eni FIM Superbike World Championship

Misano World Circuit, San Marino

June 21, 2014

Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires):

From Superpole Knockout Qualifying Session One (top two advance to Superpole Qualifying Session Two):

1. Toni ELIAS, Spain (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:35.961

2. Niccolo CANEPA, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), EVO, 1:36.534

3. David SALOM, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:36.843

4. Matteo BAIOCCO, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), EVO, 1:36.931

5. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (Bimota BB3), EVO, 1:37.038

6. Claudio CORTI, Italy (MV Agusta F4 RR), 1:37.351

7. Sylvain BARRIER, France (BMW S1000RR), EVO, 1:37.499

8. Ivan GOI, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), EVO, 1:37.540

9. Sheridan MORAIS, South Africa (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:37.807

10. Fabien FORET, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:38.008

From Superpole Knockout Qualifying Session Two:

1. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:34.883

2. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:35.079

3. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:35.106

4. Loris BAZ, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:35.254

5. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:35.316

6. Toni ELIAS, Spain (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:35.404

7. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:35.602

8. Jonathan REA, UK (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:35.675

9. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:36.043

10. Niccolo CANEPA, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), EVO, 1:36.404

11. Alex LOWES, UK (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:36.489

12. Leon HASLAM, UK (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:36.515

Combined Qualifying Results:

1. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:34.883

2. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:35.079

3. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:35.106

4. Loris BAZ, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:35.254

5. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:35.316

6. Toni ELIAS, Spain (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:35.404

7. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:35.602

8. Jonathan REA, UK (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:35.675

9. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:36.043

10. Niccolo CANEPA, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), EVO, 1:36.404

11. Alex LOWES, UK (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:36.489

12. Leon HASLAM, UK (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:36.515

13. David SALOM, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:36.843

14. Matteo BAIOCCO, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), EVO, 1:36.931

15. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (Bimota BB3), EVO, 1:37.038

16. Claudio CORTI, Italy (MV Agusta F4 RR), 1:37.351

17. Sylvain BARRIER, France (BMW S1000RR), EVO, 1:37.499

18. Ivan GOI, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), EVO, 1:37.540

19. Sheridan MORAIS, South Africa (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:37.807

20. Fabien FORET, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:38.008

21. Christian IDDON, UK (Bimota BB3), EVO, 1:38.170

22. Jeremy GUARNONI, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:38.308

23. Riccardo RUSSO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:38.402

24. Alessandro ANDREOZZI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:38.850

25. Bryan STARING, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:39.412

26. Aaron YATES, USA (EBR 1190 RX), 1:40.424

27. Peter SEBESTYEN, Hungary (BMW S1000RR), EVO, 1:40.994

28.  Geoff MAY, USA (EBR 1190 RX), 1:41.176

More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:

Reigning champ Sykes secures Misano Tissot-Superpole

Misano (Italy), Saturday 21 June 2014 – After another tense but exciting Tissot-Superpole, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) will start tomorrow’s two 21 lap races at the Misano World Circuit after getting the better of Davide Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team) and Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team), who will join him on the front row.

Today’s pole position is the 21st of Sykes’ WSBK career, with the Englishman now tied in third place with Carl Fogarty for the most pole positions scored in the series.

The top-3 riders received their Tissot-Superpole awards by the hands of the former captain of Italy’s national volleyball team Cristian Savani.

As the first eleven riders were separated by less than one second during the three Free Practice sessions, it was always going to be a close session and the on track action certainly didn’t disappoint the crowd as several riders took their turn to head the field.

Behind the top three, row two tomorrow will see Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team), Marco Melandri (Aprilia Racing Team) and Toni Elias (Red Devils Roma Aprilia), with Chaz Davies (Ducati Superbike Team), Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) and Eugene Laverty (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) lining up on row three.

The EVO battle was won by Niccolò Canepa (Althea Racing Team Ducati) who will start both races tomorrow from the fourth row in 10th position overall after making it to the final session thanks to the 2nd time set in Superpole 1 behind Elias. Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) crashed at the end of the session and will therefore start 12th.

