Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) took his ninth Superpole trophy of the year, one away from Doug Polen's 1991 record for Ducati, at the technical Brno circuit in the Czech Republic. The Texan's time of 1’58. 868 was the quickest seen all weekend, but still a second shy of the circuit best lap set by Troy Bayliss.
With four more chances to claim pole after Brno, Spies looks to be on his way to beating Doug Polen's Superpole record.
The Yamaha rider staved off strong times from Ducat Xerox’s Michel Fabrizio Aprilia’s Max Biaggi. The two Roman riders will be joined by Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Jonathan Rea to put four different manufacturers on the front row.
Ben Spies: “So far we’ve been good with the race set-up, and we found something in the second session this afternoon that made a big improvement on the race tires. That Superpole was good as well, I had a small problem in the last session, but my time was good enough to get the job done today. I’m in a strong position and the bike is good on the tires after a few laps, but I think it’s going to be tough against Michel and Max tomorrow.”
Michel Fabrizio: “Let’s hope well for tomorrow, both Ben and I are the guys who are doing well at the moment and we are both up at the front for the races. It’s a pity that Nori is not up with us at the front because he’s still got a few problems with his shoulder, but we’ve been making really good progress all weekend and I am looking forward to the races tomorrow.”
Biaggi has shown repeatedly that the new Aprilia is capable of clocking some of the fastest lap times in World Superbike.
“We are very pleased with this result, all weekend we have been fighting in the top 3. We’ve been testing here like a month or so ago, and we did a lot of work on the gearbox and the set-up and you can see the result. I’m not exactly where I want to be but I can override in some parts, but I’m pleased with the result, so a big thanks to all my crew.”
Jonathan Rea: “We’ve been struggling really all weekend. I put a soft qualifier on in the first session and in the second, and the bike wasn’t quite right, then I used a race tire in the third and was confident because I knew I could do the time on that one. It’s going to be a hard race for me as well, because I’ve only done one fast lap on the race tire and not too many consistent ones. The bike’s coming on in leaps and bounds since the start of the year, it’s a good period for me in racing and I’m enjoying life a lot!”
Ducati privateer Shane Byrne will be leading the second row on the grid for the start of the two 20 lap races on Sunday.
Perhaps the most front-page worthy news comes from the two BMW Motorrad riders, who have struggled in qualifying throughout the manufacturer’s debut year. Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus continued their Friday success and respectively placed their S1000RR machines in sixth and seventh in an exciting sign that the BMW crew may have made significant progress on the bike following the recent test sessions in Imola.
The BMW S1000R is starting to take flight.
"Well I think that I can finally say that I’m pretty happy with how these two days have gone. Throughout the practices and qualifying, everything has been pretty positive and we’ve found some good settings on the bike. The bike’s balance seems better and it is more consistent - especially on race tires. I feel I can actually ride the bike now and, when we make small changes, I can feel the changes - and that’s really good. Everything that has happened so far this weekend shows that we are going the right way and the good news is that the bike can get even better. Having Ruben next to me on the second row proves that our bikes have made a good step forward and now we can both look forward to fighting with the top guys right from the start."
Ruben Xaus: "Considering that I had some bike problems today and didn’t put in as many laps as I would’ve liked, it is pretty good to get into final Superpole and start tomorrow’s races from the second row of the grid. The fact that my teammate is on the same row (and next to me) shows us that we are going in the right direction with the bike. I am really happy for myself, but also for the whole team because I know how hard they have worked to get to this stage. Our recent tests were the first time we’ve been able to put everything together and now we are getting closer to a good package. All year, I have said that this is the best team in the paddock. I am so happy to be with them and hope we can get some good results tomorrow before everybody starts their well-deserved summer break."
Spies’ Yamaha Factory teammate Tom Sykes finishes out the second row in eighth place.
