FIM Superbike World Championship Silverstone Circuit, Great Britain July 29 Qualifying Session One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Ducati 1098R), 2:05.477 2. Maxime BERGER, France (Ducati 1098R), 2:05.870 3. Tom SYKES, Great Britain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:05.899 4. Leon CAMIER, Great Britain (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 2:05.937 5. John HOPKINS, USA (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 2:05.974 6. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 2:06.023 7. Jakub SMRZ, Czech Republic (Ducati 1098R), 2:06.029 8. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2:06.037 9. Max BIAGGI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 2:06.044 10. Leon HASLAM, Great Britain (BMW S1000RR), 2:06.116 11. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Ducati 1098R), 2:06.176 12. James TOSELAND, Great Britain (BMW S1000RR), 2:06.316 13. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 2:06.647 14. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2:06.697 15. Alex LOWES, Great Britain (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:06.740 16. Mark AITCHISON, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:06.752 17. Noriyuki HAGA, Japan (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 2:06.762 18. Troy CORSER, Australia (BMW S1000RR), 2:06.890 19. Joan LASCORZ, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:06.952 20. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2:07.245 21. Fabrizio LAI, Italy (Honda CBR1000RR), 2:07.661 22. Jon KIRKHAM, Great Britain (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 2:07.889 More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Silverstone (Great Britain), Friday 29 July 2011 – Two Ducati bikes slotted in at the top of the timesheets following Friday’s first qualifying at the new-look Silverstone circuit. On a track that is more suitable on paper to four-cylinder power, points leader Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) led the way with a time of 2 minutes 05.477 seconds, four-tenths quicker than the surprise of the day, the young Frenchman Maxime Berger (Supersonic Racing Team Ducati). The pace on the first day was fast under overcast skies, with Checa’s time on race tyres close to lap record pace (set in race conditions) only 0.218 seconds from the Cal Crutchlow’s official 2010 time of 2 minutes 05.259 seconds. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) was the first Brit on the provisional grid, taking third place ahead of Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team). After going quickest in the morning free practice session, the provisional second row was headed by American wild-card rider John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki), followed by a similar Suzuki GSX-R1000 machine, the Alstare version piloted by Michel Fabrizio. Hopkins has some WSBK racing experience and his wildcard pace gave evidence that he should be a factor at this recently revamped circuit. Fast privateer Jakub Smrz (Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati) was a strong seventh, with the top Yamaha World Superbike rider proving to be Eugene Laverty, eighth fastest. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) is currently down in ninth, a normal position for the Italian after Friday seeing as he prefers to focus on set-up work. The top ten was rounded out by local hero Leon Haslam, the fastest BMW rider on show so far. James Toseland (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK) went 12th in his comeback ride, one place ahead of his team-mate Ayrton Badovini, while Troy Corser, Haslam’s team-mate, was 18th in his comeback ride. Times: 1. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 2’05.477; 2. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 2’05.870; 3. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 2’05.899; 4. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2’05.937; 5. Hopkins J. (USA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2’05.974; 6. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2’06.023; 7. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 2’06.029; 8. Laverty E. (IRL) Yamaha YZF R1 2’06.037; 9. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2’06.044; 10. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 2’06.116; 11. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 2’06.176; 12. Toseland J. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 2’06.316; 13. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 2’06.647; 14. Melandri M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 2’06.697; 15. Lowes A. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2’06.740; 16. Aitchison M. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R 2’06.752; etc. More, from a press release issued by PATA Racing: Not the easiest start of the round weekend for the PATA Racing Team that close the first day in Silverstone with a seventeenth place. A result that doesn’t pay back the work done by the rider that suffered some problems oly during the last part, once he opted for the soft tyre. Haga is still optimistic in sight of tomorrow and willing to gain a good position of the starting grid. Noriyuki Haga – Aprilia RSV4R #41 – “I’m not happy about the results. I was expecting to get a better time thanks to the great work done during the session. We decided to go for the soft tyre but unfortunately we got back the chattering issue that didn’t allow us to go full speed. Tomorrow mornig we’ll try to change the setting and to get a good timing for the Superpole.” More, from a press release issued by Aprilia: A STRONG START STRAIGHT AWAY IN ENGLAND: 12 RIDERS GROUPED WITHIN LESS THAN ONE SECOND OF ONE ANOTHER. MAX BIAGGI WORKS TO ADAPT HIS RSV4 TO THE TRACK AND ENDS THE DAY WITH THE NINTH BEST TIME, LEON CAMIER FINDS A GOOD FEELING AND STOPS THE CLOCK WITH THE FOURTH FASTEST TIME Silverstone, July 29th, 2011 The English World Superbike weekend ignites challenge right from the first practice sessions. The two Friday sessions saw extremely close times, so much so that the first qualifying session ended with 12 riders all within less than one second of one another. In the battle which came down to the last hundredth of a second, reigning champion Max Biaggi spent the first day adapting his Aprilia RSV4 to the exciting Silverstone track. The Roman rider completed 21 laps in the first qualifying session with a best time of 2’06,044 which earned him ninth place. The cloudy skies and mild temperatures prevent the riders from taking full advantage of their higher performance tires for too many laps, but fortunately the forecast for tomorrow and Sunday promises clear skies over the renovated English track. Max acknowledges that there is still work to be done: “We encountered some small problems here last year as well. The Ducati bikes are doing very well as always and the home riders always give a bit more here, so we need to concentrate on details to pull out the tenths of a second which are lacking. With this temperature the higher performance tyres don’t last too many laps. Tomorrow and the next day the temperature is supposed to go up, so we’ll evaluate softer solutions hoping to have a real benefit in terms of lap time”. Leon Camier had a very good day of practice on his home track. The English rider was shining in both sessions, ending the free practice session of the morning in second place and taking fourth in the first qualifying sessions. In spite of the good pace, Leon is convinced he can improve even more, especially with better weather conditions. “I’m certainly happy with the first day confirmed Leon especially because the guys out front don’t really have that much of a better pace than us, also given the quick tyre wear in these low temperatures. Checa is the quickest out here, but we can get close to him if we solve some of the chattering problems. It’s too early to say, but we’re all very close and that makes me think that we have two very difficult races ahead with a lot of riders making a play for the first spots”. More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: It was a productive Friday for Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport at the ninth round of the 2011 FIM Superbike World Championship in Silverstone (GBR). After a two-day test at Lausitzring (GER) the team brought some new parts to the circuit. While factory rider Leon Haslam (GBR) qualified provisionally tenth, his team mate Troy Corser (AUS) returned to the bike after missing the last round of the championship in Brno. He finished the first Qualifying Practice 18th. The two riders from the BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team, James Toseland (GBR) and Ayrton Badovini (ITA), finished in 12th and 13th respectively. Leon Haslam: Fastest lap Free Practice: 2:07.100 min (P7)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 2:06.116 min (P10) “I am pretty happy with today’s results. The bike has been stable all day, which is really positive. This helped us focussing on setting up the S 1000 RR for the circuit. I was second until five minutes before the end of the session. When everybody fitted the softer tyre I was the only one not to be quicker than before. However, I am not concerned this is nothing we cannot solve for tomorrow, so I am really confident. “Here in Silverstone my helmet has a special design which is dedicated to Sparks. Sparks funds research into serious conditions affecting the health of babies, children and mums-to-be. I have worked with them for a few years, and this helmet will be auctioned at the end of the season.” Troy Corser: Fastest lap Free Practice: 2:07.064 min (P6)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 2:06.890 min (P18) “I am happy to be back on the bike after my crash at Aragon. I still feel some pain in my wrist, but only when I am braking. In general, I don’t think it affects my riding too much. The bike felt good and easy to ride this morning the engine is much smoother which is good. We made some changes later, but it didn’t pay off. I think we still have some work to do to optimize the bike’s traction.” Rainer Bäumel (Head of Race Operations): “The field is quite close the gap between the second and the 18th is only