FIM Superbike World Championship Magny-Cours, France October 1, 2010 Qualifying Session One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Lorenzo LANZI, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:38.856 2. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (Ducati 1098F10), 1:38.927 3. Max BIAGGI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:38.972 4. Luca SCASSA, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:39.000 5. Cal CRUTCHLOW, Great Britain (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:39.058, crash 6. Noriyuki HAGA, Japan (Ducati 1098F10), 1:39.091, crash 7. Troy CORSER, Australia (BMW S1000RR), 1:39.119 8. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Ducati 1098R), 1:39.138 9. Tom SYKES, Great Britain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:39.207 10. Leon HASLAM, Great Britain (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:39.238 11. Jakub SMRZ, Czech Republic (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:39.260 12. James TOSELAND, Great Britain (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:39.360, crash 13. Shane BYRNE, Great Britain (Ducati 1098R), 1:39.370 14. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:39.431 15. Jonathan REA, Great Britain (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:39.454 16. Ruben XAUS, Spain (BMW S1000RR), 1:39.566 17. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Germany (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:40.704 18. Matteo BAIOCCO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:41.488 19. Ian LOWRY, Great Britain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:41.651 20. Roger HAYDEN, USA (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:41.669, crash 21. Fabrizio LAI, Italy (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:41.881 More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Crutchlow and Toseland complete eventful first qualifying in Magny Cours Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland wrapped up an eventful first qualifying session at Magny Cours today in fifth and 12th respectively. Both riders crashed during the session, Crutchlow at the first hairpin and Toseland at the last chicane. Both were uninjured and continued on second bikes, Crutchlow ending the session in fifth just three tenths off pole, Toseland in 12th, just half a second off the top of the time sheet. The top 15 riders of the first qualifying session were all within 0.6 of a second, promising close action in tomorrow’s Superpole heats. Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (5th, 1’39.058) “An eventful afternoon’s qualifying session, I had a stupid crash which was my own fault at the start of the session, I ran the softer tyre which I didn’t really like and ran into the corner too hot at the hairpin and lost the front. We had a couple of issues to sort then I went back out and went faster and faster every lap to get fifth at the end. I’m confident for the weekend, I think podiums are on the cards. I really want to get a win this weekend before the season is out.” James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (12th, 1’39.360) “It’s been a pretty good day in the end. I had a crash at the last chicane which put us back because we had a different set up on the bikes and we didn’t have time to change the other set up for the spare bike so it wasn’t working as well as the number one bike on this circuit. To say we’re only half a second off considering this is pretty good. I think once we’ve got the bike fixed and made a few changes I’m pretty confident we’re going to be up at the front.” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager “The two crashes we had today have obviously compromised the qualifying session a bit, fortunately both riders were uninjured and able to carry on. We had a couple of technical issues as well to solve, but for both riders to be within half a second of provisional pole on the first day is ok. We have one more day to improve the bike set up and we will do our best tonight to be better for the morning and ready for Superpole.” More, from a press release issued by Alitalia Aprilia: The weekend starts off on the right foot for World SBK Champion Max Biaggi. Third place time of the day for him, a first step toward the double rider-manufacturer championship for the Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team. Magny Cours, 1 October 2010 In spite of the discouraging forecasts, not a single drop of rain fell to disrupt the Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team’s work on the French Magny Cours circuit. The last weekend of the 2010 Superbike season could very well bring Aprilia the manufacturer title after Max Biaggi’s coronation in the rider championship: so it is very important to make a decisive mark right from the first practice sessions. The clock smiles on the five-time champion, even though he is bothered by a touch of the flu which keeps him from feeling up to his usual perfect condition. The third place time of 1’38.972 is just a tenth of a second slower than the leader, Lanzi, but more importantly, Max’s times are very consistent and confirm the Roman champion’s feeling on the French track with his RSV4. All hopes are concentrated on the weather now, both for tomorrow’s Superpole and for the races on Sunday. A dry track could facilitate yet another shining result for the Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team in this 2010 season. The five-time champion, Max Biaggi does not hide his physical