FIM Superbike World Championship Vallelunga, Italy September 20, 2008 Superpole Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Troy BAYLISS (Ducati 1098 F08), 1:36.606 2. Troy CORSER (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:36.730 3. Noriyuki HAGA (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:36.915 4. Max BIAGGI (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:37.134 5. Ryuichi KIYONARI (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:37.342 6. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:37.427 7. Michel FABRIZIO (Ducati 1098 F08), 1:37.550 8. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:37.607 9. Lorenzo LANZI (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:37.692 10. Fonsi NIETO (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:37.820 11. Ruben XAUS (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:37.438 12. Carlos CHECA (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:37.536 13. Roberto ROLFO (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:37.910 14. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:37.925 15. Regis LACONI (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:38.043 16. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:38.267 The Rest of the Grid: 17. Gregorio LAVILLA (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:38.492 18. Ayrton BADOVINI (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:38.530 19. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:38.574 20. David CHECA (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:38.660 21. Jakub SMRZ (Ducati 1098 RS08), 1:38.749 22. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:38.970 23. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:39.362 24. Shuhei AOYAMA (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:39.531 25. Makoto TAMADA (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:39.532 26. Chris WALKER (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:39.623 27. Christian ZAISER (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:40.162 28. Matej SMRZ (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:40.633 29. Matt LYNN (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:43.680 More, from a press release issued by Team YZF Yamaha Bayliss in pole position, Nakatomi 19th It rained on Friday at Vallelunga and Noriyuki Haga was the fastest on his Yamaha. His teammate Troy Corser was fourth behind the two Ducatis of Ruben Xaus and the World Championship leader Troy Bayliss. The sun was shining on Saturday and Troy Bayliss was the fastest in front of Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) during the qualifying practice. Shinichi Nakatomi was 19th. In Superpole, Troy Bayliss was again the quickest of all in front of the two Yamahas of Corser and Haga. This is the 25th pole position for the Australian champion. Shinichi Nakatomi: “I have been testing here in July, but now my feeling is very different. We changed the tyre and the settings, but I still do not have enough feeling. I hope we can find a good set up for the race. So far, even if we changed the settings, my feeling is not so good.” Martial Garcia (team-manager): “It has not been possible to go as fast as we did in July because of the state of the track. The practices on Friday were perturbed by the rain so we miss two practice sessions.” Qualifying results: 1- Bayliss (Ducati), 2- Corser (Yamaha), 3- Haga (Yamaha), 4-Biaggi (Ducati), 5-Kiyonari (Honda) — 19-Nakatomi (Yamaha) World Championship standings: 1- Bayliss (Ducati) 359 points, 2- Corser (Yamaha) 258, 3-Neukirchner (Suzuki) 254, 4-Checa (Honda) 240, 5-Haga (Yamaha) 230 — 21-Nakatomi (Yamaha) 32 13th round of the Superbike World Championship: October 5th at Magny-Cours (France) More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Corser and Haga take front row starts After the wet weather endured by all on the first day, warm and sunny conditions for the final qualifying sessions allowed the Yamaha Motor Italia World Superbike riders to easily make it into Superpole, and subsequently earn front row starts for Sunday’s Vallelunga races. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) looked set to extend his record number of pole positions in WSB competition until Troy Bayliss finally just improved on his countryman’s best time. Corser’s 1’36.730 was only 0.124 seconds from Bayliss, offering the prospect of a close contest between these old adversaries on raceday. Seventh away in Superpole qualifying, Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) improved his final qualifying position to third, with a 1’36.915 that put him just behind Corser. Weather conditions are expected to be dry on raceday although track conditions are far less hot than they were during the team’s successful test at Vallelunga in July. Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) missed a ride in Superpole by only a few places, finishing his qualifying sessions 19th overall. David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) replicated his 20th place in the wet on day one in the dry day two, while his team-mate Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) was 2nd quickest. Troy Corser (2nd – 1’36.730 – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “I was going strong in free practice, we put a soft tyre on for qualifying and it went really well. I’m just happy to be on the front row to be honest, after we only had one day of testing in the dry. The track is a lot less hot than it was for our summer tests so we will make final choices of tyres and set-up tomorrow. A good day for us, and we came so close to taking another Superpole win.” Noriyuki Haga (3rd – 1’36.915 – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “I have a good feeling on the bike and I am so glad that it was dry today, even if I was fast in wet qualifying. After my big fall yesterday I did not want any wet track conditions. With only one day of dry track practice we will still be checking our set-up in morning warm-up, but starting from the front row is always something to be positive about.