FIM Superbike World Championship Monza, Italy May 6 Qualifying Session One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Leon HASLAM, Great Britain (BMW S1000RR), 1:42.934 2. Max BIAGGI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:42.953 3. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:43.265 4. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:43.276 5. Jonathan REA, Great Britain (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:43.321 6. Noriyuki HAGA, Japan (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:43.531 7. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:43.588 8. Troy CORSER, Australia (BMW S1000RR), 1:43.640 9. Maxime BERGER, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:43.679 10. Leon CAMIER, Great Britain (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:43.730, crash 11. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:43.762 12. Tom SYKES, Great Britain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:43.850 13. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Ducati 1098R), 1:43.861 14. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Ducati 1098R), 1:44.071 15. Joan LASCORZ, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:44.095 16. Ruben XAUS, Spain (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:44.232, crash 17. Jakub SMRZ, Czech Republic (Ducati 1098R), 1:44.401 18. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:44.922 19. James TOSELAND, Great Britain (BMW S1000RR), 1:44.989 20. Mark AITCHISON, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:45.356 21. Fabrizio LAI, Italy (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:46.964 More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: Monza Free Practice & Qualifying Practice 1. Friday, 06 May 2011. Weather conditions: Sunny, with scattered clouds in the afternoon. Temperature: Air: 24 26 °C, Track: 38 44 °C Number of riders participating: 22 from 13 teams Fastest lap Free Practice: Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) 1:43.712 min Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1:42.934 min Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport holds provisional pole position for the fourth round of the 2011 FIM Superbike World Championship at Monza (ITA). Works rider, Leon Haslam (GBR), set the fastest lap time in the first Qualifying Session, after being on top for most of the time. His team-mate, Troy Corser (AUS), qualified for the second row, finishing eighth, while he was second quickest in the morning. The BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team also had a good start to this weekend, which marks their first home round of the FIM Superbike World Championship. Italian rider Ayrton Badovini provisionally put his BMW S 1000 RR on the first row, occupying fourth after the first Qualifying Session. Leon Haslam: Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:44.303 min (P10)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:42.934 min (P1) “It was a very good day, and, of course, you are always happy when you are on top. I feel we have made a big step forward from Assen. Obviously we were always looking forward to Monza as Troy had a good result here last year. The biggest thing I am happy with is that I feel overall we have made a step forward with the bike with the way it is working. Now I am looking forward to tomorrow. We have a few areas where we need to progress, but we are a lot more consistent and I am really happy.” Troy Corser: Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:43.765 min (P2)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice: 1:43.640 min (P8) “I am not completely satisfied with today’s result. Although I am provisionally on the second row of the grid, I have the feeling the bike does not a hundred percent do what I want it to. Engine braking is still a little bit of an issue. This morning’s Free Practice session was pretty good, but the track temperature was a lot higher in the afternoon session. This affected the tyre and the way the bike works. We now have to analyse the data. Still, I am optimistic for tomorrow’s second Qualifying Session and Superpole Qualifying.” Rainer Bäumel (Head of Race Operations): “Today was even better than expected. We brought some new improvements, especially with regard to the mapping where we made quite a few changes. To be honest, I expected it to take longer to set up the bike for these improvements. Therefore I am very happy it works so well straight away. With Leon we obviously found the right direction. With Troy in the end we may have chosen a wrong set-up direction, so that is the reason he was not at the very front.” More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Haslam holds off record breaker Biaggi Monza (Italy), Friday 6 May 2011 – Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) snatched the top slot in the first qualifying session from local hero and double 2010 race winner Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia), despite Biaggi setting a new all-time best top speed of 332.5 km/h this afternoon. Haslam put in a superhuman effort on his last flying lap around Monza to take the provisional pole slot with a time of 1 minute 42.934 seconds. The gap between the two was