problems: “In spite of the times, which are very good, I’m worried about this flu. I was able to express myself the way I wanted to on the track, but I’m getting off the bike very, very tired. Overall we have found a good setup. The only thing left to do now is fine tune it tomorrow and hope for good weather. Then, if I can just wake up tomorrow feeling better physically, that would be the best, since we still have another goal to reach, the cherry on the top which is the Manufacturer title. It would be the just reward for the team and for all of Aprilia after the celebration of my rider victory in the Italian bedlam of Imola.” More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: FABRIZIO (DUCATI XEROX) SECURES PROVISIONAL PLACE ON FRONT ROW FOR SUNDAY’S RACES AT MAGNY-COURS Magny-Cours (France), Friday 1st October: the two Ducati Xerox riders Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga were protagonists during the first day of Superbike action on the French circuit of Magny-Cours, closing first qualifying in second and sixth position respectively. There is an important element of the team missing this weekend, as technical director Marco Lozej unfortunately suffered an ankle injury after an enduro accident the day before departure. The role of race engineer for Michel is covered on this occasion by Ernesto Marinelli. In the early afternoon’s free practice session, both factory riders began their campaigns in convincing fashion, especially Michel who, having made constant progress during the 60 minutes available, was the fastest on track by the close of the session. His final lap of 1m39.1 placed him at the top of the timesheets, three tenths of a second faster than his team-mate Noriyuki who closed in fifth. Later, in the first qualifying session, the Ducati Xerox pair continued in a similar vein. Roman rider Michel clocked up some impressive lap times, maintaining constant pace with a run of times in the low 1m39s and a best lap of 1m38.9 which put him in second position overall. Fabrizio is looking for podium finishes this weekend; his best result in France until now was a fourth place finish in race 1 last season. Japanese rider Noriyuki has had a great deal of success at the French track in recent years and today’s performance bodes well for Sunday’s races. Fast from the start, he dominated the first half of the hour-long session, before a crash caused him to lose valuable time. Taking more than ten minutes to return to the garage after losing the front of his 1198 at turn 8, Noriyuki went straight back out on track on his second bike but unfortunately ran out of time, unable to improve on his best time set earlier. He therefore concluded the session in sixth position, less than one tenth of a second slower than Michel. Close competition saw the first sixteen Superbike riders close first qualifying within seven tenths of a second of each other. Michel Fabrizio 1m38.9 “We’ve made a good start. We still have some work to do Tomorrow, to see if we can further improve traction and the feeling I have with the front but I’m happy with what we’ve got done and with the progress I’ve made. I’d like to finish top three on Sunday I’ve never been on the podium here and I’m feeling fairly confident for now.” Noriyuki Haga 1m39.0 “It’s just a pity I feel because I lost a lot of time in getting back to the garage and then there were only a few minutes left. I’m feeling pretty confident though; this is a track that I like a lot and where I’ve done well in the past. I’d say that, despite the crash, we have worked well, starting from last year’s base. If we can improve the level of traction a little, I think we can run two strong races on Sunday.” More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Late season flourish continues for Lanzi At one of his favourite circuits Lorenzo Lanzi (DFX Corse Ducati) headed up the first qualifying session in France, with a 1’38.856 lap set in dry conditions. Lanzi is a former winner at this circuit, and was a podium man last time out in Imola. In a session where the top 16 riders were within 0.710 seconds of each other, Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) was second quickest, new champion Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) third, and Luca Scassa (Supersonic Ducati) was another fast privateer on good form – like Lanzi – setting a 1’39 flat to go fourth on the overnight grid. The provisional front row was filled by four Italian riders on four Italian machines, in what was an intense day of practice and qualifying all round. Behind the leading four, double Silverstone winner Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) was fast once again, multiple Magny-Cours winner Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) was sixth, with the official BMW Motorrad Motorsport machine of Troy Corser seventh. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) was a firm eighth, looking for more wins as he attempts to take third place in the final rankings. After two good rounds in Germany and Italy, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) looks set to make it three in a row, going ninth today in first qualifying, one place ahead of Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare). Jakub Smrz (Pata B&G Aprilia) headed up James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda). Toseland was one of four fallers in the session, alongside Crutchlow, Haga and Hayden. On Saturday one more qualifying period and then the Superpole sessions remain to determine the final grid positions at the last round of the 2010 season. Times: 1.Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’38.856; 2.Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’38.927; 3.Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’38.972; 4.Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’39.000; 5.Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’39.058; 6. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1’39.091; 7.Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’39.119; 8.Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’39.138; 9.Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’39.207; 10.Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’39.238; 11.Smrz J. (CZE) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’39.260; 12.Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’39.360; 13.Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1’39.370; 14.Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’39.431; 15. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’39.454; 16.Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1’39.566; World Supersport Katsuaki Fujiwara (Provec Motocard.com Kawasaki) was fastest rider in the WSS first qualifying session, starting a finishing well to keep points’ leader Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) behind him in a tight contest. Local star man Fabien Foret (Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki) was a confident third fastest, ParkinGO BE-1 Triumph rider David Salom fourth after a fast late charge. Championship challenger Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) started the weekend fifth fastest. Gino Rea (Intermoto Czech Honda) was sixth and Imola race winner Michele Pirro (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), seventh. Times: 1.Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’41.872; 2.Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1’41.949; 3.Foret F. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’42.006; 4.Salom D. (ESP) Triumph Daytona 675 1’42.091; 5.Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1’42.229; 6.Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1.240; 7.Pirro M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’42.424; 8.Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’42.467; Superstock 1000 The impetus of a home race took Sylvain Barrier (Garnier Junior Team BMW) to the lead in the first Superstock qualifying sector, in a session ended a minute early due to a red flag being shown. David Giugliano (Team06 Suzuki) was second, Maxime Berger, from the Ten Kate Race Junior Honda Team, was third and fourth came early leader Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italy Superstock) fell and had to pit with much of the session left to run. Times: 1.Barrier S. (FRA) BMW S1000 RR 1’41.697; 2.Giugliano D. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 1’42.127; 3.Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1’42.206; 4.Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’42.454; 5. Millet J. (FRA) BMW S1000 RR 1’42.600; 6.Baroni L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’42.657; 7.Antonelli A. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1’42.942; 8.Petrucci D. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’42.946; Superstock 600 Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Racing Yamaha) dipped under the 1’45 barrier at Magny-Cours to take provisional pole, his 1’44.979 second lap enough to keep another French rider Stephane Egea (Team ASPI Yamaha) second. Davide Fanelli (All Service System by QDP Honda) was a close third. Romain Lanusse (MRS Racing Yamaha) completed the Friday top four, with three French riders in the top few places. Berardino Lombardi (Martini Corse Yamaha) and Josh Elliot (Kawasaki Racedays Kawasaki) were top six runners also. Times: 1.Guarnoni J. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’44.979; 2.Egea S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’45.151; 3.Fanelli D. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’45.279; 4.Lanusse R. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’45.364; 5.Lombardi B. (ITA)Yamaha YZF R6 1’45.380; 6.Elliott J. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’45.794; 7.Metcher J. (AUS) Yamaha YZF R6 1’45.820; 8.Calero Perez N. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 1’46.297; More, from a press release issued by Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: Rea defies pain in Magny-Cours Jonathan Rea was cleared fit to ride in the final World Superbike championship round of 2010 here at Magny-Cours today and, despite injuries to his wrist and shoulder posted a qualifying time only 0.5s off the provisional pole time of Lorenzo Lanzi. The 23-year-old Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider crashed during last weekend’s round at Imola in Italy and flew home to the UK for a diagnosis on his injuries. Rea is booked in for an operation on his wrist on Tuesday, but was determined to take part in the final race of the season. Despite setting the 15th fastest time today, Rea and his crew are confident that changes to his Honda CBR1000RR will allow him to improve both his lap time and position in tomorrow’s qualifying and Superpole sessions. Rea’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Max Neukirchner, set the 17th fastest time today after difficulties in setting up his machine for the 4.411km Magny-Cours circuit, but is determined to imp rove tomorrow. Jonathan Rea P15 1’35.454s Well, I’m happy that I’m riding