FIM Supersport World Championship Imola, Italy September 26, 2009 Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Cal CRUTCHLOW (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:50.680 2. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Honda CBR600RR), 1:51.260 3. Joan LASCORZ (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:51.955 4. Massimo ROCCOLI (Honda CBR600RR), 1:52.280 5. Garry MCCOY (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:52.400 6. Mark AITCHISON (Honda CBR600RR), 1:52.443 7. Eugene LAVERTY (Honda CBR600RR), 1:52.599 8. Fabien FORET (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:52.789 9. Andrew PITT (Honda CBR600RR), 1:52.856 10. Michele PIRRO (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:53.039 11. Chaz DAVIES (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:53.134 12. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:53.264 13. Miguel PRAIA (Honda CBR600RR), 1:53.292 14. Danilo DELL’OMO (Honda CBR600RR), 1:53.301 15. Anthony WEST (Honda CBR600RR), 1:53.553 16. Barry VENEMAN (Honda CBR600RR), 1:53.557 17. Michael LAVERTY (Honda CBR600RR), 1:53.772 18. Robbin HARMS (Honda CBR600RR), 1:53.783 19. Sam LOWES (Honda CBR600RR), 1:54.102 20. Cristiano MIGLIORATI (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:54.313 More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: PARKALGAR HONDA’S Eugene Laverty will start from seventh and Miguel Praia from 13th in tomorrow’s 12th round of the World Supersport Championship at Imola in Italy. The race starts at 1325CET at the 4.959km circuit and will be shown on Eurosport as well as www.worldsbk.com [http://www.worldsbk.com/]. Eugene: “We are quite a long way off and I was trying hard. I want more confidence in the front end of my Parkalgar Honda to allow me to brake right to the apex. Conditions are different and cooler since the test so we know what we need to do in order to achieve that. I need to be lapping in the 1m51secs and hopefully we will get it sorted in morning warm up. If the temperature is hot in the morning it will help as it will mimic the expected race conditions and we can use warm up as a proper test session. We aren’t where we want to be but we’ll keep working at it overnight and in the morning.” Miguel: “I thought it was possible for the third row and 12th was my target it would have been mega but everything was so close that I am not disappointed with 13th. Because of the poor grip at the circuit, today was really our first and only track session so to beat the time from testing is good and we made improvements. I am comfortable on my Parkalgar Honda which shows what a fantastic job Phil and my crew have done, it is hard to set up a chassis for such a rough track so quickly. My realistic target is to get inside the top 10 in the race.” Simon Buckmaster, Team Manager: “Eugene is currently in second place in the Championship standings and needs to put pressure on Cal in the race and beat him. He has had a bad day at the office and we need to improve in warm up and the race there are no other options. It is an impressive qualifying position from Miguel, it is an honest 13th and he is competing with the riders around him. His lap times are good and if he gets with the group in front tomorrow then he has a real chance of improving on his best ever result of 10th, he certainly has a bike capable of passing those in front of him.” More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Kenan Sofuoglu will start tomorrow’s 12th round World Supersport championship race from the front row of the grid after setting the second-fastest time in this afternoon’s only qualifying session at Imola in Italy. The Turkish Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider set a time of 1’51.260s around Imola’s 4.93km undulations, but he was pipped to pole by series leader Cal Crutchlow in the dying seconds of the 45-minute session. Sofuoglu’s team-mate and reigning World Supersport champion, Andrew Pitt, set the ninth fastest time for a third row start, but the Australian is confident that a good start in tomorrow’s 19-lap race will see him battling with the front runners. Kenan Sofuoglu P2, 1’51.260s I am very, very happy with the progress we have made today. I was able to keep improving my lap time because the bike is feeling so strong now. It has been on the dyno since Nurburgring and the guys have really found something that allows me to pass other riders when I would have struggled before. So, I want to say a big thanks to the whole team, both here and at the workshop. I think I am faster over longer runs than Crutchlow, who was able to put in a fast time right at the end. When I see the green lights tomorrow, I’m going! Andrew Pitt P9, 1’52.856s I tried to hang with Kenan towards the end of the session but another rider split us and kind of messed my lap. It seems that he and Crutchlow have a bit of a gap but the rest of us are pretty much together. As long as I can find a good start tomorrow, I’m pretty confident of being able to run near the front and then we’ll see what happens. We’ve still got a bit of an issue with the bike backing into turns, but we have a couple of things to try tomorrow in warm-up. Ronald ten Kate team manager We made quite a big jump forward with the total package today and Kenan is quite happy with his race set-up so we’ll see how that works tomorrow. Andrew is definitely on his way forward again, too, and we hope he can make another step tomorrow morning. All in all, it’s been a positive day and we’re looking forward to racing again. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Lascorz On The Front Row Yet Again WSS, Imola, Italy, 26 September 2009 For the eighth time in 12 rounds Joan Lascorz took his Ninja ZX-6R to a front row starting place, having qualified third fastest at Imola today. After a disturbed first day, when the lone untimed session was completed late due to track cleaning delays, Lascorz settled into the business of practice and then qualifying today with some style, setting a best lap of 1’51.955, one of only three riders to get under the 1’51 bracket. Katsuaki Fujiwara was in the early running for a front row start but slid down the qualifying order during the 45-minute session and now starts from 12th place on the grid, on the third row. Joan Lascorz: “Qualifying wasn’t so bad for us, and the asphalt is certainly much better today than yesterday. The set-up is generally good but it is difficult in some places, because there are a lot of different corners to set-up for at this track. We are moving from the back a little so we will work with the rear suspension in warm-up tomorrow. We have got our race tyre chosen already. I want to be fighting for the win tomorrow.” Katsuaki Fujiwara: “We were fast at the start of the session because we improved our set-up from the first day. Now each of my bikes has a different gearbox so we have to decide which is best for the race. The tarmac is much better than it was yesterday and our bike should work well, when we get the gearing decided.” More, from a press release issued by ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing: Garry McCoy will start from fifth place while Chaz Davies from eleventh in round 12 of World Supersport at Imola tomorrow. The riders worked on what they had started the day before. Garry McCoy gave the fans a taste of his talent and set a number of very fast laps, while Chaz Davies got to grips with the bike and improved his feeling with it. GARRY McCOY | Triumph Daytona 675 | 5th in 1’52.400: “I’m really happy with my performance in qualifying and I also had a lot of fun on this track which I really like. The bike performed well too which allowed me to set a good time but I especially had a series of fast laps. I hope to score a great result for my team on their home track tomorrow”. CHAZ DAVIES | Triumph Daytona 675 | 11th in 1’53.134: “I had a good feeling with the bike today and also dealt with the shifter and fuel supply problems. We can still improve but we’re on the right path and I really can’t wait for tomorrow. My only concern is the beginning because I was used to start with the bike moving in the U.S. and I’ll have to adjust”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Despite two crashes this weekend Yamaha World Supersport rider Cal Crutchlow continued to show the devastating pace that has taken him to the top of the championship standings. A bad tyre choice in today’s qualifying resulted in a small crash, however the unhurt Crutchlow was able to rejoin and get back on the pace with a change of rubber. He spent the duration of the session as the fastest rider, dropping to second towards the end of the as Sofuoglu laid down a fast 1’51.2 lap. As the seconds ticked to end the qualifying Crutchlow sent a clear message with his Yamaha R6, putting down a supersonic final lap of 1’50.6 to take his ninth pole of the season, over half a second clear of second placed Sofuoglu and two seconds clear of championship rival Eugene Laverty, starting from the second row in seventh. Crutchlow’s team mate Fabien Foret improved on his set up from yesterday’s session, putting in consistently fast race pace laps to end in eighth position and earning a second row grid start for tomorrow’s Supersport race. Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (1st, 1’50.680) “It’s been not the best day, two crashes in one day isn’t great, however I think we’ve got the pace to win and I think we actually don’t need to go as fast as we thought we did to win the race. We’ll see tomorrow. I’m not worried about winning by a massive margin tomorrow as there’s no point, we don’t need to. I crashed twice with a new tyre we were trying today so we won’t be using that one again. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race, hopefully we can keep winning.” Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (8th, 1’52.789) “Today was better for me than yesterday. I’m still not completely happy with the feel of the bike, the set up we found at the test is not working so well now the track is different. It’s frustrating to be on the second row again as I will have to fight my way through the pack to get to the front. I think from today I know I have a good race pace so I should be able to fight for a podium if I get a good start.” Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager “The grip was a lot better today than yesterday but still the bike doesn’t feel the same as it did when we tested here. First row for Cal and second row for Fabien is not a bad position to start tomorrow. I think for Fabien he’s a real Sunday man and he’ll improve tomorrow and fight for the front. It’s a pity Cal fell off twice today but his last lap showed he’s got the speed and wasn’t scared by the crashes, he knew exactly what went wrong. To do a last lap like that was pretty impressive, add to that his main competitor is nearly two seconds behind means we can look forward to tomorrow’s race.”