Yamaha's Ben Spies grabbed his third consecutive Superpole in Valencia Saturday.
Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) powered to his third Superpole position in three races at the Valencia track, the 24 year-old Texan once again proving to be the master of the new format. Spies, who had to switch to his second R1 machine in Superpole 2 after his first one developed a technical fault, set a record-breaking time of 1 minute 33.270 seconds, over half-a-second quicker than Neukirchner's best mark from last year. Flanking Spies on the front row will be a trio of Ducati 1098 machines, headed by the surprising Regis Laconi, who won on this track back in 1999 with a Yamaha 500. The two factory Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio are in third and fourth place respectively.
Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike): "I was a bit worried about having to change bikes, we had an OK second Superpole but coming in we had a problem with the bike and had to revert back to the other one. It had a bit of a different set-up and I didn't get to try it in the morning practice, but luckily the change worked out well."
Regis Laconi (Ducati DFX): "I'm very happy because the bike is working really good on this track and we are ready. I won my first race in GP ten years ago and it's just a pleasure to be up here one more time. A big thanks to DFX and Ducati for giving me a great bike. I have had a couple of difficult years but I am happy now that I am back on a Ducati"
Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox): "I'm very happy for the front row. In the weekend I find a good solution for the race and I've already decided for the tyre. And I am feeling confident, so tomorrow I will try to do my best and win twice and that is my target"
Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox): "I've come from two races where I haven't had very good results, but we found our way
Ducati's Michel Fabrizio managed a first row starting position despite his Superpole lap time being nearly a second slower than Spies.
already on the Friday and I'm hoping for two good results tomorrow. We made a change on the bike and the feeling is much better now, similar to what it was like in pre-season testing."
The second row sees a double pairing, with Suzuki ahead of Honda. Yukio Kagayama took fifth from Max Neukirchner, while Jonathan Rea was seventh ahead of Carlos Checa. The Spanish rider just managed to avoid being eliminated in Superpole 2, setting his best time despite a fall. Broc Parkes again put in a positive performance for Kawasaki, setting 13th quickest time on his ZX-10R machine, just ahead of the BMW of Troy Corser, who had been expecting to go better in Superpole after a positive qualifying session. Once again the first knock-out phase saw some illustrious victims with Tom Sykes (Yamaha World Superbike) and Max Biaggi (Aprilia), one of the quickest riders throughout the day, not making the cut. The other Aprilia rider Shinya Nakano missed the Superpole after breaking his left collarbone in a crash in the morning. He was operated on today with the aim of being ready for the next round at Assen.
Valencia World Superbike Superpole Results:
1. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'33.270
2. Regis Laconi (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'33.955
3. Noriyuki Haga (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'34.082
4. Michel Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'34.259
5. Yukio Kagayama (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'34.755
6. Max Neukirchner (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'34.903
7. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.056
8. Carlos Checa (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.346
9. Ryuichi Kiyonari (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'34.536
10. Leon Haslam (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'34.655
11. Jakub Smrz (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'34.684
12. Shane Byrne (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'34.742
13. Broc Parkes (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'34.824
14. Troy Corser (AUS) BMW S1000RR 1'34.863
15. Brendan Roberts (AUS) Ducati 1098R 1'35.082
16. John Hopkins (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.251
17. Tom Sykes (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'35.203
18. Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'35.204
19. Ruben Xaus (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'35.806
20. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'35.416
World Supersport
Supersport pole honours once again went to Cal Crutchlow on his factory Yamaha R6. In his debut season, the British rider powered to his second successive pole and was the only man under the 1'36" mark as he grabbed the top slot right at the end of the session. Crutchlow managed to prevent Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki) from taking the pole at his home circuit, last year's winner settling for second place, less than two-tenths behind his rival. Making up the front row was the first Honda, ridden by Anthony West (Stiggy Racing) and the second Kawasaki of Katsuaki Fujiwara. Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini) scored an impressive fifth place on the grid, the best of the Italians, and he was joined by Honda Althea's Mark Aitchison and Matthieu Lagrive, with Fabien Foret completing the Yamaha sandwich. Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's two champions Andrew Pitt and Kenan Sofuoglu failed to shine and both will start from row 3, the reigning champion ninth but with three crashes to his name in the session, while the Turkish rider failed to find the right pace. Qatar winner Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) could only manage the fourth row and will have his work cut out tomorrow to make much of an impression.
Valencia World Supersport Qualifying:
1. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R6 1'35.865
2. Joan Lascorz (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'36.033
3. Anthony West (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1'36.664
4. Katsuaki Fujiwara (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'36.754
5. Michele Pirro (ITA) Yamaha YZF-R6 1'36.812
6. Mark Aitchison (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1'36.910
7. Matthew Lagrive (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1'36.918
8. Fabian Foret (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'37.013