because the medical staff here were a little unsure about passing me fit this morning. I didn’t have a great day and ended up 15th but the times are so close like half a second between me and pole and we arrived here with a bike that was a lot different from last year. So we’re going to try and find something halfway between where we are now and where we were last year. Tomorrow, for sure, we’ll cure the change of direction problem that is quite difficult with my shoulder and wrist at the moment. The bike’s a lot longer and we’ve got some changes that’ll make it easier to ride the bike. There are a lot of people I have to thank for getting me out there today it’s good to finish the season at the last round rather than one race early. I’ll give it a big bunch of heart tomorrow and go out to see what we can do. Max Neukirchner strong> P17 1’40.704s I did a longer run this afternoon but my lap time is not so good. When we put in new tyres to try and improve the time, the front tyre was too soft and I was not able to push hard enough. We’ll change a few things tomorrow morning and hope that allows us improves things. I also need to work on my lines through one or two corners where I am spending too long with the bike leant over and not opening the throttle soon enough. So, although 17th looks quite bad, I am positive about improving the position tomorrow. Ronald ten Kate team manager Well, it’s been a bit of a roller-coaster since Jonathan’s injury last weekend at Imola and when we arrived here, we weren’t even sure he would be able to ride. However, he was declared fit and even though we’re a long way off in position, we’re not that far off with the lap times, so I’ve got to take my hat off to him for that performance in his current condition. We’ll give him a better bike tomorrow for sure and hope that he can go even better. Max seems to be suffering from similar problems, so we’ll look again at the data and see if there are any areas that we can improve things for him, too. More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: Magny-Cours, 1st October 2010 the first two sessions of the final round of the 2010 World Superbike Championship took place today at the French circuit of Magny-Cours. After last weekend’s fantastic results in front of home crowds at Imola, Team Althea Racing will aim to replicate that performance, this time on French soil. Carlos Checa, having dominated Imola’s event to achieve two spectacular race wins, registered the eighth fastest time today (1m39.138) and secured a provisional place on the second row of Sunday’s grid. Competition was extremely close, with sixteen riders all within eight tenths of a second of each other, meaning that Sunday’s two races are sure to be both hard-fought and entertaining, in true Superbike style. Tomorrow, Spanish rider Carlos will continue to refine his Ducati ahead of race day and, weather permitting, will aim to improve his grid position. “We are all very close today in terms of times”, said Carlos. “I really like the track even though I’ve struggled a bit through the fast chicanes and slow corners, particularly exiting the corners. Tomorrow we’ll try to improve the situation and I’m feeling very confident, because we’ll already on the right path as far as tyres are concerned. I just hope it won’t rain because that would force us to reassess.” Shane Byrne also put in a promising performance. The Althea Racing rider registered the thirteenth fastest time, just half a second behind leader Lanzi and in the afternoon, thanks also to his technicians’ hard work, he bounced back from a difficult situation. “Normally I push hard for two or three laps as soon as I get on track and, if I can get into the top three, it means I can then relax a little and work calmly for the rest of the session. That didn’t work this morning and it conditioned my session. In the afternoon I wasn’t able to make that early clean lap either and so I chose to come back to the garage and recharge the batteries. This worked in my favour because, when I went back out, I was able to make some great lap times. I’m really happy because we’ve worked really well and I’m sure we can improve tomorrow too. The team has been fantastic once again.” Tomorrow second qualifying kicks off at 10.45 before Superpole, scheduled for 15.00. On Sunday, the two races get underway at 12.00 and 15.30. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Alstare: WORK TO BE DONE, BUT TIMES CLOSE. Team Suzuki Alstare riders Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli know that there’s more to be done after they ended the first day of qualifying at Magny-Cours with the 10th and 14th quickest lap times. Leon’s tenth place was just over three tenths of a second off pole and Sylvain is half a second adrift on a day that saw the top sixteen riders separated by lees than a second. Italian Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) set the day’s quickest lap in qualifying, with a time of 1:38.856, with Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) second and Max Biaggi (Aprilia) third. Leon – 10th, 1:39.238 It was just one of those close lap times days and really there’s all to play for tomorrow. Basically though, today was not so bad and I am happy with the changes the team made from practice to qualifying. We made some adjustments to the gearing and now we need to work on some grip issues because that’s where we were suffering. We need some more time on softer tyres so that we can work out which tyres we’ll use for the races and we need to get the right