Times: 1. Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’34.883 average 160.341 kph; 2. Giugliano (Ducati) 1’35.079; 3. Guintoli (Aprilia) 1’35.106; 4. Baz (Kawasaki) 1’35.254; 5. Melandri (Aprilia) 1’35.316; 6. Elias (Aprilia) 1’35.404; 7. Davies (Ducati) 1’35.602; 8. Rea (Honda) 1’35.675; 9. Laverty (Suzuki) 1’36.043; 10. Canepa (Ducati) 1’36.404; 11. Lowes (Suzuki) 1’36.489; 12. Haslam (Honda) 1’36.515; 13. Salom (Kawasaki); 14. Baiocco (Ducati); 15. Badovini (Bimota); 16. Corti (MV Agusta); 17. Barrier (BMW); 18. Goi (Ducati); 19. Morais (Kawasaki) 1’37.807; 20. Foret (Kawasaki) 1’38.008.

More, from a press release issued by Team Hero EBR:

Both Team Hero EBR Riders Qualify On Misano Debut

After two up and down sessions yesterday that restricted the amount of laps completed by both riders, today’s FP3 at a sunny Misano World Circuit on the Adriatic Coast saw Aaron Yates and Geoff May qualify for the 7th round of the World Superbike Championship, both 1190RX machines working well around the twisty Italian circuit.

Aaron and Geoff had both improved their times within the first 15 minutes to ensure their places on tomorrow’s grid before steadily continuing to improve throughout the remainder of the session.

Geoff had a small front end crash at Turn 10 but was able to remount, return to the garage before returning to the track and improving still further.

Aaron posted a series of improving laps to eventually elevate himself into 27th position, with a time close to several other riders.

Today’s further steps forward bode well for a solid pair of races for both riders tomorrow.

Aaron Yates: “I’m sorry I crashed but I was pushing very hard. I really enjoyed this track and I’m confident of a good race tomorrow because we have found the most comfortable set up since the beginning of the season. My goal for tomorrow is to finish both races inside the top 20.”

Geoff May: “Yesterday I wasn’t able to ride as much as I wanted so today I was forced to push hard to try to close the gap with the other riders. Unfortunately I pushed too hard and I crashed but I’m really enjoying the track and I hope tomorrow we can get a better result.”

More, from a press release issued by Voltcom Crescent Suzuki:

Voltcom Crescent Suzuki looking for race day improvements in Misano

Voltcom Crescent Suzuki racer Eugene Laverty qualified in ninth position this afternoon ahead of the two eni FIM Superbike World Championship races at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ in Italy tomorrow.

After a solid morning’s work in free practice, Laverty was confident in his Yoshimura-powered Suzuki’s race performance, and having already qualified for the second Superpole session the Irishman set about the real task of grid qualification for the last 15 minute stint. Despite bettering his times set so-far this weekend, an unexpected issue prevented him from capitalising on his progress. However, his 1’36.043 lap still secured him ninth place which sees him rounding out the third row for tomorrow’s races.

Alex Lowes had a difficult day at the Italian track. Safeguarding his place in Superpole two with his initial free practice performance on-board his GSX-R1000, Lowes’ best time of 1’36.489 finds him on the fourth row in 11th place for the two 21 lap races, but the British racer is determined to challenge come Sunday.

A large Italian crowd and glorious 31°C sunshine greeted qualifying at the Misano Adriatico circuit as Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes stole Superpole with a 1’34.883 – setting a new best lap for the first time since Troy Corser in 2010. Althea’s Niccolo Canepa secured the highest EVO time of the day.

Voltcom Crescent Suzuki returns to track action at 10:30hrs local time (09:30BST) for the first of tomorrow’s two races, with the second outing beginning at 13:10hrs local time (12:10BST).

Eugene Laverty:

“During free practice today we made a big improvement with our race setting and I was much more content. In Superpole we had a problem with corner entry, the bike was skipping and jumping in braking and we have to find out the reason for that. Our Superpole didn’t go well – third row – but our race pace is good so that’s positive for tomorrow!”

