FIM Superbike World Championship Silverstone Circuit, Great Britain July 30 Final Qualifying Results, After Superpole (all on Pirelli tires): From Superpole Knockout Session Three: 1. John HOPKINS, USA (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 2:04.041 2. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2:04.068 3. Leon CAMIER, Great Britain (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 2:04.303 4. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Ducati 1098R), 2:04.362 5. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Ducati 1098R), 2:05.456 6. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2:05.639 7. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 2:05.997 8. Noriyuki HAGA, Japan (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), no time in Superpole Session Three From Superpole Knockout Session Two: 9. Leon HASLAM, Great Britain (BMW S1000RR), 2:05.091 10. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 2:05.115 11. Max BIAGGI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 2:05.184 12. Mark AITCHISON, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:06.238 From Superpole Knockout Session Three: 13. Jakub SMRZ, Czech Republic (Ducati 1098R), 2:05.400 14. James TOSELAND, Great Britain (BMW S1000RR), 2:05.403 15. Maxime BERGER, France (Ducati 1098R), 2:05.709 16. Tom SYKES, Great Britain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:05.899 The Rest of the Grid: 17. Troy CORSER, Australia (BMW S1000RR), 2:06.304 18. Alex LOWES, Great Britain (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:06.524 19. Joan LASCORZ, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:06.787 20. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:06.895 21. Fabrizio LAI, Italy (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:07.482 22. Jon KIRKHAM, Great Britain (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 2:07.889 More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: Weather conditions: Overcast in the morning, later scattered clouds. Temperature: Air: 16 20 °C, Track: 22 34 °C Number of riders participating: 22 from 12 teams Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing) 2:05.058 min Fastest lap Superpole 3: John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing) 2:04.041 min BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders, Leon Haslam (GBR and Troy Corser (AUS), will start tomorrow’s World Superbike races in Silverstone (GBR) from the third and fifth rows respectively. While Troy was not able to qualify for Superpole Qualifying, and so will go into Sunday’s races from position 17, Leon missed the third and final Superpole session by only 21 thousandths of a second. He will start from ninth. Ayrton Badovini (ITA) from the BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team will start on his BMW S 1000 RR from tenth. His team mate, James Toseland (GBR), qualified 14th. Leon Haslam: Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: 2:05.640 min (P8) / Fastest lap FP: 2:06.053 min (P5) / Fastest lap Superpole 2: 2:05.091 min (P9) “I was able to post good lap times on race tyres, but sadly when we changed to the qualifying tyre the extra grip caused a few issues. We should be in good shape come the races tomorrow, as we are happy with the times we are able to set on race tyres. It’s a shame because if I had remained on these tyres, I think I could have made it through to Superpole 3. But we will line up in ninth tomorrow, which isn’t bad considering my recent starting positions. I am feeling pretty confident, so let’s see what happens. The BMW is good off the line so let’s hope for a good start.” Troy Corser: Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: 2:06.304 min (P17) / Fastest lap FP: 2:06.473 min (P9) “Today’s result is disappointing. We have definitely fixed a few things we struggled with yesterday. Still, chattering was our biggest issue today. We think the reasons were a combination from engine brake and set up. We changed the engine brake and it helped a bit, but the chattering came back with a grippy tyre. I was not too bad on my long runs, as the bike was quite stable. We know what we have to do for tomorrow’s warm up.” Rainer Bäumel (Head of Race Operations): “Leon unfortunately struggled with the qualifying tyre. Although starting from the third row, I am confident he will show a good performance tomorrow. His lap times on race tyres were consistently good. On Troy’s side we were not able to find a good chassis set-up, but we keep working hard on this. I hope we will have a good solution for tomorrow’s warm-up and races.” More, from a press release issued by Aprilia: COMPLICATED SUPERPOLE FOR WORLD CHAMPION MAX BIAGGI WHO WILL START FROM THE ELEVENTH BLOCK ON THE GRID TOMORROW. ON THE OTHER HAND LEON CAMIER CONFIRMS THE GOOD FEELING ON HIS HOME TRACK: THIRD PLACE AND FIRST ROW FOR HIM. Silverstone, July 30th, 2011 From the very first laps the difficulties on this circuit were admitted and Superpole didn’t change the cards on the table. Max Biaggi will be forced to start tomorrow from the third row of the grid after a sliding crash in the first session. After re-entering the pit the Corsair went back out onto the