FIM Supersport World Championship Motorland Aragon June 18 Final Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Broc PARKES, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:02.093 2. David SALOM, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:02.454 3. Sam LOWES, Great Britain (Honda CBR600RR), 2:02.708 4. Chaz DAVIES, Great Britain (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:03.058 5. Luca SCASSA, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:03.140 6. Massimo ROCCOLI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:03.441 7. Fabien FORET, France (Honda CBR600RR), 2:03.537 8. James ELLISON, Great Britain (Honda CBR600RR), 2:03.614 9. Robbin HARMS, Denmark (Honda CBR600RR), 2:03.799 10. Roberto TAMBURINI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:03.809 11. Florian MARINO, France (Honda CBR600RR), 2:03.821 12. Gino REA, Great Britain (Honda CBR600RR), 2:03.945 13. Vittorio IANNUZZO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 2:04.119 14. Alexander LUNDH, Sweden (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.613 15. Miguel PRAIA, Portugal (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.762 16. Pawel SZKOPEK, Poland (Honda CBR600RR), 2:04.838 17. Vittorio IVANOV, Ukraine (Honda CBR600RR), 2:05.596 18. Ondrej JEZEK, Czech Republic (Honda CBR600RR), 2:05.677 19. Ronan QUARMBY, South Africa (Triumph Daytona 675), 2:05.779 20. Luca MARCONI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R6), 2:05.841 More, from a press release issued by Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: Fabien Foret will start tomorrow’s sixth round World Supersport championship race at Motorland Aragon from the second row of the grid after setting the seventh fastest time in this afternoon’s final qualifying session. Pole position was take by series leader Broc Parkes, who tested at the 5.344km Spanish circuit with his team two weeks ago. Foret’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Florian Marino, was eleventh quickest this afternoon. It was a frustrating day for Foret but the Frenchman is confident that, as in the previous round at Misano in Italy, his crew will be able to identify the changes needed to run a consistently faster lap time. His compatriot and team-mate Marino is also looking to find the front-end feeling that he discovered yesterday, but was not there in today’s cooler temperatures. With the forecast for warmer weather tomorrow, the 18-year-old is looking to be running with the leading group in the 18-lap race. Fabien Foret P7, 2m03.537s It’s not the position we expected to be honest and it’s disappointing not to be on the front row. I hope tomorrow we can do another big jump to make the bike faster, more comfortable and consistent and I will make a similar jump myself. It’s a little like the situation last weekend at Misano, but we were able to do something for the race then. I liked the smaller tyre that we had last year, but we have to manage what we have, look at the data and try to find that extra half a second to be competitive. Florian Marino P11, 2m03.821s I’m very disappointed for the team because even though we improved the time by something like three seconds since the first session yesterday we have not improved the position. Every time I go faster, we need to change the setting again and, because we could not really test here before, I am always going faster. I am still learning the right lines and I want to push more on the brakes and the gas. I found a better feeling yesterday but with the extra pace today it’s gone again. We’ll work hard to find it again tomorrow and try to make a good start in the race and stay with the guys in front. Ronad ten Kate team manager: The changes we introduced yesterday worked because, looking at the times, we are closer to the front of the field. Unfortunately the positions have not improved, but we still have some ideas for tomorrow morning. The weekend so far shows a great resemblance to Misano, where we also didn’t qualify well. We put together a nice race pace last Sunday though and we’ll work hard to do that again tomorrow. We definitely need to find something for Fabien and Florian, who is struggling a little more. The progress we made yesterday stopped tod ay, so we need some last minute improvements there, too. More, from a press release issued by Parkalgar Honda: PARKALGAR HONDA’S Sam Lowes secured third place on the grid for tomorrow’s sixth round of the World Supersport Championship at Aragon in Spain and is confident he can compete for the race win. Miguel Praia on his Parkalgar Honda will start from 15th after improving his lap times. The race starts at 1330CET tomorrow, Sunday 19th June. Sam: “That is another good qualifying – I have been on the front row every race so far this season and I am pleased to keep that record. I need to get a good start but there is no doubt I can run with Parkes and Salom. We had a good long run today and our race set-up is very good. I am ready to fight for victory.” Miguel: “I improved my lap times and more importantly my feeling with my Parkalgar Honda. I am a little disappointed not to be on the third row but I always race better than qualify so will be looking for a good race tomorrow and to see how high up the results I can finish – I am feeling strong and ready to race.” Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: “It’s another good job by Sam, he is one of only three riders in the 2mins 2secs band and certainly has the pace over race distance to compete for the win. He had two small crashes today but is absolutely fine and we later found that there was a technical issue with a fork slider that we have now fixed. “Miguel is OK and is improving all the time. He is no stranger to starting around 15th position and always improves as the race goes on so we are looking for another decent points scoring finish in the race.” More, from a press release issued by Bogdanka PTR Honda: BOGDANKA PTR HONDA’S James Ellison found extra pace to score an eighth place start for tomorrow’s sixth round of the World Supersport Championship at Aragon in Spain and his lap times on race rubber make him a potential podium challenger. Pawel Szkopek took a near-best 16th place on the grid as he continues to show a rich vein of form and he will be looking to score points. Marcin Walkowiak will start from 24th on the grid in the Superstock 1000 class after slashing more than a second from his lap times yesterday. The World Supersport race starts at 1330CET tomorrow, Sunday 19th June. James: “I am not happy with eighth as I was fourth and faster in morning practice. For qualifying we tried a new front tyre and made slight adjustment to suspension and gearing and were immediately 2-secs off the pace. We went back to the original tyre but were still half a second off the morning pace. I tried another tyre and then got frustrated and failed to go faster. My ideal time is P5 and I would have been OK with that. I am happy with the consistency of lap times and need to get a good start – if I do then I am confident of a podium finish.” Pawel: “My best ever qualifying is 15th so I am pleased with 16th. It has been a good weekend so far and I want to get solid points in the race. My Bogdanka PTR Honda is very good and I am starting to understand it better and how best to go faster. I am happy and my Crew Chief Graeme is doing a good job – thank you.” Marcin: “We have made big improvements this weekend and I am much closer to the riders in front – my lap time is just 1-second from a points scoring position which is good. We will continue to work hard and make more improvements and my target for tomorrow is a top 20 finish.” Simon Buckmaster, Bogdanka PTR Honda Team Manager: “James has the potential to challenge for the podium in the race and needs to dig deep in order to do so. He has the bike and the ability and we will do all we can to get him there.” “Pawel is riding well and gaining in confidence and pace. He deserves 16th place on the grid and that is a platform for him to score points tomorrow – he just needs to keep his cool; these are long races and he must not do anything rash early in the race. “Well done to Marcin, he is gelling with his crew and has found a lot of speed. He now looks like he can genuinely challenge for the top 20 and that is a big step forward from where he was previously.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha ParkinGO Team: Chaz Davies and Luca Scassa will start tomorrow from 4th and 5th place respectively. The Yamaha ParkinGO riders haven’t changed their positions from yesterday provisional grid but they have done a step forward towards the race at the Spanish circuit. For the first time the Team won’t start as favourites at the green lights as after these two days of qualifying and free practices the bookmarkers give that place to the Kawasaki Team, Broc Parkes and David Salom. But it is known at the races that everything could happen and Davies and Scassa know perfectly how to give their maximum. Chaz Davies – Yamaha YZF R6 #7 – “We have improved a little bit from yesterday and the work done today have given us a good understanding on the set up for the race. Even though my lap time could have been better as at the end of the session when I was on my hot lap Szkopek has crashed in front of me and made me lost the chance to get a better position.” Luca Scassa – Yamaha YZF R6 #9 – “The team has done an excellent job today. I am confident that with a little more work tomorrow that we will try at the warm up we will be able to lap at a good pace and be close to the 2’02. It will be a tough race though where more than likely we could arrive altogether to the chequered flag.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Davies on Front Row in Aragon Yamaha ParkinGO rider Chaz Davies will start tomorrow’s race from the front row on the grid, in fourth place while his team-mate Luca Scassa sits just behind him on the second row in fifth. A difficult free practice session in the Spanish sunshine this morning saw both Yamaha ParkinGo riders go back to their initial chassis set ups based on the tests carried out just over a month ago. The afternoon’s second qualifying session was also problematic for Davies due to a chain issue he encountered on his out lap, causing him to lose valuable track time. Despite the less than perfect weekend so far the Brit successfully concluded a series of nine laps, securing a front row start ahead of tomorrow’s race day. Struggling with brake handling in this morning’s free practice, team-mate Luca Scassa made the most of the second qualifying session to test his basic YZF-R6 chassis set-up with the hope of finding a suitable race setting. Improving on lap times throughout the session, the