Alex Lowes:

“It’s been a difficult day today and we haven’t qualified where we need to be but I’m really enjoying the Misano circuit. We have some work to do overnight before the two races and hopefully I can come back on the Suzuki GSX-R and fight for a good result tomorrow.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:

“We haven’t found the sweet spot in Superpole in a lot of races this year but today’s result is particularly disappointing because on Eugene’s side we’ve made some good improvements to the bike, but an unexpected problem held us back during the qualifying laps. On Alex’s side there unfortunately haven’t been any improvements since yesterday, in fact the performance level has gone backwards relative to Friday’s result. We now need to see what we can do to help Alex with the bike, and he needs to do what he can to regain some confidence for tomorrow morning. The races here are quite challenging at 21 laps each, consistency on used tyres with the GSX-R has been great again this weekend so let’s hope we come good in the second half of the race and can move up the grid.”

Misano – eni FIM Superbike World Championship – Superpole:

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’34.883: 2. Davide Giugliano (Ducati) +0.196: 3. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) +0.223: 4. Loris Baz (Kawasaki) +0.371: 5. Marco Melandri (Aprilia) +0.433: 9. EUGENE LAVERTY (VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI) +1.160: 11. ALEX LOWES (VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI) +1.606:

More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:

FIRST AND SECOND ROW FOR THE ITALIAN “1987” LIVERY APRILIA RSV4s AT MISANO.

A GOOD RACE PACE AND SPOTS ON THE GRID AMONG THE TOP RIDERS MAKE THE APRILIA A KEY PLAYER IN THE RACES TOMORROW.

Misano, 21 June 2014 – It was a Superpole with record times, characterised by extremely close gaps among the strongest riders which will make the Aprilia RSV4s ridden by Melandri and Guintoli key players for the races tomorrow (decked out for the occasion in “1987” style to commemorate the first Aprilia world championship win right here on the track in Emilia Romagna).

The riders on the front two rows are all within a half second (521 thousandths) of one another. Guintoli finished with the third best time and Melandri with the fifth best. Even the private Aprilia RSV4 ridden by Elias took a solid position on the second row with sixth place.

Besides the good placement on the starting grid, the excellent race pace demonstrated by Melandri and Guintoli contribute to the Aprilia team’s ambitions. The reigning Manufacturer World Champion team put excellent times on the boards during the two days of practice, but above all they showed consistency of performance that should allow Marco and Sylvain to be among the protagonists in the races tomorrow.

Sylvain Guintoli is confident after two days during which he tested many solutions in search of consistent speed and earned a spot on the front row of the grid: “This weekend we tested a lot of different settings to find the right balance. I think in the end we were successful and I feel good on the bike even if I did make a few mistakes on my fast lap. I could have done better, but the first row is still an excellent place to start with the first turn so close and a rather twisty first section of the track. For now we have done the RSV4’s special livery justice and it is important to remember the moments that have made Aprilia what we see today on the track”.

Fresh from his double win at the last round in Sepang (Malaysia), Marco Melandri concentrated on the bike set up that allowed him to dominate the races in Asia. Marco worked from those base settings, taking the best time in the last practice session on Saturday morning and then finishing fifth in the battle for Superpole: “This was definitely a good day for me. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to finish with my best in the qualifiers, especially in the last section of the track where I struggled a bit. In any case the second row is not bad. The front runners all have a good place at the race start. I’ll need to get off to a good start and set my pace straight away. It will be important not to make mistakes tomorrow and to find the right conditions for overtaking when necessary”.

More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda Superbike Team:

Hot work in Misano sun for Pata Honda

Pata Honda rider Jonathan Rea will start tomorrow’s two 21-lap seventh-round World Superbike championship races from the third row of the grid after setting the eighth-fastest time in this afternoon’s Superpole session at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ in Italy.

With air temperatures in the low thirties and the track approaching 50°C, the 27-year-old British rider fired his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP around the 4.226km Misano circuit in a time of 1m35.675s, 0.8s behind the pole position time of Tom Sykes.

