FIM Superbike World Championship Donington Park, England March 25, 2011 Qualifying Session One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Max BIAGGI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:28.794 2. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:28.841 3. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Ducati 1098R), 1:29.194 4. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:29.379 5. Jakub SMRZ, Czech Republic (Ducati 1098R), 1:29.397 6. Leon HASLAM, Great Britain (BMW S1000RR), 1:29.472 7. Troy CORSER, Australia (BMW S1000RR), 1:29.476 8. Ruben XAUS, Spain (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:29.613 9. Joan LASCORZ, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:29.637 10. Leon CAMIER, Great Britain (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:29.639 11. Noriyuki HAGA, Japan (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:29.814 12. Maxime BERGER, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:29.851 13. Tom SYKES, Great Britain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:29.860 14. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:30.008 15. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:30.169, crash 16. Jonathan REA, Great Britain (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:30.348 17. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:30.383, crash 18. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:30.680 19. Mark AITCHISON, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:31.117 20. Chris VERMEULEN, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:31.485 More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Biaggi on song at classic Donington circuit Donington (UK), Friday 25 March 2011 – Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) scorched round the new-look Donington Park circuit in a blistering time of 1 minute 28.794 seconds to head off a challenge from Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike) as the Superbike riders concluded their first qualifying session. Biaggi’s final advantage over Melandri was just a fraction (0.047 seconds) with the two Italians the only riders into the 1’28 bracket as they duelled in the spring sunshine. Double Aussie race winner Carlos Checa was also on the pace, grabbing the lead in the middle of the session, but the Althea Racing man eventually ended up third, while Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike) completed the overnight front row in impressive style. Jakub Smrz (Effenbert – Liberty Ducati) also boomed his big twin-cylinder machine around the curves of Donington in very pleasant weather conditions to go fifth overall. The hard-fought session saw a series of surprises and changes of fortune as both Leon Haslam and Troy Corser were up amongst the frontrunners for a while on their BMW S1000RR machines, finishing sixth and seventh respectively. Ruben Xaus was top CBR rider on his Castrol Honda machine, while team-mate Jonathan Rea struggled somewhat to go 16th. Rookie rider Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) was the top Kawasaki competitor, ninth, while local man Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) went tenth. Two fallers today were Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) and Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki Alstare). The modified track layout, with the Esses now widened at the exit, brought universal praise, although exactly how much of the improvement in overall lap times is due to the new sections is still a cause for discussion. Chris Vermeulen returned to the WSBK fray today, going within 2.7 seconds of the leaders on his Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-10R, despite being not fully fit yet. Times: 1. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’28.794; 2. Melandri M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’28.841; 3. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’29.194; 4. Laverty E. (IRL) Yamaha YZF R1 1’29.379; 5. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’29.397; 6. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 1’29.472; 7. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’29.476; 8. Xaus R. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1’29.613; 9. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’29.637; 10. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’29.639; 11. Haga N. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’29.814; 12. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1’29.851; 13. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’29.860; 14. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1’30.008; 15. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’30.169; 16. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’30.348; etc. World Supersport Following his win in the opening round of the season, Italian Luca Scassa (Yamaha ParkinGO) continued his excellent run of form by setting the provisional pole at the end of this afternoon’s first Supersport qualifying session. His time of 1 minute 31.232 seconds was just a fraction quicker than Britain’s Sam Lowes, in second place on the Parkalgar Honda machine. The two Motocard.com Kawasaki ZX-6Rs were next up, with Australia’s Broc Parkes ahead of Spain’s David Salom. Local man Chaz Davies was fifth fastest on his Yamaha ParkinGO R6, and two more Brits were inside the top 10, with Gino Rea (Step Racing Honda) in sixth and James Ellison (Bogdanka PTR Honda) two places behind. Impressive privateer Robbin Harms (Harms Benjan Racing Team) went seventh, the last rider within a second of Scassa’s new best lap. Times: 1. Scassa L. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’31.232; 2. Lowes S. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1’31.368; 3. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’31.823; 4. Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’31.963; 5. Davies C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1’32.005; 6. Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1’32.080; 7. Harms R. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR 1’32.136; 8. Ellison J. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1’32.258; etc. More, from a press release issued by PATA Racing Team: Hard day of work for the PATA Racing team, on the track today in Donington for the first practice day of the second round of the Superbike World Championship. Seen the good weather condition they set a work of tune-up during these two days, dedicating the whole day to test different solutions on the bike. Solutions that satisfyed Nitro Nori, that is positive about the weekend. The rider on the finale suffered a stiffening of the forearm so he chose to not force himself too much finding the best time. Noriyuki Haga – Aprilia RSV4R #41 – “It’s been a really useful day, during which we tested different balance-assetts and a new suspention. Thanks to these solutions my feeling with the bike was growing but unfortunately during the last few minutes of the practices my forearm started ache overall when i was speeding up . So i chose to put it off until tomorrow. Marco Borciani – team manager – “We are working paying a lot of attention to get ready at the start of the two races on sunday. I’m sure that we could see the results of our work we did during today two sessions . More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: Weather conditions: Sunny with some scattered clouds. Temperature: Air: 15 20 °C, Track: 19 22 °C Number of riders participating: 20 from 12 teams Fastest lap Free Practice: Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) 1:29.978 min Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) 1:28.794 min Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport had an encouraging start to the second round of the FIM Superbike World Championship 2011 at Donington (GBR). Works rider Leon Haslam (GBR), who lives near the race track, dominated the first half of the first qualifying session, setting a string of fastest times. In the second half of the session his teammate Troy Corser (AUS) was second for a long time. In the end Leon finished qualifying today in sixth and Troy in seventh. Both riders’ crews continued their work on chassis and mapping setup for the BMW S1000RRs. Leon Haslam: Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:30.566 min (P4)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:29.472 min (P6) “Today has gone well for us. The track was a little dirty this morning, which made riding slightly tricky, but other than that so far we have done a good job. Basically we have just been going through the motions with setup, trying to identify areas to improve the bike so we can keep reducing our lap times. I haven’t been here for two years so I am improving with every lap, and I think I can continue that into tomorrow. The team is working hard, the progress so far has been good and I think we are in with a good chance of qualifying well tomorrow.” Troy Corser: Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:30.970 min (P11)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice: 1:29.476 min (P7) “This Friday was not too bad. They have changed the track a little bit, but I enjoy riding at Donington. You have to be a little bit careful with the left hand side of the tyre, so I did this going down through the Craner Curves. But the bike seems to be working quite okay. We still feel the bumps badly, and the bike still wants to do a wheelie off the apex of the corners. We are working on improving these areas and this would mean another good step. The way the bike feels and the lap times are good, and we are not that far away from the fast guys. This was probably one of the best Fridays we have had for a long time.” Rainer Bäumel (Head of Race Operations): “I am very happy that both our riders were able to ride on top. This proves we have made another step forward with our bike. We are there and now we will see what happens tomorrow – and what the weather will be like. If you want to be in the position to fight at the front in the races, you need to qualify in the first two rows. So this is our aim for the third superpole session. I would be happy if we could achieve that.” More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: A SOLID START FOR CHECA AND THE ALTHEA RACING TEAM AT DONINGTON PARK TODAY Donington Park (UK), Friday 25th March 2011: Carlos Checa (Althea Racing), riding the Ducati 1198 for the first time at Donington Park today, was happy to close first qualifying for the second round of the World Superbike Championship in third position. In the morning’s first practice session and in unexpectedly sunny conditions, Althea Racing’s Carlos Checa went to the top of the timesheets and stayed there for much of the sixty minute session. He was able to find good rhythm and continued to lower his lap times before registering the best lap of the session right in the