set-up. The times are close and really there’s only one split where I’m losing time and that could even be just one corner! So, if we can improve, we’re going to be in the hunt for sure. Sylvain – 14th, 1:39.431 Today was quite good for a Friday, for me! Often my Fridays are not so good and I spend the rest of the weekend playing catch-up, but today was better than usual. I’m only half a second down on pole, but fourteenth on the grid, so you can see that the times are very close – just like they have been all year! I’ve got some issues with rear grip, but sometimes that’s to do with the track being a bit ‘green’ on the opening day. All season we’ve been having some problems with grip when the track is ‘green’ and hasn’t got much rubber down. Tomorrow, we’ll try a few different things on both bikes and see if we can find some more rear grip and what works best. More, from a press release issued by Team PATA/B&G Racing: Jakub Smz started well the last World Superbike round of the season, held at Magny-Cours. The fast rider from the Czech Republic put on another strong performance to repeat what he had already shown at Imola, in the seat of his Aprilia, but focused his attention on preparing the race. Smrz found a good feeling with the bike and was among the four fastest riders today for the most part of both practice and the first qualifying session. Later on, while the others were going for the speed with new tyres on, he resumed session with used ones,in order to gather precious information for the technicians and improve the set-up. Smrz confirmed he has what it takes to repeat the Imola performance tomorrow and then battle for the top slots in race as well. Lorenzo Baroni did well too, setting the sixth fastest time at the end of the first qualifying session of World Superstock 1000. JAKUB SMRZ | Aprilia RSV4 | 11th in 1’39.260: “I have a good feeling with the bike and now everything is easier. Once I had virtually qualified for Superpole, I preferred focusing on the race. There are still a few things to be improved, but most of the work is done. My goal for Superpole is to get a starting position within the first two rows, while in the practice session I will be preparing for the two races”. LORENZO BARONI | Ducati 1098R | 6th in 1’42.657: “I didn’t make a perfect lap today, but I found a good feeling with both bike and track. I’ll try to repeat myself tomorrow, at the same time focusing on the race, but I first need to know how the bike will react with used tyres on”. More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: Last round of the Superbike World Championship and the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup at Magny Cours in France. In Superbike Matteo Baiocco set the nineteenth fastest time (1’42″110) in today’s morning free practice, while Roger Lee Hayden obtained the twentieth position (1’42″698). In the afternoon qualifying session Hayden crashed a few minutes before the end of the session, confirming his morning twentieth place (1’42″669). Team-mate Baiocco improved his own free practice lap time (1’41″488) reaching the eighteenth place. Both Pedercini team riders reached a provisional place in tomorrow’s Superpole. Superbike free practice : 1) Fabrizio (Ducati) 2) Xaus (BMW) – 3) Crutchlow (Yamaha) – 4) Smrz (Aprilia) – 5) Haga (Ducati) “¦.. 19) Baiocco (Kawasaki) – 20) Hayden (Kawasaki) Superbike qualifying 1 : 1) Lanzi (Ducati) – 2) Fabrizio (Ducati) – 3) Biaggi (Aprilia) 4) Scassa (Ducati) 5) Crutchlow (Yamaha) “¦.. 18) Baiocco (Kawasaki) “¦”¦ 20) Hayden (Kawasaki) Matteo Baiocco :”This morning I worked a lot with my team trying to find the right set up for my Kawasaki on this technical circuit. This afternoon I found very soon a good feeling with my bike and I was able to reach the eighteenth final position. Tomorrow I hope to improve again my best lap time and to enter the Superpole”. Roger Lee Hayden :”Today was not too bad. I struggled with some grip problems on my rear tyre and unfortunately I crashed during afternoon qualifying session, fortunately without any physical consequences. I spent the morning free practice to learn this new circuit and I now liked it. Hopefully tomorrow we can improve a little bit more again”. More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY HAPPY ENOUGH WITH SEVENTH ON DAY ONE Although the morning practice session witnessed a few problems, Troy and the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team managed to improve the bike for the afternoon session and Troy was able to post the seventh fastest time of the day in first qualifying. The changes the team made allowed Troy to push his S 1000 RR harder and, at the end of the day, he was just over two tenths of a second off provisional pole. Italian Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) set the day’s quickest lap, with a time of 1:38.856, with Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) second and Max Biaggi (Aprilia) third. Troy -7th, 1:39.119 The track felt acceptable from more or less the start of the day and that was good because quite often tracks are a bit greasy on the opening day of a weekend. My bike is a missile here and I think it’s probably the fastest thing out there! Now we just need to get it out of corners quickly by improving the grip, lessen the wheelspin and we’ll be flying. We made a good step from practice to qualifying and I’m happy that the changes the team made were in the right direction. We’ll sit down, look at all the data this evening and see what further improvements can be made tomorrow.