American Ben Spies once again shows em' how it's done in South Africa. The Yamaha rider remains undefeated in Superpole this season.
World Superbike rookie, Ben Spies took his sixth consecutive Superpole victory in Kyalami, South Africa during Round 6 of the 2009 HANNspree World Superbike Championship. Spies now ties the all-time consecutive Superpole victory record with former World Superbike champion Doug Polen.
“It was a good Superpole session for us, although it hasn’t all gone well, said Spies. "After qualifying we had to look in the mirror and get our stuff together but we’ve been improving the bike all weekend and I got down to some very fast times on race tires. I had both qualifiers for the last Superpole but they had so much grip that they were definitely changing the bike and I never could nail one lap but luckily we were able to get it today. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good to get the six in a row. I think we have a very good package but it’ll be a very tough race and for sure there’ll be a lot of sliding around tomorrow.”
Second fastest was Xerox Ducati’s Michel Fabrizio who was just one-one-thousandth of a second behind the American pilot.
“I really thought I’d taken the pole but unfortunately Ben beat me by a thousandth of a second," said Fabrizio, fresh off his first career win at Monza last weekend. "In any case I’m really happy with the way things are going this weekend. I’ve got a good race pace, let’s see if we can do a couple of good races tomorrow."
Kyalami track veterans Max Biaggi also managed to secure a front row starting position aboard his Aprilia RSV4 motorcycle as did Fabrizio’s teammate Noriyuki Haga.
"It’s good to be back on the front row again," commented Biaggi. "In the qualifying we’ve been running comfortably at a good pace. When we put soft rubber on, things were coming better but we had to solve some real problems and that made the chattering high."
Xerox Ducati's Michel Fabrizio narrowly missed out on his first career Superpole victory at Kyalami by just one one-thousandth of a second.
The second row will be led by another World Superbike rookie, Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea. Next to him will be Guandalini Ducati’s Jakub Smrz, Rea’s teammate Carlos Checa and the remaining factory Yamaha YZF-R1 of Tom Sykes.
The four riders who were eliminated in the first Superpole session and will be making up the third row during Sunday’s two Superbike races are Aprilia’s Shinya Nakona, followed by Stiggy Honda’s Leon Haslam and South African privateer and Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R rider Sheridan Morais who finished one position ahead of the Ten Kate Honda’s Ryuichi Kiyonari.
Rider Quotes:
Noriyuki Haga – Xerox Ducati – 4th
"We’ve spent the day trying to solve the same issues that we suffered from yesterday, as the bike is still causing me problems on the uneven track surface. We still have more work to do in order to be competitive for the races. I managed to do some good laps in Superpole but these were on a qualifier of course which is totally different. Anyway overall I am happy to be on the front row and I hope my arm doesn’t hinder my performance too much over race distance.”
Tom Sykes – Yamaha 8th
"I struggled a bit yesterday but we made some big changes overnight and got a lot quicker today. I was really happy towards the end of qualifying, we found a few more tenths which made a difference. Superpole was good and I'm happy to have made it through to the third heat. There have been a couple of riders who have been up there all weekend and they're now on the third row so second is good for me to start from. I should get a good start and am looking to be consistent. There'll be a big drop off in race tires so it'll be a case of seeing who can hold on till the end. Overall it is blue skies here so let's have some fun in south Africa!"
Yukio Kagayama – Alstare Suzuki Brux - 13th
"In both Superpole one and two, I did not get a good feeling with either of my two Q tires and so my lap times were not so good. But I am happy with my bike set-up for the race and confident that I can fight with the top guys if I can make two good starts. I have only tested at this track once before and have never raced here, so the first start tomorrow will be a new experience for me and very interesting. I hope for two good starts and two good results and that is what I will fight for.
Ruben Xaus – BMW – 15th
I am really disappointed because only one tenth of a second or so was the margin between getting into Superpole 3 or not. I really believe I could’ve got into Superpole 3 had it not been for getting held up by Biaggi and Nakano. The time lost there was enough for me to lose one tenth of a second and a place on the second row of the grid. Instead, it’s another start from row four and a lot of work to do at the beginning of the race. But, I am happy because today my lap time is three seconds faster than when we tested here in December. Today the bike was awesome and I am sure I could go faster with harder tires. But that’s not possible at the moment, so I just have to get on with whatever I get.
Fonsi Nieto – Alstare Suzuki Brux - 21st
"Each time I go out on the bike, the feeling is better but I have a lot to learn in not much time. We have improved a lot since yesterday and I think it was bad luck to miss getting into Superpole by just one place. This track is new to me and I do not like it because it is so bumpy. That makes it harder work finding a good bike set-up. I am not happy with my grid position, but I am happy because I am getting more and more used to the bike."
World Superbike Kyalami Superpole Results:
1. Ben Spies, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1'37.288
2. Michel Fabrizio, Ducati 1098R, 1'37.289
3. Max Biaggi, Aprilia RSV4, 1'37.466
4. Noriyuki Haga, Ducati 1098R, 1'37.544
5. Jonathan Rea, Honda CBR1000RR, 1'37.634
6. Jakub Smrz, Ducati 1098R, 1'36.677
7. Carlos Checa, Honda CBR1000RR, 1'37.940
8. Tom Sykes, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1'38.241
9. Shinya Nakano, Aprilia RSV4, 1'37.935
10. Leon Haslam, Honda CBR1000RR, 1'37.988
11. Sheridan Morais, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1'38.013
12. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda CBR1000RR, 1'38.081