just 0.019 seconds in favour of Haslam. Third fastest time went to Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team) who got the better of an impressive Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team), the 2010 Superstock 1000 champion entirely in tune with the Monza track on his privateer machine. Jonathan Rea followed up his strong morning form with fifth slot for Castrol Honda, while Noriyuki Haga did a good job for the PATA Racing Team Aprilia to get in front of Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team). Championship leader Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) for the moment is still off the pace of the frontrunners and is languishing down in 14th place. Troy Corser, Haslam’s team-mate, took his BMW to eighth place, while a man in his rookie season, Maxime Berger, was fastest Ducati rider on show on day one, in ninth place for the Supersonic Racing Team, only 0.745 seconds away from leader Haslam. Leon Camier rounded out the top ten on his Aprilia Alitalia vee-four. The top 13 riders were within the same second after the first qualifying session. Times: 1. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 1’42.934; 2. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’42.953; 3. Laverty E. (IRL) Yamaha YZF R1 1’43.265; 4. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’43.276; 5. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’43.321; 6. Haga N. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’43.531; 7. Melandri M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’43.588; 8. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’43.640; 9. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1’43.679; 10. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’43.730; 11. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’43.762; 12. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’43.850; 13. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1’43.861; 14. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’44.071; 15. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’44.095; 16. Xaus R. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1’44.232; etc. World Supersport Chaz Davies and Luca Scassa (Yamaha ParkinGO) dominated the first WSS qualifying session today, the Welshman getting the better of his Italian team-mate with a time of 1 minute 48.408 seconds. The two Yamaha men, who have had three out of three wins so far this year, headed up two Hondas CBR600RRs, the Step Racing version of Gino Rea and Florian Marino on the Hannspree Ten Kate machine. Broc Parkes was next up for the Kawasaki Motocard.com team in fifth with Roberto Tamburini (Bike Service Racing Team Yamaha) rounding out the top six. Sam Lowes (Parkalgar Honda) was an impressive seventh despite still recovering from a broken collarbone suffered at Assen in the previous round. Times: 1. Davies C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1’48.408; 2. Scassa L. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’48.513; 3. Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1’48.613; 4. Marino F. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1’49.156; 5. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’49.218; 6. Tamburini R. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’49.263; 7. Lowes S. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1’49.462; 8. Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’49.788; etc. Superstock 1000 Lorenzo Zanetti followed up his win in last weekend’s Italian domestic championship counter with provisional pole position for the BMW Motorrad Italia Superstock Team. The promising young Italian set a time of 1 minute 46.381 seconds to head his team-mate Sylvain Barrier and Danilo Petrucci of the Barni Racing Ducati team. The long list of Italians in the top 15 continued with Michele Magnoni (Baru Racing Team BMW) in fourth, Marco Bussolotti (Pedercini Kawasaki) in fifth, Lorenzo Baroni (Althea Racing Ducati) in seventh and Fabio Massei (Piellemoto BMW) in eighth, with Aussie Bryan Staring (Pedercini Kawasaki) splitting them in sixth. Times: 1. Zanetti L. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’46.381; 2. Barrier S. (FRA) BMW S1000 RR 1’46.588; 3. Petrucci D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’46.875; 4. 119 Magnoni M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’46.972; 5. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’47.013; 6. Staring B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’47.028; 7. Baroni L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’47.193; 8. Massei F. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’47.425; etc. Superstock 600 Frenchman Romain Lanusse (MRS Yamaha Racing France) took provisional pole in the Superstock 600 category, which has its race tomorrow at 6 pm. Lanusse was followed in the standings by five Italians: Giuliano Gregorini (RCGM Team), Dino Lombardi and Francesco Cocco (Martini Corse Yamaha), Riccardo Russo (Team Trasimeno Yamaha) and Christian Gamarino (GOELEVEN Kawasaki). The winner of the Assen opening round, Michael van der Mark (Ten Kate Junior Team Honda) at the moment lies down in 18th position. Times: 1. Lanusse R. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’51.859; 2. Gregorini G. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’51.983; 3. Lombardi D. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’52.225; 4. Cocco F. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’52.276; 5. Russo R. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’52.470; 6. Gamarino C. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’52.493; 7. Calero Perez N. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 1’52.719; 8. Day J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’52.774; etc. Matt Davies was quickest in the first free practice session for the second round of the European Junior Cup, the Australian youngster finishing three-tenths of a second ahead of Spain’s Miguel Aranda, and South African Daniel Teixiera, all riders on identical Kawasaki Ninja 250R machines. More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki: 2011 Superbike World Championship Round 4, Monza, Italy Friday qualifying, 6th May Circuit: 5.777 kms. Conditions: Dry, sunny/cloudy 24-26C (air), 38-45C (track) MICHEL JUST MISSES TOP TEN. Team Alstare Suzuki rider Michel Fabrizio just missed out on a top ten finish on the first day of qualifying at Monza today. He spent the two sessions working on his bike’s set-up and also tried some new Ohlins forks, so didn’t push hard on the unfamiliar material. Whereas many of his rivals used slipstreaming to set their fastest laps, Michel’s lap of 1:43.762 was completed without any assistance. Leon Haslam (BMW) posted the quickest lap in qualifying, with a time of 1:42.934. Second is Max Biaggi (Aprilia), with Eugene Laverty (Yamaha) third and Ayrton Badovini (BMW) fourth. Michel – 11th, 1:43.762 I am not happy, but I am not unhappy with how things went today. The first chicane’s profile has changed and now we enter and exit it much faster than before. Because of that we have to find new braking points for the entrance. When I crashed this morning, it was because I was going about six kilometres per hour faster than my previous lap and just lost the front end going in. I didn’t hurt myself at all, and the damage to the bike was mainly cosmetic – fairing, handlebars and footpeg, so there wasn’t too much work for my mechanics. This afternoon, we tried some new Ohlins forks and at the end my feeling about them is so-so. I need more time to understand them and get comfortable but, at the moment I can’t say if they are better or not. Tomorrow morning we will put the new forks on one bike and the old forks on the other and run back-to-back tests. Then we’ll decide which ones to continue to work with. Although I am eleventh, the times are pretty close and things will definitely change tomorrow. I am always happy to race in my home country and hope that tomorrow’s qualifying and Superpole go well and I get on the first two rows of the grid. More, from a press release issued by PATA Racing Team: Nitro Nori Haga closes the first qualifying day of the Superbike World Championship on Monza’s track gaining a provisional sixth place. A great result that confirm the fighting intentions of the japanese rider, that in front of the italian public is determined to goal for an excellent outcome. Haga today has worked on the bike general setting getting a satisfying upshot. Some work has to be done on the braking so to be more sharp during the turns-input. On this circuit is important get to start from the first positions, so Noriyuki will be focused on the Superpole trying to get a good placement among the first two rows and be able to immediately fit in the leading group, on a track where speeds can get over 330 km/h and where the fast-straights have a basic role. Noriyuki Haga – Aprilia RSV4R #41 – “To me, this year is like a debut on every track. The last season’s references don’t help me but race after race I can “play” with the bike better and better and fasten the stability work. I managed to get a good timing today but I still have to work on a few things and improve the braking, to avoid waste of time during the turns-input.” More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: A LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR CHECA AND THE ALTHEA RACING TEAM AT MONZA Monza (Italy), Friday 6th May 2011: Very warm conditions (25ËšC air temperature, 45ËšC track) for the World Superbikes at the historic Monza circuit today. In the first part of the morning’s free practice session Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) was immediately making some very fast lap times which took him to the top of the timesheets. Choosing to keep the same rear tyre for the entire session to better understand its lifespan, his lap times suffered in the later stages due to tyre wear. His fastest time remained that recorded early on the practice which left him in ninth position overall at the close of this initial session. Later in the day in first qualifying, Carlos and his technicians decided to lap with the softer tyre solution. Seeing that the times were not improving they understood that if conditions for the race are like they are today then the harder solution would be the way forward. Checa therefore made one final exit with the harder rubber and the times confirmed the theory. The Spanish rider closed today’s first qualifying session in fourteenth