track on his second bike using the first qualifier tyre and the seventh time he made was enough to take him through to Superpole 2. However, in this session the lack of feeling which has been present throughout the weekend prevented him from moving past eleventh place, a result which forces him to face two uphill battles tomorrow for the races. Even the rise in temperature was unable to bring any benefit to the Roman champion, well aware that he will have to fight tomorrow in order to keep the dream of a race for the championship title alive. “It started off badly straight away confirmed Max Biaggi with the crash in Q1. The front end closed up on me and I still am not sure why, in a section of the track which is very bumpy. I restarted with the second bike using a qualifier tyre, but I wasn’t able to get my time down enough. We’ve struggled the whole weekend and unfortunately it will be extremely difficult tomorrow as well”. His team mate Leon Camier, after being very quick during all of the sessions this weekend, confirmed the good feeling on his home track in Superpole as well. After easily coming through Q1, the English rider also dribbled his way into the first two rows, putting the second best time on the boards. The final session with the top 8 riders saw him take third place, which will allow him to start from the front row. His race pace is good, as was quite evident in the sessions, although a few tenths of a second are needed to aspire to the positions which count. Leon makes no secret of his happiness: “It’s absolutely fantastic. I’ve always struggled in Superpole but today I am finally reaping the fruit of a lot of work. I have no illusions, I know that Carlos Checa has an extremely quick race pace and that a lot of riders are really close. What counts in a race is consistency and that is precisely why we still need to do some work to find just a bit more of it. At the moment I still don’t have the solution, but I’ll be speaking with my team and we’ll try to improve the bike. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy this nice result in front of my home fans”. More, from a press release issued by Pata Racing Team: Noriyuki Haga will kick off from the second row. The japanese rider did a great work that allowed him to face the Superpole at his best. It was a thrilling one. During the first session’s finale he struck the right time that led him to the second one. And from here he easily achieved the third turn but without using further qualifying-tyres. After being back on track he slipped closing earlier his performance. He’s going to start from the eight place but believing to be a protagonist in both the races. Noriyuki Haga – Aprilia RSV4R #41 – “We did a good job during these last few days and we got paid back. I’m satisfied the way I faced the Superpole where I got the second row. That will hopefully give me the chance to place myself among the leaders and stay there until the end. Tomorrow we’ll try a different solution during the warm up so to keep the tyre at its best and being competitive all-races-long. More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki: 2011 Superbike World Championship Round 9, Silverstone, GB Final qualifying and Superpole. Saturday 30th July Circuit: 5.902 kms Conditions: Dry, cloudy/sunny 16-19C (air), 22-34C (track) SECOND ROW FOR MICHEL Team Alstare Suzuki rider Michel Fabrizio managed to get into final Superpole today, but just failed in his attempt to get onto the front row of the grid. In the end, Michel finished with the seventh quickest time in Superpole 3 and will start tomorrow’s pair of 18-lap races from row two. Wild Card John Hopkins (Suzuki) won Superpole today, with a lap of 2:04.041, just two tenths of a second ahead of Eugene Laverty (Yamaha). Third was Leon Camier (Aprilia), with series leader Carlos Checa (Ducati) filling the final front row grid spot in fourth. Michel – 7th, 2:05.997 I am a bit disappointed that I didn’t get on to the front row of the grid. I used a qualifying tyre in Superpole 1 to make sure of getting into Superpole 2 and than my second (and final) qualifier to get into Superpole 3. That meant that I had no qualifier to use in Superpole 3, so we decided to use one of the used qualifiers, hoping that it would be good enough for a front row place. We tried this idea in Superpole 1 and found that it was better than using race rubber, so that’s what we did. But it wasn’t anywhere as good as a fresh qualifier and didn’t have the same level of grip, so I couldn’t lap fast enough to get that elusive front row grid slot. Once again, it will be row two, but I know that my race pace is good and if I can get a good start then I will be up with the leaders – and that’s my plan. More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: FRONT ROW START FOR CHECA AND ALTHEA RACING IN TOMORROW’S SBK RACES AT SILVERSTONE Silverstone (UK), Saturday 30th July: at the end of an extremely closely fought Superpole at the Silverstone track, Althea Racing and rider Carlos Checa are very satisfied to have reserved a place on the front tow of tomorrow’s SBK grid; Checa will line up in fourth place for the two 18-lap races. Carlos recorded some consistently fast times during this