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “Today was a good day for both Noriyuki and Troy. 1st row is very important for us because here it is not so easy to overtake. Tomorrow during warm up we will decide on which tyre to use.” Shinichi Nakatomi (19th – 1’38.574 – Team YZF Yamaha) “I have been testing here in July, but now my feeling is very different. We changed the tyre and the settings, but I still do not have enough feeling. I hope we can find a good set up for the race. So far, even if we changed the settings, my feeling is not so good.” More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: HANNspree Ten Kate Honda World Superbike Championship, round 12 Vallelunga, Italy 20 September 2008 Ryuichi Kiyonari will start from the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s two 12th round World Superbike races at Vallelunga in Italy after setting the fifth fastest time in today’s Superpole qualifying session. The Japanese ace comes to the 4.1km circuit just north of Rome on the back of three wins from the last four outings and is seeking to continue his recent rich vein of form that has seen him climb the championship points table in his debut WSBK year. Series leader, Troy Bayliss, took pole position this afternoon, as power cuts to the Vallelunga circuit disrupted the free practice session and delayed Superpole. Kiyonari’s HANNspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Carlos Checa, who ran sixth in regulation qualifying, crashed on his Superpole lap and was consequently relegated to the third row. Meanwhile, the team’s third rider, reigning World Supersport champion, Kenan Sofuoglu, qualified 14th fastest in only his second Superpole event. Ryuichi Kiyonari P5, 1m37.342s The setting is definitely getting better but we lost all yesterday to the rain so we really needed some more time today. I tried my best to get on the front row in my Superpole lap but I lost time in the first split perhaps because I was pushing a little bit too much. I’m happy with the race set-up but we still have some more work to do in warm-up tomorrow to make it even better. Everyone on the team is working hard to get it right, so I will try my best for some more good results in the races. Carlos Checa P12, 1m37.536s (regulation qualifying time) Of course, I’m a little disappointed about the crash. I’d felt the front pushing at that point before but I didn’t expect to lose it there. It was a tyre that had performed well but it was quite hard and maybe one lap was not enough to get it up to temperature to get the grip needed with a qualifier in the rear. I’m OK, but it means I will have two difficult starts tomorrow. We still have some things to try tomorrow and a softer setting may help tyre wear, but we’ll have to see what happens. Kenan Sofuoglu P14, 1m37.925s Yesterday was very difficult with all the rain but I was happy with the times. I expected to make a jump today after the test we had two months ago but we didn’t really have enough time to get everything right. I’m comfortable for the race and will just try to get a good start from the fourth row. I was very happy to get into Superpole but I was a little nervous before my lap. Since the first round Qatar I have only ever watched it on TV! Ronald ten Kate team manager We’ve had limited time today to prepare everything for tomorrow’s races, but it’s been the same for all the riders. The race set-up and tyre choice will therefore be a bit of a gamble, but the pace has been good in race simulations today. Carlos will, of course, have to use all his experience to fight his way through from his starting position but I’m quite sure he is ready to do that. More, from a press release issued by PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse: Laconi 15th After Superpole Qualifying Vallelunga, Italy, 20 September 2008 Régis Laconi took his PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse Ninja ZX-10R into the Superpole competition at Vallelunga and then improved his qualifying ranking by one place, to start Sunday’s races 15th on the grid. Makoto Tamada ran off the track and finally fell at slow speed close to the end of a twice-interrupted final qualifying session this morning, and therefore he starts the races from 25th place. He had been experiencing some difficulties in changing direction at high and low speed, which affected his overall qualifying position. The first day of action at Vallelunga was fully wet, with the tarmac on the circuit providing little grip in several places, particularly as heavy rain arrived just in time for the first Superbike qualifying session. Day two was dry but the track took some time to clean up after its soaking on day one. In a somewhat peculiar day, both WSB sessions were disturbed by outside influences, the first oil on the racing line on two occasions in final timed qualifying. Then, an electrical power supply problem to the entire circuit, and subsequent emergency generator failure, caused much readjustment of the schedule, even after power was reconnected. Dry weather conditions are expected to arrive once more on raceday, as Laconi and Tamada take on the challenge of two 24-lap races at the 4.110km circuit near Rome. Régis Laconi: “I’m not completely happy because I could have had a better Superpole lap but it wasn’t possible. We tried to make improvements all day, and we did it in some areas, but the time we lost because of the rain yesterday. Not doing the official test here in the summer meant that we just needed time to work it all out. But tomorrow is the race and we will be going out for the best results possible.” Makoto Tamada: “It was unfortunate to run off on a quick lap but it was a difficult session for us with only today being dry, and no testing time here in the summer. If yesterday had been dry we would be in a better position, even if we have already made some improvements.