position. Carlos Checa “We clearly have some limitations with regard to top speed but there are also sections of the track where I am not riding at 100%. We need to understand why this is and work to resolve it tomorrow. Personally I would like to improve on last year’s Monza race results. I hope this is possible but it remains to be seen as to whether we can stick with the four cylinder bikes. To tell the truth I’m calm, I’m not thinking about what the others are doing, I just want to do my best.” More, from a press release issued by Alitalia Aprilia: ON THE FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE AT THE MONZA TRACK MAX BIAGGI PUTS THE SECOND FASTEST TIME ON THE BOARD AND SHOWS A GOOD PACE. POSITIVE SIGNS FOR LEON CAMIER AS WELL, STOPPED BY A FALL Monza, May 6th 2011 The Friday practice sessions do not fully represent the values on the field, since the teams use the first sessions to “take aim”, while the riders acquaint themselves with the track. In spite of this, the Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team can look forward optimistically to Saturday’s Superpole and the races on Sunday: Max Biaggi, reigning champion, put the second best time of the day on the boards at 1’42.953, only 19 thousandths of a second behind Haslam. His pace during a series of fast laps is also promising, despite the fact that the 25 laps he took during the afternoon session show just how focused the World Champion is on finding the best set-up. And so, the Biaggi-Aprilia duo is confirming their particular feeling with the Monza track and its fast sections, as is demonstrated by the 332.5 km/h (new category record) on the board today. “Choosing tyres and set-up – that’s the job that needs to be done, and it’s no small thing – stated Max Biaggi at the end of the practice sessions – I like this track. The feelings are positive, but we need to concentrate on these decisions. They say that we’re strong in terms of top speed, but nobody in this sport has ever won races on straight stretches and since the bike is always an eternal compromise, we need to find a general balance. Tyre wear will be a deciding factor in a race with such high averages and fast turns where the rubber will be under a lot of stress. We certainly can’t make drastic changes to the bike, but we need to fine tune a few details and then choose the best solutions and maybe even single out which is the best of the two bikes we have available to us.” Encouraging signs for Leon Camier as well, who stayed consistently among the leaders of the pack until a fall (without consequences) forced him to return to the pit. The English rider is staying focused and is firmly determined to confirm the progress he has shown in the last few races. “Not a completely bad result considering the difficult day we’ve had. A few technical issues and then a small mistake by me this afternoon has meant we’ve not managed to do that many laps, so to end top 10 is promising. We’ve not yet been able to see what we can do, so hopefully tomorrow will be trouble free and we can get on with the job!” More, from a press release issued by Castrol Honda: Rea fifth atMonza Jonathan Rea has a provisional second row starting position for Sunday’s two fourth round World Superbike championship races at Monza in Italy after setting the fifth fastest time in this afternoon’s opening qualifying session. Fellow Briton Leon Haslam snatched provisional pole late in the session at the ultra-fast 5.777km Monza circuit, while Rea’s Castrol Honda team-mate Ruben Xaus was 16th fastest today. Rea topped the timing sheets in this morning’s opening free practice session and the 24-year-old from Northern Ireland is confident in the potential of his Honda CBR1000RR to meet the demands of the historic Monza circuit in tomorrow’s Superpole qualifying session that will determine final grid positions for Sunday’s two 18-lap races. Jonathan Rea P5 I’m actually really happy because we’ve pinpointed our main problem and the guys think it’s should be pretty straightforward to get sorted. We haven’t got the balance right for the track here so there’s some more work to do there. Also we tried to improve the clutch set-up even more from Assen but that wasn’t actually a step forward, so we went back to what we had. I’m enjoying the track and I’ve been riding pretty much on my own today. Tomorrow I’ll try to ride with some other guys to experience the kind of slipstreaming we can expect on Sunday. The higher track temperature this afternoon allowed us to get the softer tyre working but we went out with the harder option to make sure all the bases are covered for the race. Ruben Xaus P16 The team is doing a great job but I’m having real problems stopping the bike. I’ve actually had the problem in earlier races this season but it’s a lot bigger here at Monza and you suffer more. I’m only braki ng with one finger, so maybe I can apply some more pressure, but I’ve been braking like that for 20 years! We’re not very far away from the top six and we have some ideas to try in the morning to change a little bit the balance and gearing of the bike. I think we can step up a bit tomorrow. Ronald ten Kate team manager With Jonathan we’re not far off, even though we certainly don’t have the perfect setting