morning’s second qualifying session which took place in temperate conditions, with a track temperature of 22ËšC. His best time set yesterday remained the overall fastest time until five minutes from the end of today’s session, when he himself beat it by registering a lap time of 2m05.1. Unfortunately a fast lap by Hopkins just two minutes from the session’s end prevented the Spaniard from closing in first, but he nevertheless qualified a close second for this afternoon’s Superpole, with the team aware of it’s impressive pace around the British circuit. On a warmer track (34ËšC), Althea Racing’s rider dominated the final practie session in the early afternoon, concluding in first position with a best time of 2m05.4. Superpole 1: after a first exit on race rubber, Checa made a second attempt in the final minutes of the session. The fast lap that he achieved placed him third and assured him of safe passage to the second Superpole phase. Superpole 2: taking advantage of the first of two available qualifying tyres, Carlos immediately put in a 2m04.4 lap time, projecting himself to the top of the timesheets where he remained until the session’s end; no further laps were required and he passed to phase three in first position. Superpole 3: on track with the second qualifier, the Spanish rider witnessed Haga’s unfortunate crash but, despite this momentary distraction, was able to record a time of 2m04.3 that was enough to guarantee him a place on the front row of tomorrow’s grid Carlos will line up in fourth position. Carlos Checa: “I think it has been a positive day, after a solid weekend’s work. It’s actually going better than we expected and I’m satisfied with the progress we’ve made, with our rhythm and with the tyre performance. Superpole was going well but I lost a couple of tenths when Haga crashed ahead of me, I lost concentration there for a minute. I knew it would be difficult to make a 2m4 flat today but I’m nevertheless happy to be on the front row for tomorrow’s races. I believe we have strong race pace and can fight for the podium. I think we’ll be seeing some different frontrunners tomorrow, as we’ve seen for example that Laverty and Camier are really strong here, so I’m looking forward to two great, but tough races.” More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Wild-card Hopkins powers to Tissot-Superpole win! Silverstone (Great Britain), Saturday 30 July 2011 John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) rocked the WSBK establishment with the Tissot-Superpole win at Silverstone. The American rider, a regular in BSB this season, took a new track best of 2’04.041 in the last of the three superpole contests. Hopkins held off the challenge of Irish rider Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike), Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) and championship leader Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati). The front row featured machines from four different manufacturers Suzuki, Yamaha, Aprilia and Ducati. John Hopkins: “I’m over the moon right now. I know it’s just qualifying and Superpole, but I’m so grateful to be here and racing a wild-card in the World Superbike series, and just to be racing a motorcycle at all because last year I was told by many doctors that I had to retire because of my wrist. A big thanks also to the Samsung Crescent team, they’ve been working their butts off to build an amazing bike. But now the real work starts tomorrow and I’ll be giving it my best!” Eugene Laverty: “It was a close lap time to Hopkins, in the last session it was pretty much a perfect lap, I thought I had it but John did an even better one and deserved it. I’m happy with the second place, in the race it looks like we can be strong. The four guys in the front row will be strongest so if I can get a good getaway it’ll be a good fight.” Leon Camier: “It’s pretty good, but I was a little bit less confident in the whole package for the qualifying session and am a bit frustrated about that, but happy to be on the front row, it makes a change for me! Tomorrow’s going to be difficult for sure, for race pace it’s going to be hard with everyone doing a good couple of laps today and then struggling a bit.” Sylvain Guintoli (Effenbert Liberty Ducati) was fifth and Laverty’s team-mate Marco Melandri sixth. Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki Alstare) finished up seventh for a second row start, with Noriyuki Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia) eighth after a tough first day. Hometown rider Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) was in the leading mix early on but missed out on a second row start by one place. Championship challenger Max Biaggi had his worst qualifying of the year, taking his Aprilia Alitalia machine to eleventh on the grid, having crashed in Superpole 1. Top British talent Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) missed Superpole after crashing hard and spraining his right ankle, and suffering cuts and bruises. He is ranked sixteenth on the grid as he qualified for Superpole but was not fit to ride. Comeback rider James Toseland ended up fourteenth on his BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike) machine. Tissot-Superpole Times: 1. Hopkins J. (USA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2’04.041; 2. Laverty E. (IRL) Yamaha YZF R1 2’04.068; 3. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2’04.303; 4. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 2’04.362; 5. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 2’05.456; 6. Melandri M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 2’05.639; 7. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2’05.997; 8 Haga N. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory; 9. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 2’05.091; 10. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 2’05.115; 11. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2’05.184; 12. Aitchison M. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R 2’06.238; 13. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 2’05.400; 14.Toseland J. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 2’05.403; 15. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 2’05.709; 16. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R; etc. More, from a press release issued by Supersonic Racing Team: Fourth row for Maxime Berger for the Silverstone races tomorrow. Maxime Berger will start tomorrow on the Silverstone track from the fourth row, the fifteenth time. Maxime was able to start in Superpole today after his good performance in qualifying yesterday and was still able to improve his best time this morning in the second qualifying session (2’05 “520 fourth fastest time). But during Superpole, the Supersonic rider failed to use the soft tire for the maximum and finished the first superpole session with a time of 2’05 “709. During the second Superpole, Maxime was unable to improve his time and ended on fifteenth position, fourth row of the grid. The race pace from Maxime is very fast and this bodes very well for the technical team that will try the latest tricks during the warming-up tomorrow, just before the two races will start. Maxime Berger: “This morning I managed to improve until the fourth position and I was hoping for a good position in Superpole. Unfortunately, the track conditions changed and it was much warmer in the afternoon than yesterday and this morning. I was not able to find a good rhythm during superpole and I always rode alone, without the possibility of a reference that would helped me. But overall, I am satisfied with what we have done so far. Do not forget that I am at my first season in Superbike and I still need to learn a lot. My opponents are all very experienced, and many times I did better than them, especially in the tests. For the race, I think we’re okay. We’re not sure that the tire that we chose will last, throughout the race but during the warm-up tomorrow morning, we will do another test before taking the final decision. A big thank for my team, they did a great job as always.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Laverty Secures 2nd Place for Home Races at Silverstone Yamaha World Superbike Team riders Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri impressed on the British track at Silverstone today, completing the afternoon’s Superpole qualifying heats in second and sixth places respectively. Northern Irishman Laverty, was flawless, being one of the fastest riders in the pack throughout the three sessions, earning himself a front row position on the grid for Sunday’s two home races. Melandri was enjoying a much better day than yesterday having clearly improved his set up, resulting in better grip. The Italian managed to knock over a second off his lap times from yesterday’s first qualifying session which led him to qualify for today’s Superpole in fifth place. The afternoon’s Superpole sessions were held on a warm track and under pleasant sunshine. Laverty and Melandri, the two Yamaha World Superbike rookies used a set of race tyres to see them comfortably through the first heat in first and sixth places. Laverty was equally impressive in the second heat which he completed in third place. Teammate Melandri was sitting in eighth position before deciding to use a qualifier in the attempt of producing a flying lap. The Italian was unable to improve his time but still held position to qualify for the third and final heat of the day. Laverty was spectacular once again in the final heat immediately producing a fast lap, beating the previous fastest lap ever recorded by Crutchlow in 2010, also powered by a Yamaha R1. World Superbike wildcard, John Hopkins proceeded to better this lap time by just 0.027 seconds and set the new fastest lap record. Melandri, having used all his qualifiers in the first two sessions, couldn’t improve on his time but held on for sixth place and a second row start on tomorrow’s grid. Eugene Laverty Yamaha World Superbike Team – 2nd, 2’04.068 “It was a great qualifying day, it was very close between me and John Hopkins. I’m really happy with the last superpole session, I did a perfect lap and was sure I was in pole position but John was a little faster, so he deserved it. I’m happy with second and a front row start for tomorrow’s races. I think it should be a good race day and the four of us on the front row will be