Italian heads to tomorrow’s race confident to be able to bounce back and contend for a podium. Chaz Davies Yamaha ParkinGO Team – 4th, 2’03.058 “We have improved a little bit from yesterday and the work done today has given us a good understanding of the set up to use for the race. I was hoping to further improve my lap time at the end of the session but Szkopek crashed against me in the last hairpin preventing me from producing a faster lap. I’m happy to be starting on the front row and I’m confident I can be strong in the race.” Luca Scassa Yamaha ParkinGO Team – 5th, 2’03.140 “The Team has done an excellent job today. I am confident that with a little more work tomorrow in the morning’s warm up, I will find a good race pace and be where I want to be. It will be a tough race though, competitive to the very end with several riders battling to the chequered flag.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: 1-2 For Parkes And Salom In Motorland Qualifying WSS, Motorland Aragon, Spain, 18 June 2011 Championship leader Broc Parkes and his team-mate David Salom dominated qualifying at Aragon, with Parkes setting a new best lap of 2’02.093 and Salom finishing close behind on his own Ninja ZX-6R. The Provec Motocard.com team used the knowledge gained from a relatively recent test at Aragon to be in the leading mix from the very first session this weekend, with Parkes riding a wave of confidence that delivered him a first pole position in partnership with Kawasaki, and the 12th pole of his career. Broc has fallen twice in qualifying but his self-confidence and smart teamwork in the pits mean that he recovered from each with no harm done and he is fully prepared for Sunday’s 18-lap race. Broc is confident in his pace in both race and qualifying trim as he goes for back-to-back wins. Had Parks not been baulked in the final qualifying session, he may have set a time under the 2’02 barrier, such was his ability to deal with the blind corner entries and changes of elevation, as well as variations in track temperatures at this circuit new to the championship itself. The only close challenge Broc had after two qualifying sessions came from his team-mate David, who was second in qualifying at his ‘new’ home track. Salom ended up only 0.361 seconds from Broc, and 0.254 seconds ahead of third placed qualifier, Sam Lowes. Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki rider Massimo Roccoli also had a strong qualifying performance, going sixth on the grid, starting the race from the second row. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki) was also in the right half of the qualifying rankings, 13th from 29 riders. Broc Parkes: “We had a little bit in the bag, I think, and we were always going to put on that last new tyre. I had a couple of downs this weekend so I did not want to use the last tyre too early in the final session. Even on my best lap I had a little bit of traffic at the end so maybe we could have made a 2’01 lap time. Anyway, I am really happy to have pole and it’s the first one for Kawasaki and I together. I really enjoyed winning the pole but most of all we need to be there for the win tomorrow. The pace looks good for us but the race is 18-laps long, it is going to be hot, so it is will be another challenge tomorrow. There is one choice of rear tyre for all of us, I think. It is working pretty good and we think it is going to go the distance. Things look OK after qualifying.” David Salom: “Very good! I am very happy for the team with two riders in the first two positions. I think for tomorrow it will be a good race for us. The bike has been working well and we have a strong race pace. Our consistency has been the way we wanted it. I think we will all be using the same rear tyre as the rest and the team has done a great job during our tests here and then again in qualifying. It is also nice to be racing in Spain this weekend.” More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: World Supersport Broc Parkes (Kawasaki Motocard.com) booked his ticket for a repeat win after Misano tomorrow with another terrific performance in today’s World Supersport final qualifying session. The Australian’s time of 2 minutes 02.093 seconds, was almost four-tenths quicker than his Spanish team-mate, David Salom, who was also on form today. A fighting third place went to Britain’s Sam Lowes (Parkalgar Honda), while fellow-Brit Chaz Davies completed the front row for the Yamaha ParkinGO team. Erstwhile championship leader Luca Scassa (Yamaha ParkinGO) could only manage fifth place and a row 2 start, with Massimo Roccoli (Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki) grabbing sixth place in the final stages from Fabien Foret (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and James Ellison (Bogdanka PTR Honda). Times: 1. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’02.093; 2. Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’02.454; 3. Lowes S. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 2’02.708; 4. Davies C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 2’03.058; 5. Scassa L. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 2’03.140; 6. Roccoli M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’03.441; 7. Foret F. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.537; 8. Ellison J. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.614; etc.