one second.We can be happy with today. Troy suffered from chattering, and we have to sort this out for tomorrow. Leon was second until the final outing. Unfortunately we changed the bike’s set up, and apparently we did not benefit from it. Nevertheless, we are optimistic for tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki: MICHEL SIXTH ON COMPETITIVE DAY ONE Team Alstare Suzuki rider Michel Fabrizio finished the opening day of practice and qualifying with the sixth fastest lap on a day that saw the top twelve separated by less than a second. Like many times this year, Silverstone is a new track for Michel and his Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 and so he and the team spent most of the time working on finding a good set-up for the bike. By the end of the day, he and the team were happy enough with what they had achieved, but will spend tomorrow looking for further improvement ahead of Sunday’s pair of 18-lap races. Series leader Carlos Checa (Ducati) led the charge today, posting a lap of 2:05.477. Second quickest was Maxime Berger (Ducati), with Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) third and Leon Camier (Aprilia) fourth. Michel – 6th, 2:06.023 I am not happy, but I am not unhappy about how things worked out today. As usual we spent most of the time trying to find a good set-up for the bike, so we tried many things and made many adjustments. We also tried to find a good grip level and, at the end, we felt that we had gone in the right direction and hopefully we will continue to improve tomorrow. This is my first time here on a four cylinder bike, so I took things pretty steadily in the morning and just tried to get comfortable with the bike. My right foot is a bit of a problem. I think that the discomfort I am feeling, between the smallest toe and the one next to it is a relic of of my crash in USA. I am really not sure if there is a small fracture there or maybe a cyst has formed, but it does get a bit uncomfortable on the bike sometimes. To make things easier for me, the team have made the right footrest shorter and that has taken some of the pressure off the the outside of my foot. I certainly felt more comfortable with the shorter footrest though once I am racing it is not a problem anyway. Hopefully the conditions will stay dry and I will improve tomorrow, both in practice and Superpole qualifying. It would be good to be on the front row of the grid, but my first aim is to be in final Superpole. After that, we shall have to see. More, from a press release issued by Castrol Honda: Castrol Honda riders make steady Silverstone progress Castrol Honda rider, Alex Lowes, set the 15th fastest time in today’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s ninth round World Superbike championship races at Silverstone in the UK. Standing in for injured regular, Jonathan Rea, Lowes comes to Silverstone fresh from a two-day test last week with the team at Assen in the Netherlands. The 20-year-old from Lincolnshire used today’s two sessions to knock over a second off his best time at the 5.902km Silverstone circuit. Lowes’s team-mate for this weekend, Fabrizio Lai himself a late replacement for the injured Ruben Xaus was content with his own progress today having been given just 48hrs notice to prepare for the event. Lai spent much of today learning the Silverstone circuit and adapting to the Castrol Honda machine, which differs considerably from the CBR1000RR that he rides in the Italian Superbike series. Alex Lowes P15 2m06.740s I had a little tip-off this morning, mainly because I got a bit excited, but I’m pretty happy with how things went today. I’ve learned a lot and the bike’s been mega, although we just need to work a bit on improving the feeling at the front. But it’s letting me finish the corners a lot better, and I’ve improved my lines in a lot of areas. We’ll make another step-up tomorrow and hopefully get a bit higher. Fabrizio Lai P21 2m07.661s I’m quite happy because it was my first time at Silverstone today. I looked at the time-sheet after free practice this morning and was not surprised to be almost three seconds off, but we have improved that this afternoon. I followed some faster riders in free practice and learned the lines better, which allowed me to go faster. I did not follow anyone this afternoon, but I think I can definitely lear n some more tomorrow. I also got used to the different settings on the CBR. The power is much more and the throttle response much faster, but I like it very much! More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: ANOTHER PROVISIONAL POLE FOR CHECA AND ALTHEA RACING, THIS TIME AT SILVERSTONE Silverstone (UK), Friday 29th July 2011: first qualifying of the ninth round of World Superbikes took place this afternoon at England’s Silverstone track and it couldn’t have gone better for Althea Racing and rider Carlos Checa, who dominated from start to finish to take provisional pole for Sunday’s races. The Althea Racing rider, championship leader after the first eight rounds, faced first free practice with his usual determination, lapping fast right from the outset and topping the timesheets after