very strong. Yamaha really suits this circuit, Cal won last year and I was also very strong, so it’s looking pretty good. Hopefully I can repeat Monza. I’m really looking forward to the races.” Marco Melandri Yamaha World Superbike Team – 6th, 2’05.639 “It was a very good day today, especially considering the difficulty we had yesterday. We improved the race pace quite significantly. Unfortunately I struggled a lot with the qualifiers having difficulty turning with the front of the bike and finished in sixth place. We have to improve a little, especially for the beginning of the race, but I’m confident that we can do this and I can get off to a strong start and be up there at the top, battling for victory.” Andrea Dosoli – Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager “I’m very satisfied with both riders and their teams today. They improved on their performance since yesterday, not just on a fast lap but also with the race set up. Marco knocked over a second from yesterday’s lap time in the second qualifying session. There is still some fine tuning to be done in order to be 100% for tomorrow’s races. Unfortunately he had some difficulty with the qualifiers and didn’t get to improve his lap time much and had to settle for sixth place. Second row start certainly won’t prevent him from getting good results. Eugene was on top form in Superpole, delivering an impressive lap time, improving on Cal’s fastest lap from last year. He demonstrated to be a very mature rider, coping well under pressure at his home round and deserves two good races in front of his numerous fans. His race pace is fast and consistent so I expect both riders to be in the top pack leading the races tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY MISSES SUPERPOLE Troy had a day to forget, missing out on getting into Superpole, and will now have a mountain to climb if he is to get any kind of good results out of tomorrow’s two 18-lap races. All the things he and the team tried didn’t work out as intended and there was a bit of confusion regarding a new new bike which didn’t help matters. Wild Card John Hopkins (Suzuki) won Superpole today, with a lap of 2:04.041, just two tenths of a second ahead of Eugene Laverty (Yamaha). Third was Leon Camier (Aprilia), with series leader Carlos Checa (Ducati) filling the final front row grid spot in fourth. Troy – 17th, 2:06.304 It’s been a disappointing and a frustrating day and it hasn’t worked out the way we thought. We got a bit caught out at the end of free practice this afternoon and that didn’t help either. Also, I made a little mistake and that probably cost me the fraction of a second that would’ve got me into Superpole. We managed to get rid of the chatter on one bike, but not the other. We had a new bike and it didn’t feel the same as my other bike and maybe we spent too much time trying to get it to work when we should’ve just parked it. That’s what Leon did to his new bike and that’s why he finished higher up than me. We have a problem when we use the bike on qualifiers and have not found a good solution yet. I have ridden many bikes and no other bike has behaved in this way so we are still working on finding out what’s going on and then making improvements. My arm is a bit sore today, but I think there’s probably a bit of friction at the end of the plate inside. It’s not too bad and it will not affect me in the race. I made the best practice starts of the season today, so hopefully I can do that in the races and fight for a top ten place. Wish me luck. Troy More, from a press release issued by Liberty Racing Team Effenbert: ROUND 9 – SILVERSTONE – 30.7.2011 QUALIFICATIONS AND SUPERPOLE SILVERSTONE, July 30, 2011 After the Grand Prix in Brno, The Effenbert Liberty Racing Team arrives at the Silverstone circuit for the British Grand Prix. QUALIFICATIONS During Fridays practice Jakub Smrz (2’06 .029) and the Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli (2’06 .176) recorded the seventh and eleventh fastest times respectively. Maxime Berger (Supersonic Racing Ducati) recorded the surprise result of the day. Maxime recorded the second fastest time behind the championship leader Carlos Checa. In Saturday mornings qualifying, Guintoli set the third fastest time (2’05 .408) behind the extraordinary John Hopkins (Suzuki Samsung Crescent) who set the fastest times in both sessions, just 45 thousandths of a second ahead of Carlos Checa ( Althea Ducati). Maxime Berger (Supersonic Racing Team) finished fourth behind Guintoli, with Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike) in fifth, followed by Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia), Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki Alstare), Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport), Noriyuki Haga (Aprilia Racing PATA) and team mate Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike). “Kuba” Smrz recorded the 13th fastest time with a 2’05 .948. SUPERPOLE Saturdays superpole was full of surprizes and emotions. The Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli continued his good form, securing the second row of the grid with the fifth fastest time (2’05 .456). Smrz failed to continue his march up the