Rea and his Pata Honda team-mate Leon Haslam have been working with their crews to optimise the effect of their CBRs’ engine-braking around Misano’s 16 turns but both riders believe that, while good progress has been made, further efforts are required before tomorrow’s races.

Haslam had two slow crashes in the 15-minute Superpole 2 session today and, although the 31-year-old was uninjured, he will start from 12th position on the grid tomorrow.

Jonathan Rea – P8

I’m quite frustrated with this weekend because we thought Misano would be good for us. But when grip levels drop we really seem to struggle with engine brake issues. We’re having to tune the system for each circuit at the moment and don’t really have a good base setting. We haven’t been able to put our finger on the problem because we we’re OK with fresh tyres in the bike. I feel a bit better for the races tomorrow but eighth seems to be where I’ve been all weekend and I don’t want to be riding around for that again tomorrow. We need to engineer ourselves out of this position and try to find balance to get a smoother sensation from closing throttle to the corner apex and to keep the wheels in line. The crash that I had at the end of practice this morning showed the problem clearl y on the data so we know where to concentrate our efforts. We’ve not been getting the best out of the bike this weekend but we’ll go out tomorrow and give it everything.

Leon Haslam – P12

We’ve made some good steps this weekend and there have been some positives. I was only 0.5s off in Free Practice 3 and ended up seventh, but we had a familiar problem with the qualifying tyre, which usually puts a spanner in the works for us. Two crashes during Superpole were certainly not ideal either, especially as I was on target for a 1m35s and probably something around P7. But we’ve had the same problems as Jonathan really, and we’ve been looking for more stability from the bike. We’ve got some work to do this evening for sure, and we’ll try hard for two good results tomorrow.

Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator

Until the time we had to make grid positions in Superpole, Leon had been making quite good progress this weekend. Unfortunately, his setting didn’t really match the grip of his qualifying tyre and he had a couple of small crashes this afternoon, which is disappointing for him. We’ll try to find out more detail on the problem and improve things for tomorrow. For Jonathan, it’s been a little bit like the last couple of races and we’ve been one step behind on the settings. He’s quite close to the front and had to make some progress after FP2 yesterday, so he’s doing a good job. Hopefully, we can get the last couple of problems sorted for warm-up tomorrow and have two good races.

More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Giugliano and the Ducati Superbike Team score a front row start for tomorrow’s SBK races at Misano

Misano Adriatico (Italy), Saturday 21 June 2014 – Today saw further positive results for Davide Giugliano and the Ducati Superbike Team at the Misano World Circuit. In a Superpole that turned out to be ‘hot’ in more than one sense of the word, the Italian rider earned second place on the grid for tomorrow’s races, with his teammate Chaz Davies concluding seventh, for a place on the third row.

In the morning’s final timed practice session, which took place on what was already a hot track (38°C), Giugliano and Davies continued to work well, finding a good rhythm right from the session’s start with both able to record consistently fast times. The factory Ducati riders further improved on times set in previous sessions with Davide consolidating yesterday afternoon’s performance by finishing at the head of the pack once more, with a best time of 1’36.125. Chaz recorded a fastest time of 1’36.409 to finish fifth, meaning that both Ducati Superbike riders easily qualified directly for Superpole 2.

Giugliano and Davies then took advantage of the early afternoon’s free practice session, working with the used tyres and making final adjustments ahead of the Superpole and closing the 30-minute session in fifth (Giugliano) and seventh (Davies) position.

Superpole 2: the track temperature had risen to 50°C by the start of Superpole 2. Giugliano, immediately moving to the top of the timesheets thanks to his first lap (1’35.950) on the race tyre, went straight back out on the qualifier together with his teammate. Pushing hard, the Italian was able to complete an extremely fast, clean lap, in 1’35.079. Thanks to this very impressive lap time, he achieved a well-deserved place on the front row of tomorrow’s grid, second, just missing out on pole by less than two tenths of a second.