for him. However, everything is pointing in a very clear direction so we’ll build him something new for tomorrow around that. Ruben is having problems stopping the bike so we’re working on that but tomorrow we need some big changes so he can step up to where he can be. More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: First day of qualifying for Pedercini team riders at the historic “Autodromo Nazionale di Monza”. The team and riders are more motivated than ever as is one of three home races to feature on the 2011 calendar. Warm weather and a dry track surface for both Superstock and Superbike qualifying. In Superbike Rolfo and Aitchison started to adapt their Kawasaki Ninja ZX 10R to this very fast circuit. In the morning’s free practice Rolfo (1’45″944) reached the nineteenth position while team mate Aitchison (1’46″129) was right behind him in twentieth place. The Aussie rider crashed towards the middle of the session and was thus forced to complete the practice session with his second bike. In afternoon qualifying session both riders improved their best lap times. Rolfo (1’44″922) was eighteenth while Aitchison (1’45″356) confirmed his twentieth position. Superbike free practice: 1) Rea (Honda) 2) Corser (BMW) 3) Badovini (BMW) 4) Biaggi (Aprilia) “¦”¦”¦ 19) Rolfo (Kawasaki 20) Aitchison (Kawasaki) Superbike first qualifying : 1) Haslam (BMW) 2) Biaggi (Aprilia) 3) Laverty (Yamaha) 4) Badovini (BMW) “¦”¦”¦”¦ 18) Rolfo (Kawasaki “¦”¦. 20) Aitchison (Kawasaki) Mark Aitchison : “Today we have started our practices and qualifying in Monza. I hoped to gain the good feeling from Assen immediately although I found that our bike on this circuit was not working in the same way. I need to improve the balance of the bike under hard braking and for the entry to some corners, but I am confident my team will work hard tonight to resolve our problems. I look forward to getting back out there tomorrow”. Roberto Rolfo : “Today we made a lot of improvements with regard to our bike’s set up and in the qualifying session I was able to improve on my best lap time by more than one second. Unfortunately near to the end of the session when I was using the soft tyre I suffered a technical problem during my fastest laps. Now it is easier for me to enter the corners thanks to the work we have done this afternoon. Of course I’m not happy with eighteen position and tomorrow I want to improve on my lap times to enter the Superpole and to reach a good position on Sunday’s starting grid.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Positive First Qualifying for Yamaha World Superbike Team in Monza Yamaha World Superbike riders Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri got straight to work in this morning’s first practice and subsequent Qualifying sessions to provide a series of strong and consistently fast laps. Eugene Laverty was on flying form under the Italian sunshine in Monza completing this afternoon’s Qualifying session in third place, just three tenths of a second behind Haslam in first. After improving his position on the bike, providing further comfort and stability, the Irishman proceeded to focus on race pace and tyre wear before putting in a flying lap ahead of tomorrow’s Superpole. Team-mate Melandri was on equally reliable form. The Italian spent the duration of this morning’s session getting acquainted with the particularly fast track, which he hasn’t had the opportunity to ride since his brief encounter in 1996. Despite this unfamiliarity, the Italian showed constant progress throughout the two sessions, putting in his fastest lap at the end of the 23 laps completed, and finishing in seventh place. Eugene Laverty Yamaha World Superbike Team – 3rd, 1’43.265 “Today went well. I’m particularly happy with this afternoon’s Qualifying session. I did a race run and put in a series of consistent laps, which I am very satisfied with. I also managed to get in a fast lap time to ensure I make the cut for Superpole. Tomorrow we can concentrate on further improving the set up of the bike and I don’t have to worry about making the final 16.” Marco Melandri Yamaha World Superbike Team – 7th, 1’43.588 “Today was a very positive, yet difficult day. I’m relatively satisfied with the results but we still have quite a bit of work to do. We focused on the bike’s race set up this morning and tried the softer tyre combination with it this afternoon . There’s still plenty of room for improvement but we are on the right road. The team are working hard and let’s hope we can improve on the set-up and get better results tomorrow.” Andrea Dosoli – Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager “Both riders had a positive day today. I believe this was a good start to a weekend that’s very important to us , being the home race. Eugene and Marco focused mainly on the bike’s rear set-up. They both gathered some valuable data which the teams will evaluate and continue to work on this evening . I am satisfied overall, they were consistent throughout the sessions and also put in a flying lap. It’s important to be in a position to select a suitable race tyre tomorrow and we’ll see if the input we gathered from today’s sessions will provide better results ahead of second qualifying and Superpole sessions.”