standings, settling for fourth row on the grid (2’05 .400) not managing to qualify for the second session of superpole. The days real surprise was delivered by John Hopkins, who responded by getting a very extraordinary time of 2’04 .041, which is also the new track record. The 27 year-old American is followed by the Irishman Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike), separated from pole by only 27 milliseconds. Front row Positions the home rider Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) and also championship leader Carlos Checa (Ducati Althea). Max Biaggi was the victim of a crash at the “Brooklands” at the start of the Superpole 1 and was reduced to eleventh fastest. These are statements of our two riders: SILVERSTONE – Sylvain Guintoli qualified on the second row, with the fifth fastest time giving him a great confidence boost ahead of tomorrow’s race: “It ‘a result that gives me and the whole team a lot of confidence ahead of tomorrows race During a lackluster superpole qualifying, we found the right pace in the three sessions of the Superpole and we were competitive against our rivals. I feel confident for tomorrows race, the bikes are close in terms of time, and it will be very important to have patience, and knowledge of how to best handle the bike.” Jakub Smrz finds himself in not such a positive mood, as he only managed for 13th on the grid. Despite the placement, The Effenbert Liberty Racing Czech rider is confident for tomorrow’s race: “After Fridays positive qualifiers, I could not ma the right pace and record a satisfactory time, and therefore failed to qualify for Superpole 2 Kuba commented, ” I wont give up and im confident that i can improve in tomorrows race. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Qualifying Provides Challenges For Sykes And Lascorz WSBK, Silverstone, Great Britain, 30 July 2011 The 5.9km long Silverstone circuit has not brought the qualifying outcomes that Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz had hoped for, with Sykes starting 16th on the grid, while Lascorz was 19th. Sykes had been in the mix until he crashed at turn six during the pre-Superpole free practice session. He had been 11th after regulation qualifying, but was unable to set even a single lap in Superpole as he received treatment for a swollen right ankle and various other bangs and bruises. He will undergo a fitness test on Sunday morning to determine whether he will race or not. Lascorz could not get his machine set-up to work the way he hoped it would when exiting corners and now starts 19th on the grid, from the fifth row. He too missed out on Superpole, but found some pace in his set-up to go eighth in the final free practice session this afternoon. Pedercini Team rider Mark Aitchison was top Kawasaki qualifier, putting his Ninja ZX-10R 12th after getting into Superpole 2. His team-mate Roberto Rolfo was 20th in qualifying. Tom Sykes: “We are not sure if I have chipped a bone on my ankle but it has swollen up a lot. There is no one who wants me to ride tomorrow more than I do, but we will see how things are in the morning after a good night’s sleep. We really have to wait until I get checked out again on Sunday. It was a very big crash and I hit the ground pretty hard. There is some kind of damage to my ankle but I would like to ride if I can and put some points on the board. It is a shame to have fallen because in Superpole I think we could have gone into the top seven or eight places on the grid.” Joan Lascorz: “It has been difficult to get the chassis set up to work the way we want in the exit of the corners and I cannot find good lines around the circuit because of that. It has been difficult in some ways but the entry to corners is good. I was not happy earlier in the weekend but we have found improvements in the afternoon session today and we have some ideas to improve things for the races tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Castrol Honda: Tough qualifying day for Castrol Honda Neither of Castrol Honda’s two replacement riders was able to qualifying for today’s Superpole sessions for tomorrow’s two ninth-round World Superbike races at Silverstone in the UK. Alex Lowes, who is riding in place of the injured Jonathan, finished regular qualifying 18th fastest, while his team-mate for the Silverstone weekend, Fabrizio Lai, was 21st. American John Hopkins secured pole position for Sunday’s two 18-lap races. Lai is replacing Ruben Xaus, who sustained leg and back injuries in a crash at Brno in the Czech Republic last time out. Today’s qualifying and free practice sessions marked the Italian rider’s second day on the CBR1000RR and riding the 5.902km Silverstone circuit. Alex Lowes 18th 2m06.524s Today wasn’t so good and I wasn’t able to move forward as quickly as we made progress yesterday. We sort of hit a plateau and couldn’t get any higher. The main problem I’ve got is in the slower corners where I’m just not getting any feeling from the front and the bike is wanting to push me wide. It’s a little frustrating because in the faster sectors, two and three, I’m third or fourth quickest. I suppose that’s a little glimmer of light for us but we need to find something in warm-up to be able