FIM Superbike World Championship Portimao, Portugal October 23, 2009 Qualifying Session One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Jonathan REA (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:43.786 2. Jakub SMRZ (Ducati 1098R), 1:43.866 3. Ben SPIES (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:43.870 4. Carlos CHECA (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:43.945 5. Shane BYRNE (Ducati 1098R), 1:43.947 6. Fonsi NIETO (Ducati 1098R), 1:44.005 7. Michel FABRIZIO (Ducati 1098R), 1:44.154 8. Max BIAGGI (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:44.210 9. Noriyuki HAGA (Ducati 1098R), 1:44.254 10. Leon HASLAM (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:44.324 11. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:44.674 12. Ruben XAUS (BMW S1000 RR), 1:44.822 13. Troy CORSER (BMW S1000 RR), 1:44.830 14. Broc PARKES (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:44.963 15. Makoto TAMADA (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:44.977 16. Luca SCASSA (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:45.077 17. Matthieu LAGRIVE (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:45.133 18. Tom SYKES (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:45.239 19. Leon CAMIER (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:45.333 20. Matteo BAIOCCO (Ducati 1098R), 1:45.345 21. David SALOM (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:45.390 22. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:45.508 23. Ryuichi KIYONARI (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:45.676 24. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:46.512 25. David CHECA (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:46.775 26. Roland RESCH (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:47.961 More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea earned himself a provisional front row start by setting the fastest time in today’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s title-deciding World Superbike championship finale at Portimao in Portugal. Rea lapped the 4.92km circuit in a time of 1’43.786s one thousandth of a second under Troy Bayliss’s 2008 lap record while title rivals Ben Spies and Noriyuki Haga set the third and ninth fastest times respectively in this afternoon’s hour-long qualifying session. Carlos Checa also took a provisional front row start by setting the fourth fastest time with a lap of 1’43.945s. The Spaniard is confident of further improvement in tomorrow morning’s second qualifying session, to be followed by Superpole at 14.00h local time to determine final grid positions for Sunday’s two 22-lap races. Jonathan Rea P1, 1’43.786s That was a good first day and we’ve found a good balance with the bike. We’ve been trying to put some distance on race tyres and we only used three tyres today. I’m finding more confidence on the bike each time I go out and the team is working really well. We’re not getting ahead of ourselves though, and know that we need to go out and attack tomorrow, just like we did today. This is quite a technical track and I felt like I really gelled with it for the first time during that session. That’s not all down to me, but also to the hard work the team has been putting in recently. Carlos Checa P4, 1’43.945s It seems that we have a base setting that works really well at places like Brno, Nurburgring and here, while it is more critical at other tracks like Imola and Magny-Cours. Here, we are again on the pace, even though there are still some areas we need to work on. Today, I tested both bikes and the two tyre options and, although the setting’s were quite different, the lap times were similar. We will try to push for tomorrow and make some longer runs on the tyres, but I think we are already nearly ready. Ronald ten Kate team manager That was a very good start to the weekend and it’s easy to see now the progress and improvements that have been made to the Honda CBR1000RR during this year, since the pre-season tests at Portimao, where the unique layout makes it such a joy for the riders. Having two bikes on the provisional front row is testimony to the hard work that the riders and their crews have been putting in during the year. There is still some more work to do, of course, and we will start to put that in this evening to see where we can make some improvements for tomorrow. More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Rea goes quickest, Spies faster than Haga in Q1 at Portimao Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) set the quickest time in today’s opening qualifying session at the Portimao circuit in Portugal. The Northern Ireland youngster grabbed the provisional pole from Jakub Smrz in the final stages of the session, with a time of 1 minute 43.786 seconds, eight-hundredths faster than the Guandalini Ducati man. Third quickest time went to Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) who was four tenths quicker than his title rival Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), only ninth fastest. The provisional front row was completed by Rea’s team-mate Carlos Checa, while the first two slots on the next row went to Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) and Fonsi Nieto (Ducati DFX) in an overall result that saw the private Ducatis lap quicker than the factory machines. Seventh place in fact went to Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), just four-hundredths ahead of fellow Italian Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing). Things looked positive in Suzuki Alstare, with Yukio Kagayama up amongst the front-runners for much of the session and Sylvain Guintoli less than one second away from his team-mate on his WSB debut. The two BMWs of Ruben Xaus and Troy Corser were twelfth and thirteenth respectively, with the two Kawasakis of Broc Parkes and Makoto Tamada making up the top 15. Times: 1. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’43.786; 2. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’43.866; 3. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’43.870; 4. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1’43.945; 5. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1’43.947; 6. Nieto F. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’44.005; 7. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’44.154; 8. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’44.210; 9. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1’44.254; 10. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’44.324; 11. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1’44.674; 12. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1’44.822; 13. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’44.830; 14. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’44.963; 15. Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’44.977; 16. Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’45.077 Supersport Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was quickest in Friday’s Supersport free practice session, the Turkish rider going to the top of the timesheets right at the very end with a time of 1 minute 45.355 seconds. The two contenders for this year’s title, Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) and Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) were right behind, with the opening salvo going to the points leader, just a fraction ahead of his rival. Mark Aitchison (Honda Althea) was fourth quickest and the only other rider to lap under the 1’46″ mark. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com) was fifth quickest, ahead of Garry McCoy, who took a competitive Triumph to sixth. Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport) and Miguel Praia (Parkalgar Honda) were next up, the Portuguese rider going particularly well at his home track. Times: 1. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1’45.355; 2. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1’45.652; 3. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1’45.727; 4. Aitchison M. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1’45.863; 5. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’46.069; 6. McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 1’46.464; 7. Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’46.473; 8. Praia M. (POR) Honda CBR600RR 1’46.597 Superstock 1000 The opening free practice session saw two riders hit the top, newly-crowned champion Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox) and Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda). Both men exchanged a sequence of fastest laps throughout the session, the Belgian getting the better over his French rival in the final stages with a time of 1 minute 47.588 seconds over Berger’s 1’47.642. The rest of the field were over one second off the pace, with seven riders in the space of half-a-second. Third quickest was Frenchman Sylvain Barrier (Garnier Yamaha), followed by Austrian René Mahr (TKR Suzuki). Javi Fores (Kawasaki Pedercini) was also well up in fifth, ahead of Claudio Corti (Suzuki Alstare), who is fighting to hold on to the runner-up slot this weekend. Times: 1. Simeon X. (BEL) Ducati 1098R 1’47.588; 2. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1’47.642; 3. Barrier S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’48.814; 4. Mähr R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1’48.856; 5. Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’48.999; 6. Corti C. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1’49.016; 7. Lammert D. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1’49.068; 8. Barragan S. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1’49.111 Superstock 600 Italian riders took the top three places in the opening free practice session for the final round of the European Superstock 600 Championship, but the title challengers were some distance away from each other. Best time went to Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Trasimeno), with Eddi La Marra (Honda Lorini) three-tenths off the pace. Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno) was over one second behind, Vincent Lonbois (MTM Yamaha) 1. 6″ and points leader Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda) almost 2.5″ behind in sixth. Frenchman Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Yamaha) was just ahead of Rea in fifth, while Magny-Cours winner Florian Marino (Race Junior Honda) again went well with eighth quickest time. Times: 1. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’48.464; 2. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’48.704; 3. Petrucci D. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’49.575; 4. Lonbois V. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 1’50.032; 5. Guarnoni J. (FRA)Yamaha YZF R6 1’50.297; 6. Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1’50.852; 7. Morelli N. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’51.130; 8. Marino F. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1’51.215 More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: THE SEASON FINALE OPENS AT PORTIMAO; FABRIZIO SEVENTH AND HAGA NINTH IN FIRST QUALIFYING Portimao (Portugal), Friday 23rd October 2009: the 2009 World Superbike Championship finale opened today under clear, sunny skies at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao, the duel between championship title contenders Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) and Ben Spies (Yamaha) getting underway with a closely fought first qualifying session. Michel Fabrizio, already assured of third place in the final championship standings, closed qualifying in seventh position, with Noriyuki in ninth; both riders are confident ahead of Sunday’s showdown. In the opening free practice session of this weekend’s season finale, championship contender Noriyuki Haga immediately demonstrated his determination by putting himself at the top of the timesheets early on in the session. He remained consistently fast throughout the hour, and was the only rider to complete several laps in under 1m45, including a fastest lap of 1m44.9s registered during a mini long-run. His quickest lap left him in second position overall when privateer Ducati rider Smrz made a flying lap in the latter stages of the practice. Team-mate Michel Fabrizio worked to improve rear grip and overall feeling with his Ducati 1198 and although he closed in eighth position, he was only two tenths of a second off Noriyuki’s pace. Later in the day and on a hotter track (38°C) with respect to the morning, both factory Ducati riders worked with their technicians to improve both grip and absorption over the uneven track surface. Both Noriyuki and Michel were lapping with consistently fast times but, with the first ten riders all within half a second of each other, the Ducati Xerox men closed this closely fought first qualifying session in seventh (Michel) and ninth place (Noriyuki), Michel just a tenth of a second faster than his Japanese team-mate. The Ducati 1198 machines in the hands of Smrz (Guandalini Racing), Byrne (Team Sterilgarda) and Nieto (DFX Corse) also demonstrated their potential today, closing in second, fifth and sixth position respectively. Michel Fabrizio 1m44.1s “For now I’d say we have things under control. Today we worked mainly with the hard tyres to improve feeling on the track surface. I don’t yet have total faith in the front of the bike and the asphalt was not in the best condition, which meant I couldn’t really push as hard as I wanted to. Tomorrow we’ll make some more changes, testing some different tyres and hopefully I’ll be able to improve significantly on my time.” Noriyuki Haga 1m44.2s “The lap times today were faster than those recorded during testing earlier this year. In general we haven’t had any real problems but we are working to find the optimal setting and we’ll continue this work tomorrow. I would like to find more grip but apart from that I am pretty confident, I know we are fast and that we can be very competitive here.” TIMES: 1. Rea (Honda) 1m43.7s; 2. Smrz (Ducati) 1m43.8s; 3. Spies (Yamaha) 1m43.8s; 4. Checa (Honda) 1m43.9s; 5. Byrne (Ducati) 1m43.9s; 6. Nieto (Ducati) 1m44.0s; 7. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m44.1s; 8. Biaggi (Aprilia) 1m44.2s; 9. Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1m44.2s; 10. Haslam (Honda) 1m44.3s More, from a press release issued by Team Sterilgarda: Shane Byrne confirmed the good performance displayed in the January testing at Portimao, when he had set the quickest time, finishing fifth in session 1 of qualifying practice today. It is a result that Shakey hopes to repeat tomorrow as well, when the starting grid will be determined in the Superpole. His goal will therefore be to qualify in the front row and hopefully score a great result to end the season. SHANE BYRNE | Ducati 1098R | 5th in 1’43.947: “We worked on two different bikes today. One had the same setup as in the January testing, the other bike had the one we used at Magny Cours. I had a better feeling with the latter though as I set a series of fast laps and I went really close to the quickest time. Unfortunately, when I put the soft tyre on, I was a bit slowed down by the riders in front of me. However, the time I set today wasn’t that important anyway, but it will be tomorrow. It’s crucial that we start in the front so that we don’t lose valuable time in the pack and the opportunity to score a great result, especially in the first laps”. More, from a press release issued by Aprilia: SBK: EIGHTH PLACE FOR BIAGGI, NINETEENTH FOR CAMIER A Spring-like day opened the final round of the 2009 SBK at Portimao. All eyes were on Haga and Spies who were still battling it out for the title, but it was Rea on theTen Kate Honda who achieved the best time of 1:43:786, with a advantage of 80 thousandths over Smrz and 84 thousandths over Spies on his Yamaha. It was eighth place for Max Biaggi with a time of 1:44:210 just 0:424 behind Rea. A problem with his RSV4 a few minutes after the end of the qualifying round complicated the Roman driver’s quest for the best race settings. Leon Camier finished in nineteenth place with a time of 1:45:333, replacing Shinya Nakana who is still recovering from his neck injury, here in Portugal once again after Magny Cours. The young English driver experienced an apprentice’s day trying to learn all of the secrets of the track in Lusitana and to improve his feeling with the RSV4. “Unfortunately, just fifteen minutes before the end of the warm-ups, the bike that I had been using all day had a little problem,” said Biaggi. “So during the last few minutes I had to use the second motorcycle with which I hadn’t even done one lap and it wasn’t ready. With respect to the last two races, we suffered from excessive vibrations going into the curve and this created quite a few problems for me. Now we’re working a lot to try to resolve these difficulties. I’ll have to drive it to try to find the best compromise to be the fastest possible starting tomorrow.” “We made very few changes today with respect to the last round,” said Camier. “This was to improve my feeling with the RSV4 and to learn the track well, which is quite technical in some parts. We are still a long ways off compared to the others, but tomorrow we have to make some big changes, especially with regard to the curves, where I tend to slip a lot.” More, from a press