just twenty minutes. He remained inside the top five for the duration of the session, closing with a best time of 2m07.1, recorded in the final stages. This time meant that he concluded practice in final fifth position. In the afternoon’s first qualifying session, Carlos made a very convincing first exit, almost immediately recording a 2m06.0 and lowering by a full second his best time set this morning. This time remained the overall quickest until ten minutes from the end of the session when the Spanish rider was able to further improve with an incredibly quick lap (2m05.4). Consistently fast throughout the entire session, Checa closed the qualifying session four tenths of a second ahead of any other rider. Carlos Checa: “Today went well. We have already improved with respect to last year. With the soft tyre we were able to make some very fast laps and we’re satisfied. The problem may arrive tomorrow as temperatures will probably be warmer and we’ll have to see how the tyres go in different conditions. All in all, seeing as this is one of the more difficult tracks for us, we are happy. We just have to minimize the disadvantage that we have along the straight but I think we can do it; we’ll see tomorrow but I’m pretty confident.” More, from a press release issued by Supersonic Racing Team: Fantastic performance fom Maxime Berger and the Supersonic Team at the Silverstone circuit today. The ninth round of the World Superbike Championship could not started better for the Supersonic Team and its rider Maxime Berger. In the first qualifying session held today at Silverstone, Maxime has set the second fastest qualifying time. A great performance for the French rider made “‹”‹possible by his skill and determination, but also by the intelligent work done by the team in changing the completely setup from the Ducati 1198 compared to the previous race in Brno. Maxime Berger and his team decided to radically change the bike setup that was used in Brno during the free morning session and Maxime was able to conclude the session in thirteenth place with a time of 2’07 “547. In the afternoon qualifying session, Berger took advantage of the work and after rising to fourth place, he performed a fantastic lap (2’05 “870) that was worth the second place overall, just three tenths off Carlos Checa Ducati leaders too. Maxime Berger: “We started this weekend so fantastic. I like this track very well, was strong here with the stock 1000. This morning I worked a lot with my team and then we decided to completely change the mechanics setting we used at Brno. I immediately felt good on my bike and I pushed hard because I felt that I you could do a really good result. In the afternoon, I pushed hard from the beginning of the session and at the end I was lucky because I found myself along with Max Biaggi and I made “‹”‹a lap with him almost perfect. This second place makes me very happy and I dedicate it to my team who worked exceptionally well, and to my sponsors. But this second place has to be a starting point and not the end. Tomorrow I want to perform again on high levels and gain a good spot on the starting grid for Sunday’s two races.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY UNFAZED BY 18TH ON DAY ONE. Troy finished the first day of practice and qualifying at Silverstone with the 18th quickest time, but is only a second slower than the second fastest rider today. Once again the lap times are very close and Troy’s position today is of some concern, but it is where he ends up tomorrow that matters. Series leader Carlos Checa (Ducati) led the charge today, posting a lap of 2:05.477. Second quickest was Maxime Berger (Ducati), with Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) third and Leon Camier (Aprilia) fourth. Troy – 18th, 2:06.890 The position today looks worse than it is – especially when you consider how close the lap times are. In the morning I tried some of the ideas they used in the recent tests and there were some definite improvements. The engine felt smoother and the slightly different electronics settings also helped. We also used a longer exhaust and all of these things helped us get more comfortable, more quickly. In the afternoon we tried some different things, but didn’t find any further improvement so, in the end, we went back to the morning settings. The lap times are very close – as you can see – and we’re just 1.4 seconds off Carlos (Checa) and just a second slower than the second placed rider – Berger. If I had gone half a second quicker, I would’ve ended 10th! We’re still struggling a bit with sorting out adjusting the bike to get the best out of used tyres. We can go fast on a very soft tyre and have good grip, but things change when the tyre gets worn out. At the moment there are no problems with my arm and it feels pretty good. I’ve been training and riding dirt bikes and have given it a pretty good workout, with no ill effects. My wrist felt a bit sore on heavy braking, but generally I feel pretty much OK. Hopefully we’ll have a good day tomorrow and qualify well. More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: First day of qualifying for Pedercini team’s