to challenge for a couple of good results tomorrow. Fabrizio Lai 21st 2m07.482s It was a little better today overall, but qualifying was a bad session for me and I could not make it to Superpole. I tried the second bike but it didn’t have such a good feeling and in slower corners I had some problems. Also, I don’t think I was using the right lines so my time is not good. I hope for two good races tomorrow and for a chance to pass some other riders. More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: Warm and sunny conditions today in Silverstone for the second day of Superbike and Superstock 1000 qualifying. In the morning’s qualifying second session team Pedercini’s Superbike riders Mark Aitchison (2’05″925) and Roberto Rolfo (2’06″895) obtained the twelfth and twentieth position respectively. Both riders improved on their best times set yesterday but unfortunately Rolfo missed out on Superpole by less than a second. During the final free practice session both riders were able to work with their technicians on the bike settings. Aitchison (2’06″486) reached tenth place while Rolfo (2’07″639) closed in twenty-first position. In Superpole Aitchison was able to reach the second phase with some very fast lap times but unfortunately didn’t reach the final phase of the Superpole as he only managed to take twelfth position in the second session. Third row for him and fifth for Rolfo in tomorrow’s 18-lap races. Superbike qualifying 2 : 1) Hopkins (Suzuki) 2) Camier (Aprilia) 3) Smrz (Ducati) 4) Toseland (BMW) “¦”¦15) Aitchison (Kawasaki)”¦”¦..20) Rolfo (Kawasaki) Superbike free practice 2 : 1) Checa (Ducati) 2) Laverty (Yamaha) – 3) Camier (Aprilia) – 4) Badovini (BMW) “¦”¦ 10) Aitchison (Kawasaki)”¦”¦..21) Rolfo (Kawasaki) Superbike Superpole : 1) Hopkins (Suzuki) 2) Laverty (Yamaha) 3) Camier (Aprilia) 4) Checa (Ducati) 5) Guintoli (Ducati) “¦.. 12) Aitchison (Kawasaki) Roberto Rolfo: “This morning in the final laps of qualifying I lost the opportunity to take advantage of the softer tyres and missed Superpole for less than one second. I’m satisfied with the improvements we have made on the bike’s setting and during afternoon free practice I also worked a lot with my team to improve my race pace. Tomorrow the races will be difficult for me, as I’m in twentieth position on the grid, but I will try to do my best, as always”. Mark Aitchison: “The second day in Silverstone has been a positive one. In the qualifying and practice runs I built a good feeling on the bike and improved my lap times plus my overall position. We were fortunate to enter the Superpole stage of qualifying considering how close the lap times were between the top sixteen. During the final stage of qualifying I felt quite good on the bike and I managed to progress through to the second phase. In the end I qualified twelfth and I am very happy with the result. Tomorrow I am looking forward to both our races; we will try to improve the bikes consistency overnight in preparation for tomorrow races.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki demonstrated its world-class pedigree today at round nine of the World Superbike Championship at Silverstone in the UK as ‘Wild-Card’ John Hopkins blitzed WSBK regulars to win Superpole with a new lap record of 2.04.041. Starting first practice fastest, Suzuki GSX-R1000-mounted Hopkins and the team decided to play it safe in the subsequent practice sessions, but by qualifying made it count to take top spot, beating Irishman Eugene Laverty and Britain’s Leon Camier to pole position in the process. John Hopkins: “The Samsung Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 felt real good from the off and after setting the fastest time in FP1 we started to believe that we could do something special here this weekend. As we’re running just the one bike, I settled a little to make sure nothing silly happened and then pulled the pin in Q2 and just got my head down in that and Superpole. The bike feels great and I can’t thank the team enough for giving me the package to do this on: Let’s just hope we can turn this into something even more special come tomorrow.” In contrast to the Hopkins’ euphoria, on the other side of the garage, team mate Jon Kirkham has struggled to find his pace and will begin tomorrow from the back of the grid. Jon Kirkham: “I’m just struggling to find my confidence and rhythm here this weekend. With Hopper going so well I know I can go faster, and in the second practice session it started to go the right way, but after that, just no more improvement. The races will be a different story altogether though and if I can find some rhythm I’m sure I can bag a decent result or two.” Team Manager – Jack Valentine: “What a result. We turned up here without any real data as Hopper’s only completed around 25 laps here in testing before, so to end FP1 quickest, we had a little smile and hoped this could be the start of something special. In truth, we turned the wick down a little after Qualifying 2 for damage limitation with just the one bike and then went all guns blazing for Superpole. It’s a great result and tomorrow’s another day, but let’s just say that for now; we’re feeling optimistic. A big thank you to the whole team.”