FIM Supersport World Championship Losail International Circuit Doha, Qatar March 13, 2009 Final Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Cal CRUTCHLOW (Yam YZF-R6), 2:01.586 2. Eugene LAVERTY (Hon CBR600RR), 2:01.629 3. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Hon CBR600RR), 2:01.810 4. Andrew PITT (Hon CBR600RR), 2:02.266 5. Fabien FORET (Yam YZF-R6), 2:02.282 6. Matthieu LAGRIVE (Hon CBR600RR), 2:02.450 7. Gianluca NANNELLI (Tri Daytona 675), 2:02.497 8. Robbin HARMS (Hon CBR600RR), 2:02.592 9. Garry MCCOY (Tri Daytona 675), 2:02.634 10. Mark AITCHISON (Hon CBR600RR), 2:02.656 11. Michele PIRRO (Yam YZF-R6), 2:02.664 12. Anthony WEST (Hon CBR600RR), 2:02.808 13. Katsuaki FUJIWARA (Kaw ZX-6R), 2:02.844 14. Miguel PRAIA (Hon CBR600RR), 2:03.098 15. Joan LASCORZ (Kaw ZX-6R), 2:03.111 16. Pawel SZKOPEK (Tri Daytona 675), 2:03.163 17. Massimo ROCCOLI (Hon CBR600RR), 2:03.178 18. Barry VENEMAN (Suz GSX-R600), 2:03.215 19. Gianluca VIZZIELLO (Hon CBR600RR), 2:03.507 20. Jesco GÃœNTHER (Hon CBR600RR), 2:03.703 More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: Laverty scorches to second on the grid PARKALGAR HONDA ace Eugene Laverty backed up claims that he is a potential race winner with actions at the second round of the World Supersport Championship in Qatar by taking second place on the grid behind Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow. Miguel Praia crashed his Parkalgar Honda twice in final qualifying but was unhurt and eventually finished in 14th. The race at the Losail circuit takes place on Saturday 14th March at 1125 CET. Eugene: “I am happy with everything about my Parkalgar Honda and qualifying, it is good, even my race pace. I haven’t completed a full race distance run but very close to it and the rear tyre is fine, we have been working on the front and made that tyre choice as well. Between sessions we concentrated on the front end of the bike and rather than making a small one-step change we made a larger two step change in the direction we think is best and it worked perfectly. We have changed the chassis and geometry to add more weight to the front for improved feel and better turning in the tighter areas of the track. It’s hard to believe that Cal Crutchlow and I qualified and finished together in Phillip Island and we have qualified together again. I’m looking forward to the race.” Miguel: “I set my best qualifying lap early in the session on a used tyre and then had two crashes. In both crashes I went in to the corners too hot and I am sorry to my crew for the damage to the bikes and the extra work it means for them to repair them. I am disappointed with these crashes but lucky to be uninjured and will make the most of 14th on the grid. I like this circuit, my Parkalgar Honda is good and I really do think the top 10 is achievable.” Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: “What a mega job by Eugene. On ideal times combining the best sectors of each rider he would have been on pole position. His race pace is right at the front along with Sofuoglu, Pitt, Crutchlow and maybe Foret; the winner I expect will come from this group and Eugene has a great chance. Miguel crashed twice but is perfectly OK and has matched his best ever qualifying of 14th so is well placed for scoring points in the race and hopefully getting in the top 10. It’s going to be an exciting and close race.” More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Kenan Sofuoglu and Andrew Pitt will both start from the front row for tomorrow’s second round 2009 World Supersport championship race at the Losail circuit in Qatar. Pole position was taken by British rider, Cal Crutchlow, from another Honda rider, Eugene Laverty. The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda riders set the third and fourth fastest times respectively in this afternoon’s 45-minute second qualifying session at the 5.38km circuit near Qatar’s capital, Doha. Reigning World Supersport champion, Pitt, has been concentrating on fine tuning the set-up of his Honda CBR600RR, meanwhile, despite a crash in both free practice this morning and during the latter stages of qualifying, his team-mate, Sofuoglu, remains confident of challenging for a podium place during tomorrow’s 18-lap race. Kenan Sofuoglu P3, 2’01.810s On the way into turn four this afternoon, I had a slide and a very big highside. The bike hit me after, so it is quite painful. Apart from this problem, I am very happy with the bike and the way my crew has been working so hard. We have very good race pace and I am starting from the front row, which is so important. I will be going out to win tomorrow, or to finish on the podium at least. Andrew Pitt P4, 2’02.266s I’m happy enough with the front row because race day is normally when we pull it all together. We’ve still got a few small improvements to look for to make it easier to do the lap times, but all in all I’m happy with today. I was ready to go for a faster lap towards the end but there were a few slower riders waiting for me and, by the time I’d shaken them, the clock was gone. Ronald ten Kate team manager We’re very happy to have both riders on the front row, which is always our main objective in qualifying. Kenan had quite a big crash trying to grab pole position but luckily there are no major injuries. The lap-by-lap times suggest a very tight battle in tomorrow’s race but, if we can resolve some small issues, we’re confident of fighting for two podium finishes. More, from a press release issued by Team YZF Yamaha: Quicker time for Doni Tata Pradita Young Doni Tata Pradita from Indonesia was faster today than he was yesterday. This is positive, even if it is still possible for him to improve his lap times. Doni did the 28th time in 2’05.234, which is 3.648 from the pole position. He is not very much at ease here on this track. He learned it before on a 250 cc when he was racing the Grand Prix but the Yamaha R6 he is using this year is a 4 cylinder 600 cc 4 stroke on Pirelli tyres, compared with the Grand Prix machine, a 2 cylinder 250 cc 2 stroke machine on Dunlop tyres. So it takes some time to get adjusted to this new equipment and this new championship, and it must be remembered that this is only the second race of the season. Another Yamaha was on pole position with the British rider Cal Crutchlow, in front of the Hondas of Eugene Laverty, Kenan Sofuoglu and reigning World Champion Andrew Pitt. Doni Tata Pradita: “It was not too easy. I don’t like this track. I don’t like the right hand curves and there are many on this circuit. I was quicker than yesterday, but not enough. I will try to improve during the warm up on Saturday. We will check the bike tomorrow morning. One of the problems I have with this circuit is the triple right hand curve, in which after the second curve I don’t have enough speed. For the moment, I am not so happy.” Martial Garcia (team-manager): “Doni keeps on learning. It’s better and better all the time. Here our rider did not find the right set-up to express himself, especially in two places of the track where it is difficult for him to make the bike accelerate appropriately. His time today was faster than on Thursday and there is still some room for improvement. We think that during the warm up session he will have the opportunity to solve some of the problems he still has in some curves.