release Team Suzuki News Service: Team Suzuki Alstare riders Yukio Kagayama and new boy Sylvain Guintoli ended the first day of practice and qualifying at the Portimao World Superbike 14th round in Portugal with the 11th and 22nd fastest laps respectively. Kagayama suffered rear suspension problems, but is confident that he and the team will improve the bike tomorrow so that he can attack Superpole and be in a good position for Sunday’s races. For Guintoli, today was all about learning the bike, learning a new track and working with his new team. He worked hard in both sessions and is now looking forward to tomorrow and making significant progress. Jonathan Rea (Honda) set today’s fastest lap, with Jakub Smrz (Ducati) second, Ben Spies (Yamaha) third and Carlos Checa (Honda) fourth. Yukio Kagayama – 11th, 1:44.674: “Today was not so bad and I am a bit happy because the front suspension is working well and I am getting a lot of feedback from it. This means that I can push the front much harder and attack more. Now we have to do more on the rear because, at the moment, the feeling is not so good. We can improve this for sure, but we just need more kilometres. I tried a soft tyre at the end of qualifying today, but for me, the grip was no better than race rubber. I am a bit sad, because this weekend will be my last race with Suzuki Alstare and so I want to qualify well and say thank you to the team by ending with a good result.” Sylvain Guintoli – 22nd, 1:45.508: “Considering that today was my first time on this bike and my first time at this track, I am pretty happy with what we did. Although I raced a GSX-R1000 Suzuki in the British Superbike Championship this year, the Suzuki Alstare bike feels very different and that means I have to learn about it. Also, this was my first time at this track and I can tell you that it is a very technical track and very demanding. On TV, you don’t get a true impression about the elevation changes and this track is a real roller-coaster! I am happy because I think we found a good base set-up today and I am very happy about how well I have got on with this new team. Already I feel part of it and this makes it easy to look forward to tomorrow and making further progress.” Friday WSB Qualifying: 1 Rea (GBR-Honda) 1:43.786, 2 Smrz (CZE-Ducati) 1:43.866, 3 Spies (USA-Yamaha) 1:43.870, 4 C Checa (ESP-Honda) 1:43.945, 5 Byrne (GBR-Ducati) 1:43.947, 6 Nieto (ESP-Ducati) 1:44.005. 11 Yukio Kagayama (JPN-Suzuki Alstare) 1:44.674. 22 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Suzuki Alstare) 1:45.508. More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: UNLUCKY 13TH FOR TROY ON DAY ONE Troy suffered grip problems in practice and timed qualifying today and ended with the 13th quickest time. He tried both bikes and a variety of settings, but still didn’t find the grip he was expecting, so he and the team will have to sit down tonight, analyse all the data and make changes so that he can push harder tomorrow. Jonathan Rea (Honda) set today’s fastest lap, with Jakub Smrz (Ducati) second, Ben Spies (Yamaha) third and Carlos Checa (Honda) fourth. Troy – 13th, 1:44.830 Well, there’s not much to say today except that I didn’t have any grip! We tried both the bikes, different tyres and different settings, but the end result was the same – no grip. I had no forward push when I got on the throttle and so couldn’t lap any faster. I know we have some new settings and different spec engines here, so maybe these settings are giving us problems with the grip. We’ll look at all the info and make changes for tomorrow, but hopefully we’ll make good progress and be able to qualify high up in Superpole. More, from a press release issued by Stiggy Racing Honda: Stiggy Racing Honda´s sole rider Leon Haslam opened the first day at the ultimate round of the 2009 season at Portimao today in good shape by setting the fifth fastest lap time in free practice. In the afternoon qualifying session Leon managed to improve further on his previous fastest lap time but due to a technical problem in the ultimate minutes of the session Leon didn’t get a change to squeeze in any more laps. He finished in a provisional 10th place for Sunday’s races, with one more qualifying session and then Superpole taking place tomorrow. Leon Haslam -P10- 1’44.324s “We started off qualifying pretty strong, we changed both front and rear suspension settings and we went a bit wrong in the rear but then managed to get the front working in a better way. We put in reasonable times for four or five consecutive laps but unfortunately didn’t get many more as we ended up with some technical problems towards the end of the session. We have a good sense of direction for tomorrow and I’m only a few tenths off the quickest so I’m sure it will be good.” Johan Stigefelt – Team Manager: “A pretty decent day. We tested a couple of different things between our number one and number two bike. Leon seemed to like the direction of one of the bikes and we went in that direction, but unfortunately in qualifying we didn’t get so many laps in because we had a technical problem with one of the engines. So he had to stop early. The most important thing is that we know what settings we have to improve, so we should be OK for tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: 2009 Superbike World Championship Round 14, Portimao, Portugal Friday qualifying, 23rd October Circuit: 4.592 kms. Conditions: Dry, mostly sunny 21-25 C. STEADY START FOR TROY AND RUBEN ON DAY ONE. Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders Ruben Xaus and Troy Corser made a steady start on the opening day of qualifying at Portimao today. Ruben ended 12th fastest and Troy 13th, but both are confident of improvement tomorrow. They and the team will look at today’s data and then make adjustments to the bike in time for tomorrow morning’s timed qualifying session. Briton Jonathan Rea (Honda) set today’s fastest lap, with Jakub Smrz (Ducati) second, Ben Spies (Yamaha) third and Carlos Checa (Honda) fourth. Ruben – 12th, 1:44.822 Today is the first time this bike has been at this track, so I spent most of the time working with the bike and trying to find a good set-up. The team have made a few changes to the engine spec since the last race, so this was another thing for me to understand today. This track is very physical, so my body took a bit of battering, but I didn’t have any problems in and I don’t even notice any discomfort when I am on the bike. I am looking forward to tomorrow, understanding the bike better and making progress. Troy – 13th, 1:44.830 My biggest problems today was grip – or perhaps I should say, lack of grip. We made many changes to the bike but strangely, we didn’t find any differences and, at the end, I still didn’t have any grip. Maybe it’s to do with what the team have done to the bike recently and it’s just a case of looking at all the info and then making the necessary adjustments for tomorrow. Considering today’s problem with grip, 13th, on day one at a track the bike has never been to, is not so bad. Berti Hauser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director) Today’s finishing positions were not as good as we hoped for on the bikes with the new settings and engine specs. It seems that these particular settings are causing grip problems and that is something we will have to sort out for tomorrow. We’re working hard with Pirelli and they are giving us good support, so hopefully we’ll solve today’s problems and be higher up the order tomorrow. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Championship title contender Ben Spies got straight down to business today under a clear blue sky and brilliant Portuguese sunshine, spending both the free practice session and following first qualifying session re acquainting himself with the Portimao circuit. Spies spent the sessions working through different tyre options and race settings, looking for the optimum set up ahead of tomorrow’s second qualifying and following Superpole sessions. He showed a consistent pace throughout qualifying, before putting the hammer down as the final seconds ticked away to finish third in the standings, less than one tenth of a second off fastest man Rea. Team mate Tom Sykes had a less enjoyable day. The British rider showed true courage to work hard through both sessions despite suffering constant shoulder pain resulting from his collision with Carlos Checa in the second race at Magny Cours. Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (3rd, 1’43.870) “we had a good day today, we worked a lot on the race set up and evaluated a couple of different tyres. The package feels good and the bike feels good on the track, all we can do is keep trying to make it better and better and keep working on my riding and see what happens. The track is still a little green but it’s getting better.” Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (18th, 1’45.239) “it’s definitely not going to plan today. I’m upset for myself and for the team, I had very big expectations of this weekend especially as in the test I was running as fast as the front guys. I’m struggling a lot with the shoulder, it’s worse than I expected. I’m finding it hard but trying not to let the boys down so I’m going to the clinic tonight to see what the boyto s can come up with. I hope we can get stronger over the next couple of days.” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager “Ben is quite satisfied, he says the bike still needs some improvements in a couple of corners but he’s feeling confident. We are still working to find the right race tyre. Unfortunately Tom is in a lot of pain, I know how he feels because I had the same problem many years ago. We hope he can get some more help from the Clinica Mobile and will be able to improve tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda: Ten Kate Honda Racing’s Ryuichi Kiyonari has reluctantly been forced to withdraw from the final round of the 2009 World Superbike championship at Portimao in Portugal. The Japanese ace broke his right collarbone in race one at the previous round in Magny-Cours, France and returned home for an operation. It was the same collarbone that Kiyonari broke at the French circuit during a test last season. Despite a clamp keeping the bone stable, Kiyonari was in considerable pain during yesterday’s opening free practice and qualifying sessions, when he set a time of 1’45.676s at the 4.59km Portimao circuit. After further consultation with medical staff at the track, Kiyonari and his Ten Kate Honda Racing team decided that, for safety reasons, his continued participation in the final WSBK round was not possible. Ryuichi Kiyonari You can imagine that I am very disappointed to miss out on this final race of the season. I am especially sorry for my team, who have worked so hard this season. I would also like to apologise to Honda and the sponsors of the team. I wanted to race but, after I spoke with doctors and the team, we decided that it was not possible. It’s a shame to end the season this way but now I want to get my shoulder fixed so that I am fit again for next year. Ronald ten Kate team manager We all feel desperately sorry for Kiyonari-san who cannot be faulted for his commitment and desire to compete. This time, however, it was not possible because of pain from his shoulder and a general weakness in his right arm. Of course, it’s not the way that any of us would want to see his season finish, but the important thing is his shoulder is allowed time to heal properly, in its own time. The whole team sends its best wishes to Kiyo for a speedy recovery and return to fitness.