The Ducati teams have benefited from a new rule change at Miller, lightening the Twins by 3kg. Satellite Ducati rider Jakub Smrz was fastest in Saturday qualifying.
Ducati’s new minimum weight limit was the talk of the paddock at the end of the opening day of action at Miller Motorsports Park. After the Kyalami WSB race two weeks ago the pre-agreed formula to balance performance between four-cylinder 1000cc machines and twin-cylinder 1200cc bikes was finally activated – the first time since the ruling was introduced at the start of 2008. The result is that Ducati have now had their minimum weight limit reduced from 168kg to 165kg. The weight saving has been achieved easily by the Italian squad and has not necessitated the use of any exotic weight saving materials – instead they will run less fuel in the bikes and have fitted a new battery that weigh 700grams less.
Whether 3kg less makes any real difference depends on who you speak to. The Ducati men claim that they can’t even feel it while their four-cylinder rivals are adamant that it helps in all areas of performance – braking, acceleration, cornering and even tire life. Either way it was a good day for Ducati and at one point in the Free Practice session six Ducati’s filled the top seven positions. At the end of First Qualifying, Ducati were again on top thanks to an impressive Jacob Smrz onboard the B&G Ducati followed by the factory man Michel Fabrizio.
One theory as to why the Ducati’s went so well, other than the reduced weight, is the cool air temperature. Compared to previous years the 66-degree air temperature aided the cooling of the Ducati, which in turn helped outright power and lap times. At the end of the first day no one was able to match Carlos Checa’s 2008 best lap set on qualifying tires, but the top five were all inside Ben Spies’ lap record set in last year's race.
James Toseland showed a competitive pace on Saturday, but suffered a crash in the closing laps of qualifying.
Cal Crutchlow was one of the men that lapped faster than Ben Spies but it wasn’t without it’s problems. Crutchlow was plagued with braking problems in both sessions and also changed his handlebars in an effort to improve the angle and feel of his Brembo brakes.
Yamaha teammate James Toseland made impressive start to his weekend despite having never been to the track before. After a total of 39 laps Toseland was on lap record pace but his day was blighted by a crash at Turn 3 at the end of the qualifying session. He said: “Because it’s a left hand track it works that side of the tire a lot more than the right. I was on a good lap and had good grip but as I chucked it left I just lost the front.”
Althea Ducati riders Carlos Checa and Shane Byrne were also impressive. Chece a double race winner at the track ran at the front all session and ultimately had to settle for fifth. Byrne looks to have put his bitterly disappointing Kyalami weekend behind him and looked fast and smooth onboard his 1198.
Max Biaggi once again posted the fastest top speed at Miller, the Aprilia a full 6mph faster than the nearest competitor, Honda's Jonathan Rea.
Italian Max Biaggi claimed tenth place overall but wasn’t happy with the performance of his Aprilia. Like always his RSV4 was the fastest bike on track setting a staggering 195mph down the 0.66mile straight thanks to a tow from rival Michel Fabrizio. His top speed was a massive 6mph faster than his closet rival Jonathan Rea onboard the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda.
In Supersport Eugene Laverty continued his domination of the class to set provisional pole and a new circuit best lap. His closet rival was Joan Lascorz over half a second behind. Championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu and 2009 race winner was sixth.
World Superbike Miller Qualifying 1 Results:
1. Jakub Smrz (PATA B&G Racing Ducati) 1'48.517 300.0 (kmph)
2. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1'48.670 +0.153 303.3
3. Cal Crutchlow (Sterilgarda Yamaha) 1'48.682 +0.165 305.8
4. Leon Haslam (Alstare Suzuki) 1'48.734 +0.217 301.6
5. Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) 1'48.742 +0.225 297.6
6. Shane Byrne (Althea Racing) 1'48.853 +0.336 296.8
7. James Toseland (Sterilgarda Yamaha) 1'48.887 +0.370 303.3
8. Luca Scassa (Supersonic Ducati) 1'48.945 +0.428 296.0
9. Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad) 1'49.040 0.523 +0.095 300.8
10. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) 1'49.191 +0.674 313.7
11. Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) 1'49.281 +0.764 305.8
12. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1'49.386 0.869 +0.105 303.3
13. Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) 1'49.443 +0.926 305.0
14. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing) 1'49.748 +1.231 300.8
15. Ruben Xaus (BMW Motorrad) 1'49.961 +1.444 294.4
16. Max Neukirchner (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) 1'50.121 +1.604 296.8
17. Sylvain Guintoli (Alstare Suzuki) 1'50.133 +1.616 304.2
18. Roger Hayden (Pedercini Kawasaki) 1'50.806 +2.289 292.0
19. Broc Parkes (ECHO CRS Honda) 1'51.074 +2.557 293.6
20. Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki Racing) 1'51.122 +2.605 297.6