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY MISSES SUPERPOLE BY A WHISKER! Despite a superb lap of 1:36.730, Troy missed taking the 43rd Superpole of his career, by just one tenth of a second. His nemesis, like so many times this season, was fellow countryman Troy Bayliss (Ducati) who started the 16-rider shoot-out as the last rider and managed to post the fastest lap of the weekend so far, with a time of 1:36.606. Completing the front row of the grid is Troy’s Yamaha Motor Italia team mate Noriyuki Haga and local favourite Max Biaggi (Ducati). Troy – 2nd, 1:36.730 With the wet weather yesterday it’s been a bit of a tough weekend so far and we’re not quite there with our bike set-up either. We’ll spend some time tonight looking at the data and then try out a couple of things in the warm-up tomorrow. At the moment, the bike is moving about a bit on the bumps and we need to sort that out. I’m fairly happy with the front tyre, but the rear is a bit of a problem. We’ve got one that will last the race distance, but not give good grip and one that has got good grip but will not last the race distance. So that’s why we still have some work to do and try and get the set-up right so that one of the tyres will work better. I had a little get-off this morning, but it was nothing really and didn’t hurt myself at all. I would’ve liked Superpole number 43, but I’m happy to be on the front row of the grid here as things can get a bit tight in turn one. Hopefully, I’ll make a good start and not get caught up in any dramas there. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Team Alstare Suzuki riders Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama will start from the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s 12th round of the World Superbike Championship at Vallelunga in Italy. With no dry track time yesterday, the riders started to work with dry set-ups and learn how to ride the 4.110 kilometre circuit in the dry. The afternoon free practice was disrupted by a power cut and the 25 minutes or so lost because of TV scheduling for Superpole then took place after Superpole had finished. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) stormed to his seventh Superpole win of the season with Troy Corser (Yamaha) second, Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) third and Max Biaggi (Ducati) fourth. Max Neukirchner – 6th, 1:37.427: “I had a little problem with grip in Superpole, lost some time and that stopped me from a front row grid place. Most of my rivals tested here before and they had dry track data to work with straightaway, whereas I had to start from scratch. Having said that, I don’t think we did too bad today and I am happy with my set-up for tomorrow. Grip may be a problem in the races, but if all goes well, I see know reason why I cannot get a podium or two.” Yukio Kagayama – 8th, 1:37607: “Because I could not get good grip out of my qualifying tyres I used regular race rubber in Superpole instead. So I think eighth is not good, but it’s not so bad either. Second row is not too bad here, but I need to make good starts tomorrow. Because yesterday was so wet, we had to find a good dry set-up from the start of today and we were at a bit of a disadvantage compared to some other riders because they have tested here before and we have not. “There is still some work to do to make the bike more comfortable to ride around this track and we will have to try and work on the engine characteristics as the bike feels a bit peaky to ride at the moment – and that is not so good. If we can improve this in the warm-up, I think I can make some good races, but I am optimistic that this can be done.” Fonsi Nieto -10th – 1:37.820: “Well I guess this is almost my normal, third row, grid position, after yet another Superpole that has not been so good for me. I need two good starts tomorrow and be in the front group as soon as I can if I am to get good results. In Superpole, I was getting some movement at the rear end and that made life a bit difficult exiting the corners. At the end of the free practice – the one that took place after Superpole – the temperature dropped quite a bit and that affected the grip a lot. We’ll do some work on the electronics in the warm-up and try and improve the bike so that I can ride it harder and faster. If we cannot improve the bike much, it’s going to be along, hard day for sure. More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: BAYLISS ON POLE ONCE AGAIN FOR TOMORROW’S CRUCIAL RACES AT VALLELUNGA Vallelunga (Italy), Saturday 22nd September 2008: Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) celebrated his seventh Superpole of the season, and the 25th of his Superbike career, in front of the Italian fans this afternoon at the Vallelunga circuit. The two Ducati Xerox factory riders qualified for this afternoon’s Superpole in first (Troy Bayliss) and third (Michel Fabrizio) place, with both completing a much more productive second qualifying session this morning, after the first wet session of yesterday. In dry, sunny conditions and with a track temperature of around 35°C, the riders were able to pick up their pace to record some very fast lap times during the Superpole session, with Bayliss just snatching pole position, ahead of the two factory Yamaha riders Corser and Haga. Michel Fabrizio meanwhile made a couple of small errors during his lap which left him in seventh position on the second row for tomorrow’s race. The two races taking place here tomorrow are all important for Australian rider Troy, who currently holds a 101-point advantage in the rider classification over second placed man Corser. Two very strong race results here tomorrow could be enough to award him with the world title, a title he has already taken on two occasions, in both 2001 and 2006. Troy Bayliss 1m36.6s “It’s always nice to take a pole position, it’s a great feeling and another one to add to my career total. I took pole here last year too but there was more wind this afternoon so that may have slowed us all down a little but it wasn’t a problem really. My lap wasn’t perfect but we did enough and so I’m very satisfied. I’m starting from the front row tomorrow, and as we’ve done a lot of pretty fast laps on the race tyres today I’m feeling confident for the races.” Michel Fabrizio 1m37.5s “I’m disappointed that I wont be starting from the front row of the grid tomorrow; it’s my home round and I hoped to do better in this afternoon’s Superpole. I’m not sure what happened, I made a small mistake right at the start, on entering the first curve and so lost time in the first split due to that. Anyway, it seems that the race pace is there so I’m staying positive. I will start from seventh position and we’ll see if I can take two good results tomorrow, for me, for my team and also for the fans.”