomorrow at 10:45am and 3pm respectively. More, from a press release issued by Pro Ride Motorsports: The World Superbike Championship has officially started, with the first free and qualifying practices at the Phillip Island Round. As usual, the track is the favorite one for 9 of 10 riders, and the nice sunny day has completed the post card view we can see from here, a view that always attracts the public that want to closely see their two-wheels-heroes. For the Team Pro Ride Real Game Honda there are a lot of work ahead before being competitive. We have tested for two days this week, however it was certainly not enough to have 100% of clear ideas of how our Fireblade must connect itself with de Rosa’s talent. There are still a lot to test, but we have overused the precious time we had to collect the most number of data possible aiming a better qualifying tomorrow. Actually some electronic problems that did not appear in the previous days have been present today and it was a good alert to indicate the road we need to take. It is not an easy job define a bike for a rider that did not have enough time to test it. There will be still some time to find the right harmony, but we are not very far. Today practices gave us the idea of what is the easiest CBR for Raffaele and that was our choice for tomorrow. Raffaele de Rosa, rider “We had some engine problem this morning that did not allow me to exit well from some corners. Then during the afternoon we started to test something better but it was a restart and unfortunately we did not have enough time to take advantage of the changes we had made. It will be for tomorrow.” Eng. Marco Nicotari, Team Manager and Technical Director “Today we started with a completely different setting, trying to give more grip to at the rear tyre to Raffaele. But at the end we realized that the best bike was the one from the first day of tests. As he still needs to make a lot of track time to get more experience, he still does not have all the tools to give us clear indications. So we need until this moment to decide ourselves what to do. So we are remaking the bike more or less the way it was in the beginning, since it was the one with what he had more confidence. Tomorrow morning the track conditions will be better due to the lower temperature, so we hope we and finally find the second that we are looking for since we arrived here.”