Superbike riders at the Silverstone circuit in the United Kingdom. Mark Aitchison and Roberto Rolfo spent their free practice session working through various machine settings on a dry track, despite there being some ominous dark clouds overhead. Aitchison reached the fifteenth position (2’07″787) while Rolfo obtained the twentieth place (2’08″448). Dry weather conditions held also for the first Superbike qualifying session. Aitchison improved on his best lap time (2’06″752), reaching sixteenth position. Rolfo was also able to improve on his lap time (2’07″245) but unfortunately he is still struggling with some set-up problems. The Italian rider confirmed this morning’s twentieth position. He is still some way off the positions that the team expected to see on day one at the Silverstone circuit. However, the data gathered should give the rider and his engineers plenty of scope to improve settings and make up ground in tomorrow’s final free practice and qualifying sessions. Superbike free practice : 1) Hopkins (Suzuki) 2) Camier (Aprilia) 3) Smrz (Ducati) 4) Toseland (BMW) “¦”¦15) Aitchison (Kawasaki)”¦”¦..20) Rolfo (Kawasaki) Superbike qualifying 1 : 1) Checa (Ducati) 2) Berger (Ducati) – 3) Sykes (Kawasaki) 4) Camier (Aprilia) “¦”¦ 16) Aitchison (Kawasaki)”¦”¦..20) Rolfo (Kawasaki) Roberto Rolfo: “I’m pretty satisfied with today’s qualifying session. I was able to improve on my best lap time riding alone on track and my feeling with the bike is now better thanks to the hard work we have done this afternoon on the front wheel. We are adapting our Ninja to this technical track. I’m confident for tomorrow and I hope to continue to improve and to enter the Superpole.” Mark Aitchison :”Today our first day in Silverstone has gone reasonably well. I really enjoy riding this circuit and we made many tests with both my bikes. We were testing some clutch options which were totally different in each bike. In the middle of the qualifying run we found a good direction and I pushed for the faster lap times. My pace is coming, we just have to make my bike a little more comfortable in same sections, like the last split. I think we will be even more competitive if we improve this” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Challenging First Day at Silverstone for Yamaha WSB Riders Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty took to the British track at Silverstone today where they encountered overcast skies and air temperatures of 19 degrees. Both riders got down to business in this morning’s free practice, familiarizing themselves with the long and historic track on their YZF-R1s Eugene Laverty made improvements on his R1 set-up as the afternoon progressed to complete today’s first qualifying session in eighth place, just five tenths of a second off Checa at the top of time sheets and less than two tenths from Berger in second. The Northern Irishman encountered some difficulties in the morning’s free practice session, struggling turning in corners, a similar issue to that experienced in Brno. After some adjustments to the chassis set-up to improve the geometry of his machine, the 25 year old managed to improve his times and feel more confident ahead of his home race on Sunday. Eugene Laverty Yamaha World Superbike Team – 8th, 2’06.037 “Today was a solid first day at Silverstone. It was very close with the top 12 riders all under a second. Carlos was fast and has got the edge on everyone at the moment. I’m contempt with day one here. We are losing time on two sections of the track, having difficulty with changes of direction. We need to improve on that but we seem to know what we have to do resolve it and I should then be able to make a jump to the front. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.” Marco Melandri Yamaha World Superbike Team – 14th, 2’06.697 “Today was a very difficult first day. I was hoping to do a lot better and didn’t expect today’s outcome. I just never had a good feeling with the bike. I struggled from a severe lack of grip and the bike just didn’t go where I wanted it to. We’ve a lot of work to do and I hope we can improve this for tomorrow’s second qualifying. The weather will hopefully be a bit warmer and that should also help the situation.” Andrea Dosoli – Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager “Today was a pretty tough first day for both riders. We will have to work hard this evening to find a better chassis set up for tomorrow’s second qualifying session. Eugene worked on the geometry of the bike in this morning’s free practice session and the first part of the qualifying session and was quite satisfied with the solution. His lap times are quite good, especially considering Checa is in the lead just five tenths ahead so it’s very close. There are a few things that need improving to make up that time and in order to be at the top of the time sheets. Marco is struggling with a lack of grip on both the front and rear of the bike. He tried various front and rear set ups but he didn’t find a good solution. He needs to regain confidence for tomorrow’s second qualifying and Superpole. The team will work hard this evening to find a solution.”