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Fujiwara Qualifies Top Kawasaki Rider WSS, Losail, Qatar, 13 March 2009 Katsuaki Fujiwara worked hard at a warm Losail circuit to qualify 13th for the World Supersport race, setting a personal best lap time that took him just 1.2 seconds away from pole. Joan Lascorz placed his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R machine 15th on the time sheets, after being unable to improve on his first day qualifying best time today. Fujiwara put his improvement down to concentrating his efforts on a single machine, rather than jumping between his two available bikes. Lascorz was frustrated to not make improvements in pace today despite doing a lot of work on his suspension settings, particularly the rebound damping. He relied on his best time from Thursday’s first qualifying session to earn his final grid placing. Fujiwara and Lascorz will each start the 18-lap race from the fourth row of the grid, with fair weather predicted to grace raceday as it has during both days of practice and qualifying. Katsuaki Fujiwara: “We made real improvements today, about 1.5 seconds better than yesterday, by concentrating on one machine and working on that machine only. For the race I think we have tyres to suit our settings, and if the track temperature allows it I would like to use a softer tyre rather than a harder one. Our lap times were very close but I was faster than Joan today and that is very important for my confidence. So I am quite happy, we just need to improve some more, step-by-step.” Joan Lascorz: “We were OK to start yesterday but we could not find the settings we needed in the suspension today to make the improvements we wanted. That meant it was not possible to reduce our lap time in final qualifying. Now practice is finished to we will try to make a good start tomorrow and make a strong pace on full race settings.” More, from a press release issued by ParkinGo Triumph BE1 Racing: The second qualifying session in Doha, Qatar brings satisfaction to the ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing team as Gianluca Nannelli sets seventh time while Garry McCoy finishes in ninth position giving both riders a boost in confidence. The work done on the cycle part yesterday and today should help the machines’ performance as well, especially in bumping and barging situations. GIANLUCA NANNELLI | Triumph Daytona 675 | 7th in 2’02.497: “We’ve done a great job and the bike feels good on the brakes now and when entering the corner as well. The second row is pretty satisfactory, I just hope to have a great race and would love to score Triumph’s best ever result in the WSS”. GARRY McCOY | Triumph Daytona 675 | 9th in 2’02.634: “I’ve done this session all by myself and managed to improve yesterday’s time. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish an entire lap properly and just missed row two. In the third part of the session I’ve always found some slower riders on my trajectory during the warm-up laps, after setting first two rows split times in the early part of the session. However, I’m confident I can do well, my pace is very good and the cycle part has gotten better. In tomorrow’s warm-up I just have to change the clutch which is not regular at the moment in order to avoid braking issues”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Crutchlow takes first Yamaha World Supersport pole position of 2009 World Supersport rookie Cal Crutchlow took the first Yamaha pole position of the 2009 World Supersport Championship today with an impressive time of 2″01.586. Crutchlow proved to be consistently fast, continuing from yesterday’s qualifying session where he again led the field. Crutchlow’s team-mate Fabien Foret, still recovering from a shoulder injury sustained at the previous round in Phillip Island, also put in an impressive performance with a 5th best qualifying time of 2″02.282 and starts on the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s race. Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team “it was good today, I’m happy enough. I think if we can continue that pace for tomorrow we’ll be pleased. It’s going to be a really close race though and there’s no massive advantage, everybody is still close behind. I think there’s going to be six or seven of us fighting for the front pack positions. It’s really exciting again for me to race my first race round Losail setting off from pole position, which is a great boost although only a small advantage!” Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team “I’m not very happy with my day, we tried some different scenarios and tried some different set-ups and they did not improve very much. My shoulder is much better today though so that’s good! Tomorrow the race day will be different, I feel confident to fight for the podium with the rest of the faster guys so we will see.” Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager “We are pleased with what we have done today, not only lap-time wise but also result-wise and feeling-wise with the riders. Cal is very happy with the package, his race tire choices are sorted and we feel we are ready for it. It’s his first pole so it’s important for him to have a good start and set the pace directly. For Fabien the day was slightly less satisfying, he improved over half a second, but then struggled a little bit in the last qualifying session when he changed the front tire which was not so good. He did find the pace again and kept up but unfortunately he ran into back markers so it slowed him down. He is generally happy with the end of the practice and overall we know what to do tomorrow morning before we start racing.”