final minutes. Checa was the only rider to duck under 1m30 this morning, with a best of 1m29.978. Later in the afternoon, and on a slightly warmer track (22ËšC), the Spanish rider continued to make good progress during first qualifying. His technicians lost a few minutes during the session when they had to resolve a small problem with the handlebar but, with this fixed, Carlos started to push, recording some consistently fast lap times in the process. He was able to improve on his morning’s best time by an impressive eight tenths of a second, to close first qualifying in third position which bodes very well for tomorrow’s Superpole. Carlos Checa “This is the first time I’ve ridden the 1198 at Donington and so I’m quite satsfied with the third place obtained today. We still have work to do tomorrow of course, mainly on my speed through certain sections of the track because I’m losing a couple of tenths to the leaders and we need to solve that. The important thing here though is to be consistant and we’re doing fairly well in that respect. I’d say that there will be five or six riders fighting at the front on Sunday and I hope to be part of that group. Tomorrow the work continues, we’ll try to improve stability and braking but all in all I can say we’re feeling quite confident.” The new-look version of Carlos Checa’s web site www.carloscheca.com was launched today and is available in Spanish, English and soon Italian. More, from a press release issued by Castrol Honda: Xaus continues progress as Rea struggles for grip Castrol Honda’s Ruben Xaus set the eighth fastest time in today’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s second round of the 2011 World Superbike championship at Donington Park in the UK. The Spaniard continued the improvement in form shown in race two at the opening round in Australia last month as he continues to familiarise himself with his new team and the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade. After missing out on Donington last season, the Castrol Honda team joined the rest of the 2011 field on the 4.023km (2.5 mile) circuit, which was drenched in Spring sunshine as Max Biaggi set the qualifying pace. Xaus’s Castrol Honda team-mate, Jonathan Rea, could only manage the 16th fastest time, after going P3 in this morning’s initial Free Practice session. The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland could not get his preferred rear tyre to work at all this afternoon. Ruben Xaus P8 Another month off the bike did me no good at all and I was a little bit lost this morning! It took me all the first session to find a rhythm again but I told myself not to think about it and just to ride and put some laps together. I said to myself: “It’s just some tarmac and two black tyres!” This afternoon I was really struggling for grip at the two hairpins, because of the bumps, mainly but the rest of the lap was good. It was so good that I couldn’t really push any more in those parts to get a better time. We’ll look for some solutions tonight and maybe change the balance a little, but it’s also difficult to stop the bike in the first 20 metres. I’m pretty happy really, so we’ll go some more tomorrow. Jonathan Rea P16 Phillip Island was horrendous but at least I was near the top looking down. Now I’m near the bottom looking up! We got off to a good start this morning and the prime tyre was working OK at the end of that session. We started with that again this afternoon but tried a few other options, too. We couldn’t really find a way forward and were really off the pace. So we put the prime tyre back in and had some big problems. It was completely unbalanced and had moved on the rim and it seemed it was shaped a bit like an egg. It was jumping off the ground when I was hard on the gas which made it difficult to get rhythm. Luckily Ruben’s in the ballpark with everyone else so we’ll be able to look at some good fast data tonight. We’ll keep our heads up and tomorrow will be fine. Ronald ten Kate team manager It was a bit of a strange day really, especially on Jonathan’s side of the garage. This morning he was quite fast, everything was looking good and he was in the comfort zone. This afternoon, without making any changes, the bike sudd enly became difficult to ride. We’re still looking at the reasons for that it’s a little inexplicable, to say the least, but we’ll get it sorted for tomorrow and we’re not worried just yet. Ruben has picked up from where he left off in Australia he’s getting more and more feeling with the bike. He could have gone even better this afternoon because there were some mistakes on his fastest laps, so he deserves compliments for taking his time and working well with his crew. Hopefully we can make another step forward tomorrow to get him a good position on the grid for Sunday. More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: Roberto Rolfo and Mark Aitchison set respectively the eighteenth (1’32″159) and the twentieth (1’33″295) fastest time in today’s opening free session of the second round of the World Superbike championship encounter at Donington Park in the UK on a dry race track. In free practice Aitchison continued his learning experience on board the Superbike. He crashed towards the end of the session but fortunately he was able to end the free practice with his second bike. Teammate Rolfo worked with his team to continue the development of the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R superbike. A dry track surface also for the afternoon qualifying session. Both of team Pedercini’s riders continued working with their technical staff to adapt their bikes to the English circuit, improving their best lap times. Rolfo confirmed his eighteenth place (1’30″680) while Aitchison ended in nineteenth position (1’31″117). Donington Friday free practice : 1) Checa (Ducati) 2) Melandri (Yamaha) 3) Rea (Honda) 4) Haslam (BMW) 5) Lascorz (Kawasaki) “¦”¦”¦.”