Sterilgarda Yamaha's Ben Spies grabbed his 11th pole-position today in Portugal. Spies' record-setting feat leaves him in excellent position in his championship quest during tomorrow's final World Superbike round in Portimao. His chief rival, Xerox Ducati's Noriyukia Haga, didn't make the cut in Superpole 2 and will have to battle from the tenth spot on the grid. Sterilgarda Ducati's Shane Byrne posted the second-fastest lap with Haga's teammate, Michel Fabrizio in third.
Ben Spies took his 11th Superpole start, leaving him in prime position for Sunday's final showdown in Portimao.
Spies has put himself in a great position to claim the 2009 World Superbike championship title in his rookie season after winning the pole for Sunday's final two races of the season. The American posted his best lap at 1'42.412, almost a half a second quicker than Byrne.
Haga's teammate, Michel Fabrizio logged the third-fastest lap aboard his Xerox Ducati machine with Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's Jonathan Rea rounding out the front row.
Fellow Honda rider Leon Haslam will start in fifth-position on Row 2. The Brit will be joined by Aprilia's Max Biaggi and Ducati ace Fonsi Nieto. Taking the final spot on Row 2 is BMW's Troy Corser.
Ducati privateer Jakub Smrz grabbed ninth ahead of current points leader Haga. Nitro Nori will need a great start during the races to retain his lead.
On his maiden weekend, Alstare Suzuki's Sylvain Guintoli nabbed 11th, with Ten Kate Honda's Carlos Checa earning a 12th position on tomorrow's grid.
New Aprilia rider Leon Camier will begin on the final row in 13th. He will be joined by Guintoli's Suzuki teammate, Yukio Kagayama and the top Kawasaki finisher, Makoto Tamada, whose efforts garnered a 15th position.
World Superbike Superpole Qualifying:
1. Ben Spies (Yamaha) 1'42.412
2. Shane Byrne (Ducati) 1'42.996
3. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) 1'43.015
4. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1'43.126
5. Leon Haslam (Honda) 1'43.523
6. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) 1'43.526
7. Fonsi Nieto (Ducati) 1'43.553
8. Troy Corser (BMW) 1'44.719
9. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) 1'43.240
10. Norikyuki Haga (Ducati) 1'43.377
11. Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki) 1'43.406
12. Carlos Checa (Honda) 1'43.461
13. Leon Camier (Aprilia) 1'43.671
14. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 1'43.717
15. Makoto Tamada (Kawasaki) 1'44.050
World Superbike Qualifying Rider Quotes:
Ben Spies - Sterilgarda Yamaha:
“Getting the Superpole record is cool, it’s one of those things that one day I’ll look back on and enjoy, however right now I just see it as track position for me. I’ve got no other goals but to gain further help for my race tomorrow. We saw Haga struggle a little bit today but I’m sure Ducati will work it out quickly. We’re just going to put it together tomorrow and see what happens. We’ve not wanted to show our pace until Superpole, then we pinned it and got some good laps in. We’ve got some other things to work on for race day and hopefully we can tie it down some more.”
Michel Fabrizio - Xerox Ducati:
“Of course I’m satisfied to be on the front row but it wasn’t easy this afternoon. Ben really got the best out of the qualifying tire while I found it more difficult to work with; there are also many strong guys out there this weekend. Anyway, I’ll start from third and, bearing in mind that the championship is at stake, I will do everything to get ahead of Ben tomorrow, to help my team-mate Nori in the fight for the title. It will be hard for him, starting from the third row but we will see tomorrow; he is an extremely strong and expert rider. For me it might be difficult to stick with Ben, especially in the first laps, but I feel prepared. There’s also another Ducati on the front row; it’s good to have Shakey here too and I hope that he can be part of tomorrow’s battle for the win.”
Jonathan Rea – Hannspree Ten Kate Honda:
"I’m actually quite happy – it’s a front row start after all, and we’ve been right on the pace all weekend so far. The strange thing is that the bike seems to work better on race tires than it does on the qualifiers, so I think we’re ready and feeling confident for tomorrow. I had a few problems with other riders on the track and I made a few mistakes of my own, but I’m not going to be too down in the dumps about it. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s two races, which are going to be a proper dog fight, for sure!"
Noriyuki Haga - Xerox Ducati:
“Of course it is a disadvantage to be on the third row of the grid but I’ve won races from that position in the past and I know that anything can happen on race day. The problem is that all day today I’ve had trouble turning and, at the same time, I’m not happy with the level of rear grip. We used the two qualifying tires in the second Superpole session and they gave me better grip but didn’t help me to move the bike into the corners any more easily. So I’m consistently losing time in the final split and that’s the real problem. We must change something for tomorrow so I’m talking to my engineer and we’ll see tomorrow morning if we’ve found a solution that will enable me to fight for the race and title wins.”
Carlos Checa – Hannspree Ten Honda:
"Once again, we seem to have struggled in qualifying. I did the same lap times on the qualifying tire as I did on the race tire. Qualifying yesterday and this morning was good and we had the pace for top five. But with the qualifying tires in the bike, we don’t seem to have enough pace even for the top eight. I’m not so worried though, and I think we can run top five pace again in the races with a good start. The races are long so there will be plenty of overtaking opportunities."