Lorenzo Lanzi (DFX Ducati) and Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) will start out the third row. Makoto Tamada will be the first Kawasaki rider off the line in 11th, with Czech rider Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) taking a disappointing 12th after a crash in the second Superpole round.
Yukio Kagayama, heading up the fourth row in 13th, will be the only Suzuki rider on the grid.
Haga will have a hard time holding onto the points lead when he starts from the fourth row on Sunday.
Pain from a recent shoulder injury prevented Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) from going any higher than 14th, in what is likely an ominous sign for retaining his championship lead in the face of stiff competition for Spies and Fabrizio.
Noriyuki Haga: “It’s not been easy, the pain is worse than yesterday. We made some changes overnight to the bike but to be honest they didn’t make much difference and the pain is constant, worse when braking. Before the free practice Doctor Corbascio gave me an injection to kill some of the pain in my shoulder but it was still hurting me during the Superpole. I pushed as hard as I could in the first two sessions but it wasn’t hard enough and I finished 14th. I’ll go back to the Clinica tomorrow morning to see what we can do before the races but I know that tomorrow will be tough.”
World Superbike Brno Superpole Results
1. Ben Spies (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1'58.868
2. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati 1098R), 1'58.950
3. Max Biaggi (Aprilia RSV4), 1'59.055
4. Jonathan Rea (Honda CBR1000RR), 1'59.740
5. Shane Byrne (Ducati 1098R), 1'59.787
6. Troy Corser (BMW S1000R), 2'00.046
7. Ruben Xaus (BMW S1000R), 2'00.096
Where is Spies putting all these things anyway?
8. Tom Sykes (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2'00.240
9. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati 1098R), 1'59.730*
10. Carlos Checa (Honda CBR1000RR), 1'59.748*
11. Makoto Tamada (Kawasaki ZX 10R), 1'59.873
12. Jakub Smrz (Ducati 1098R), 2'00.159*
13. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9), 2'00.223*
14. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati 1098R), 2'00.235*
15. Shinya Nakano (Aprilia RSV4), 2'00.262*
16. Matthieu Lagrive (Honda CBR1000RR), 2'00.498*
17. Leon Haslam (Honda CBR1000RR), 2'00.718**
18. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda CBR1000RR), 2'00.811**
19. Broc Parkes (Kawasaki Zx-10R), 2'03.819**
20. John Hopkins (Honda CBR1000RR), 2'14.727**
21. Fonsi Nieto(Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9), 2'01.510**
22. David Salom (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2'01.643**
23. Luca Scassa (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 2'01.816**
24. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Honda CBR1000RR), 2'02.346**
25. Alessandro Polita (Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9), 2'02.718**
26. David Checa (Yamaha YZF-R1), 2'02.785**
27. Roland Resch (Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9), 2'04.041**
28. Milos Cihak (Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9), 2'04.905**
(*) Failed to make it into Superpole 3
(**) Failed to make it into Superpole 2
Other World Superbike Brno Post-Qualifying Rider Quotes
Makoto Tamada - Kawasaki World Superbike - 11th, 1'59.873
“My hand is not causing me as much of a problem as I thought it would. At the last test I had arm pump but here it is OK, partly because there is not so much hard braking in some sections. We started with the settings we left the Imola test with and they were very good. The main difference and improvement has been the new swingarm; it is good and our suspension also. Now it is just difficult to make a race tyre choice. Yesterday in the heat the 'C' was batter bit today the 'A', so it depends on how things are tomorrow. If I can get away well off the line and stay with the leading riders, we can make two good races.”
Broc Parkes - Kawasaki World Superbike - 19th, 2'03.819
“We had a good day for the most part, and were top ten in each of the sessions before Superpole. The bike felt very good. I was on a hot lap in the first session of Superpole and just lost the front, so I didn’t get to put the right lap time down. I’m very disappointed to be where I am on the grid because of that. But the good thing is that our race pace is strong and if I can get off the line OK and pass a few people we should be OK. There are places to pass here and I’m positive because our race pace is good.”