¦..18) Rolfo (Kawasaki) 19) Vermeulen (Kawasaki) – 20) Aitchison (Kawasaki) Donington Friday qualifying session : 1) Biaggi (Aprilia) 2) Melandri (Yamaha) 3) Checa (Ducati) 4) Laverty (Yamaha) 5) Smrz (Ducati)”¦”¦. 18) Rolfo (Kawasaki) 19) Aitchison (Kawasaki) Roberto Rolfo: “I’m pretty satisfied with my performance in today’s practice and qualifying. This afternoon I was able to improve a lot on my best lap time of the morning and also my pace. We started with the same set up we had identified in Phillip Island and I worked a lot with my technicians during the qualifying session to improve it. I quickly found a good pace and we are not so far from the fastest riders. This afternoon we also tested a new gear setting and this helped me to find a better feeling with my bike. For tomorrow my target is to enter the Superpole and to obtain a good position on Sunday’s starting grid”. Mark Aitchison: “Today was a very difficult day for me. I didn’t make the best of starts because I crashed during the morning free practice session. I didn’t feel comfortable on my bike in that session, but my team worked very hard and we were able to find some improvements and I started to feel more comfortable. We found a new setting this afternoon and although I still have to make further improvements on this circuit I’m happy with the work we completed this afternoon and for tomorrow I’m sure we’ll be able to improve further.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Impressive Performance Sees Provisional Front Row For Melandri and Laverty at Donington The second round of the World Superbike Championship got underway at Donington today with Yamaha World Superbike Team riders Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty taking provisional front row starts from the first qualifying session. Both riders spent today’s free practice and subsequent qualifying session working through further electronic set up possibilities with their Yamaha YZF-R1s, focusing on the rear of the bike. Melandri was on competitive form for his first experience of the Donington track with a Superbike. The Italian rider moved up to the top of the time sheets with five minutes to go, dropping to second at the end of the session just 0.047 seconds from the front and one of only two riders to go below the 1’29 second mark with a 1’28.841. Melandri’s teammate Laverty was on similar form, the young rider from Northern Ireland focusing on set up for the majority of the sessions before switching to a softer tyre in the last minutes. Laverty then climbed to fourth on the standings for a provisional front row ahead of tomorrow’s second qualifying session and Superpole heats, just 0.585 from the front of the pack. Marco Melandri, Yamaha World Superbike Team 2nd, 1’28.841 (24 laps) “It was a very positive first day, the bike’s basic set up is good and that’s a good sign, so overall I’m very happy. I feel much better physically and I’ve become more confident on the bike. We have to decide what race tyres to use as the temperature of the asphalt changes from the morning to the evening and therefore it’s not easy to decide. The team is working very hard to be ready for everything so let’s see what happens tomorrow and let’s hope for a good Superpole. I’m looking forward to it!” Eugene Laverty, Yamaha World Superbike Team 4th, 1’29.379 “A very good first practice this morning. We were low down in the classification but we knew that what we were testing this afternoon would make a big step and a guarantee a provisional front row which is perfect. It’s nice to put a safe lap in now which should put us through to Superpole. Tomorrow morning we’ll work on our race setting and be ready for the two races on Sunday.” Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager – Andrea Dosoli “We had a good start to the event here in Donington Park, the first day went well. Both Marco and Eugene were working on a different set-up, concentrating mainly on the rear of the bike. In Phillip Island we used an extreme set up and now we have gone back to original settings. We are satisfied having both riders in the top four positions, moving forward they are both working on a few details, to be ready tomorrow for the second qualifying practice. The bike has performed well in both Phillip Island and in Donington on completely different set ups, so that proves the bike is very competitive and the riders are fast.” More, from a press release issued by Supersonic Racing Team: First day of testing at Donington for the Supersonic Team. First day of testing for the Supersonic Team at Donington Park in England. Spring and a nice sunny sky during both practices sessions today. The young French rider started in the morning along with his team to work on the setup needed to adapt his Ducati 1198 for the Donington track. Maxime Berger concluded a fifteenth place with a best time of 1’31 “337. Only a little more than a second from pole position rider Carlos Checa who was able to set the fastest lap of the session, just two tenths