Aprilia's Max Biaggi seems to be coming to grips with the new RSV4. The Italian was fastest on opening day.
Practice and first qualifying for Round 3 of the Hannspree Superbike World Championship at Valencia is in the books and Factory Aprilia rider Max Biaggi is at the top of the time sheets. Max is no stranger to the Spanish course having found himself on pole twice during his MotoGP career and finishing runner-up in Race 2 back in ’06.
A mere two-tenths behind the feisty Italian is rookie sensation Ben Spies on the Factory Yamaha R1. The American ace has stormed out of the gate and is sitting 10-points behind championship leader Noriyuki Haga after winning three of the first four races of the season.
Ben Spies (1'34.907): "It was a good day for us, in the first session we ran into some problems and we were unable to finish the session but in the second
Ben Spies - 2nd: "The Ducati's have always statistically been the better bikes round here, so our goal is to stay with them and look for our opportunity, if we can be strong at this track we can be strong anywhere. Right now our bike is working really well, but we can still make improvements and make it better for the race."
session we were really good. I think we've found our race set-up and race tires already so we're now just going to continue to make the bike better. I think it's going to be a really good track for the bike, everybody's definitely a little bit closer here, our goal for sure is just to stay with all the other bikes and see how we get on."
Haga rounds out the top three qualifiers aboard the Xerox Ducati. Only the top three circulated the track below the 1’35-mark. The Japanese rider was on place ahead of his teammate Michel Fabrizio. Haga won the second race here in ’08 and will need to continue to ride consistent if he is going to match the blistering pace set by Spies in the past two rounds.
Noriyuki Haga (1'34.908): “Today has gone well. I did two good long-runs on different tyres and am satisfied with the results, we can choose which tire we want to use for the race. Tomorrow we’ll try a different setting to try to improve through the corners and make things smoother, also saving the tires somewhat. My lap times have been very consistent all day and we’ve had no real problems.”
Yamaha's Tom Sykes finished teh first day in fifth position despite suffering a crash earlier in the day. The young rider continues to progress as he comes to grips with his superbike-spec R1.
"Over all for me it was a good day," explained Sykes. "We started off a little bit slower in the first session but again thanks to the team we've come back this afternoon and tried a couple of things with the suspension and straight away I felt a lot more at home, especially with the heavy braking areas . At the end of the session we tried some new tyres and straight away I was doing low 35's, and I feel confident we could have got into the 34's. I had a small crash at the end, totally my mistake. I was going into turn two and I tried using a different gear. On the exit it was working really well but unfortunately I had less engine braking on the way in so I just overloaded the front a little and at this pace that little bit is enough go down. On a positive note it was something that we can identify, it was my fault and not the bike, we've got a really good base setting and can go into tomorrow looking to make even more improvements."
Kagayama paid a high price to get the honor of visiting the Spanish medical staff at Valencia on Friday.
Yukio Kagayama - 8th: "I began today with the same set-up as in Qatar and Australia and the feeling was not so bad. My bike had some rear-end chattering, so we will make some adjustments tomorrow to see if we can cure the problem. Unfortunately I had a big crash this afternoon at turn eight. It was a big high-side and everything would've been OK, but the bike ran me over and hurt my back; one thigh and a finger. I went out again, on the spare bike, and managed to put in some good lap times, but when I had been off the bike for an hour or so, I was sore! Hopefully, I will be OK tomorrow because I want to do well in Superpole."
MotoGP refugee John Hopkins makes his World Superbike debut this weekend. The American qualified 18th on his
Michel Fabrizio - 4th: “I would say that for the moment things are under control. We’ve got the race pace and although I was lacking a certain level of grip at the front, I’m quite happy with my times and with the feeling I have on the bike. Towards the end of the last session we found a rear solution that I liked but I hope to make further improvement tomorrow.”
Stiggy Racing CBR1000RR and will be aiming to improve that position in qualifying and Superpole tomorrow afternoon. Historically Hopper has only a single top 10 result at Valencia back in ’07, finishing third behind Pedrosa and eventual GP champion Casey Stoner. Hopkins is barely a second off the pace in what amounts to his first-ever superbike ride. Remember theat he moved from the US to MotoGP shortly after claiming the AMA Superstock title so he literally has no experience riding modern open-class motorcycles (Not counting the 4-stroke MotoGP machines).
Troy Corser - 13th: "After the long flyaway, I watched the videotapes of Phillip Island and Qatar and tried to understand what was happening on the bike in the races and see if I could come up with some ideas to make improvements. So instead of starting with the set-up from either of the first two races, we began the first practice with a completely new set-up. And guess what? It worked! We changed the geometry of the bike a bit and used some different offsets and the bike felt better almost straightaway. For me, the bike is now turning a bit better and it didn’t take me long to go half a second faster than when we tested here at the end of January. Now we’ll keep on making small adjustments and see how much we can improve but, for the first day, I’m pretty happy."
Notable no-show in the top-20 was BMW’s Ruben Xaus. Racing on his home track has produced mixed results for the enigmatic Spaniard. Having won here in ’07 and visited the box in both races in ’03 shows he can be fast when the stars align. But his four DNFs in twelve races surmise his racing career. Win-it-or-bin-it is Ruben’s way. He was 23rd fastest this afternoon.
"I found today hard because Valencia is a completely different type of race track to Phillip Island and Qatar," explains Factory BMW Superbike racer Ruben Xaus. "Both those tracks flow well, but Valencia is much more of a ‘stop and go’ track and my bike is not working the way I want it just yet. I just need time to work with the bike and my mechanics to get the bike more comfortable for me to ride. At the moment, it is
just a question of time, that’s all."
Provisional Superbike Qualifying Results:
1. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'34.775
2. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'34.907
3. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'34.908
4. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'35.243
5. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'35.270
6. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'35.278
7. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'35.285
8. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'35.316
9. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.328
10. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.372
11. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'35.416
12. Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'35.489
13. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'35.516
14. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.535
15. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.541
16. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'35.662
17. Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 1'35.755
18. Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.868
19. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'36.051
20. Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'36.086
Provisional Supersport Qualifying Results:
1. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'36.672
2. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1'37.343
3. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'37.701
4. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1'37.834
5. Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'37.864
6. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1'37.893
7. Pirro M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'37.971
8. West A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1'38.055
9. Veneman B. (NED) Suzuki GSX-R600 1'38.197
10. Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1'38.421