Davies was lying third in the early stages before all riders headed back out on the qualifying tyre. Despite a small mistake during his flying lap, the British rider put together a time of 1’35.602 with the qualifier which positioned him seventh at the session’s end. He will therefore start from row three of tomorrow’s race grid.

Comments after the day’s sessions:

Davide Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team #34) – 2nd (1’35.079)

“I’m really enjoying riding here at Misano this weekend and am very pleased with the second place finish today because the lap time came relatively easily compared with my ‘normal’ Superpole laps. We still need to make a little improvement, especially through the section leading to the long turn, but we’ve already made some progress in that regard during today’s sessions. I’m very happy anyway and will be doing my best to score two strong results tomorrow in front of the home crowd.”

Chaz Davies (Ducati Superbike Team #7) – 7th (1’35.602)

“I didn’t do a bad lap on the qualifier but it wasn’t great either. I had a little vibration at the rear while braking which didn’t allow me to hold the line the line that I wanted, affecting the grip, and then I also made a small mistake in sector 1. I wasn’t able to get the best out of the qualifier, and am a little frustrated to be on the third row to be honest. Saying that, I’ve come through before and I think we have good pace so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow. I hope it’s not too hot though as that was a problem for us in Malaysia.”

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:

Modern Era Superpole King Sykes Turns 21

The Superpole exploits of Tom Sykes became even more legendary during the FIM Superbike World Championship race weekend at Misano as he scored his 21st career Superpole win at new track best pace, equalling Carl Fogarty’s Superpole total in the process.

Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) worked his way to a starting slot in fourth place after Superpole 2 as he found his best pace of the weekend on the second lap riding with a qualifying rear tyre.

David Salom (Kawasaki Racing Team SBK Evo) made it to Superpole 1 but was only just unable to make progress into Superpole 2 by one position as he starts the races on Sunday from 13th place on the grid, which equates to a fifth row start.

Sykes scored his second Superpole win of the season on his Ninja ZX-10R, after his first at Motorland Aragon, with a new track best lap of 1’34.883. Tom and his pit crew made set-up changes to his machine to allow for the extra grip and drive allowed by Pirelli’s qualifying tyres. He then rediscovered his often peerless ability to set fast single laps and in taking his latest Superpole victory he is now third equal in the Superpole win rankings.

Sykes has some way to go to reach the all-time SBK pole record of 43, set by one of his racing idols Troy Corser, but Tom now needs five more Superpole wins to go equal second with another SBK former champion, Troy Bayliss, who has 26 poles to his credit.

For Sykes and his team-mate Baz attention now turns to the 21-lap races on Sunday, with Sykes looking to add to his 2014 season total of four wins and Baz looking for his first victory of the season.

Tom Sykes: “The support from the Italian fans has been fantastic as always. I have been happy with my pace over race distance since the start but I knew it was over one lap that I really needed to attack the circuit. The people around me are very, very special and they were able to adapt the bike so that when we put the Pirelli qualifying tyre in I was able to do well and take Superpole. I was very happy with the character of the bike and I was able to move the bike from one side of the track to the other side of the track and hit each apex as I wanted to. We are always learning and I think we have done a fantastic job. To take the circuit record from one of my racing heroes, and a very, very talented rider like Troy Corser is a very proud moment for me.”

Loris Baz: “We are not so far off and honestly I knew it was going to be hard in Superpole because since the beginning of the weekend we have been struggling a little bit on new tyres. But in a race simulation this morning I was quite fast at the end, maybe even faster than the beginning, which is the first time I have done that in three years! I knew that with new tyres in Superpole it was going to be a little bit hard so I am happy to go fourth today. I am really confident for the race because our pace looks good.”

David Salom: “Not too bad but I just missed getting into Superpole 2. In qualifying practice today I had a little problems with our front tyre option and I was 19th, but in free practice I tried a different front tyre choice and my lap times were good. My rhythm was also good. In Superpole I tried hard for just one lap, on my own, so there is a difference if you do not ride with another rider. The most important thing is the lap-by-lap pace for the races on Sunday, and that seems positive.”