off the lap record. In the afternoon, the qualifying from Maxime Berger was a great performance, he improved steadily his time (1’29 “851) which brought him to the twelfth time overall. Danilo Soncini (Team manager): “Congratulations for Maxime today, he was really strong! Especially during the afternoon session, he rode with a great and stron determination which promises the best for tomorrow’s practice and for Sunday’s races. In the final qualifying we tried a different tire but unfortunately it did not went as we hoped. We are very happy because we made a significant step ahead compared to the weekend at Phillip Island. Tomorrow we hope to confirm the work we have done today and get into Superpole and prepare our Ducati for Sunday’s two races.” Maxime Berger: “I am very happy with the results from today. A really good day! We found very early a good set up and I managed to find a good feeling with my Ducati, especially with the front. In the afternoon I was able to push hard and improved a lot compared to this morning. For tomorrow, I will continue to work on the set up of my Ducati 1198 with my team; they did today a great job. Our goal for tomorrow is to qualify for what would be the first Superpole of my career and to further improve the bike set-up for Sunday’s two races. Superpole is after the good results from today within our reach.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Team Suzuki Alstare rider Michel Fabrizio escaped serious injury when he was hit behind and crashed during second qualifying for Sunday’s second-round World Superbike Championship round at Donington Park in Great Britain. The Italian – who had put up a strong performance in the morning session on his GSX-R1000 – was classified 17th, but is upbeat and ready for tomorrow’s Qualifying and Superpole. Surprisingly-warm conditions of 16 degrees saw the circuit blessed in sunshine for most of the day as reigning champion Max Biaggi (Aprilia) set the fastest lap ahead of Marco Melandri (Yamaha) and series leader Carlos Checa (Ducati) third. Michel Fabrizio – 17th, 1:30.383: “The new section of the track, at the Fogarty Esses, has made the lap times faster and the track is a bit more flowing now. It’s quite a technical track and it’s vital to have a good set-up if you want to lap quickly. It’s the kind of track where, if you mess up one corner, you’re going to mess up the whole lap. “Today I struggled a bit with rear grip, but part of the problem was that we had some new forks to try and quite a few adjustments to make. I think that they are an improvement, so now we’ll have to work on them and improve the feeling. This is normal work, but something that just has to be done. “In the qualifying session this afternoon, I got hit from behind and crashed and was lucky to escape injury. I feel sorry for my mechanics because they have a lot of work to do to repair the damage and replace a lot of parts.” More, from a press release issued by Alitalia Aprilia: WORLD CHAMPION MAX BIAGGI FINISHES IN COMMAND OF THE FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE ON THE ENGLISH TRACK AT DONINGTON PARK. GOOD FEELINGS FOR LEON CAMIER AS WELL, WHO IS LOOKING FOR THE BEST SETUP ON HIS HOME TRACK. Donington Park, 25 March 2011 Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team finishes up the first day of European Grand Prix practice in the best possible way. In fact, Max Biaggi made the best time of the day with a time of 1’28.794 in spite of being focused, as he always is on race weekend Fridays, on finding the best set-up rather than the fastest lap. His team mate Leon Camier, on his home track, also had good feelings, both technical and physical, after the unfortunate Australian weekend. His best time of 1’29.639 earned him tenth place right behind the leading group, also considering the rather close time differences. Both of the Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team riders worked on the respective set-ups of their RSV4s for a track which is very demanding from this point of view. The most serious unknown is the weather, the true needle on the scale when racing on English soil. For the moment a decisive sun bathes the track at Donington Park, but the temperature, which was spring-like today, could drop a few degrees by tomorrow. “For once even on Friday people are talking about Biaggi and Aprilia! exclaimed Max after the practice rounds To be honest, we weren’t looking for the best time. As usual we are working to adapt our bike to this track. By pushing in order to verify some solutions, I obtained a comforting result and I’m pleased about that. Today we changed a lot of configurations, especially in the back, which we will be thinking over now, in order to turn up the best way possible tomorrow. I have my eye on the temperature. Here it is an important element for tyre selection. You can really feel the difference even of just a few degrees, particularly in the long, fast turns. Leon Camier does not hide his satisfaction: “I’m pleasantly surprised. This first day of practice sessions went better than expected. Physically I reacted well and my pace on the track is also positive. Obviously we still have a lot of work to do in order to be competitive in the race, but also to take the best possible advantage of our potential in Superpole which is not my strong point. I’d say that we’ve got a good starting point; now all we need to do is continue improving and I’m sure that our work will pay off”.