Max Biaggi took pole by 0.221 seconds ahead of Marco Melandri as he seeks his second win of the season.
Aprilia Alitalia’s
Max Biaggi pocketed his second Superpole of the 2011
World Superbike Championship at Brno on Saturday. The Italian recorded a lap of 1'58.580 to outdo Yamaha’s Marco Melandri by 0.221 seconds, with Althea
Ducati’s Carlos Checa just another tenth behind for third on the grid.
"Obviously I'm very pleased to start from the front and also to have made a really good lap," said Biaggi. "Evidently, along with my team, we have adapted well to the track's extremely fickle conditions. I'm also pleased for the many fans that I have here and for the many who have followed me to be here."
Melandri’s teammate, Eugene Laverty, will round out the front row in Sunday’s races after setting the fourth-best pace of the day, the Irishman clocking a lap that was nearly half a second adrift of Biaggi.
"It was a good day for me, my Yamaha worked very well," Melandri said. "My team has done a great job, working hard and step by step making improvements, so thanks a lot to them!"
Yamaha's Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty will join Biaggi on the front row alongside current series leader, Carlos Checa.
Liberty Ducati’s Jakub Smrz just missed a front row start at his home circuit. The Czech rider will lead the second row after being the last rider to come within a second of Biaggi in the timesheets. Alstare
Suzuki’s Michel Fabrizio placed sixth on the grid, with Aprilia’s
Leon Camier just 0.017 seconds behind. Kawasaki Racing’s Tom Sykes claimed the final position on Row 2 after posting a time of 2'00.303. This makes it the third round in a row that the Brit has put the Kawasaki ZX-10R on the second row of the starting grid.
BMW Italia’s Ayrton Badovini will head Row 3 along with Liberty Ducati’s Sylvain Guintoli,
Kawasaki’s Mark Aitchison and Supersonic Racing’s Max Berger. Badovini was more than 1.1 seconds behind Biaggi in the timesheets and failed making it to the final Superpole session by only 0.131 seconds. BMW’s
Leon Haslam and Pata Aprilia’s Noriyuki Haga will both have to start from the fourth row after missing Superpole 2. This makes it the second consecutive round that Haslam will have to start from Row 4 after placing outside the top-12 in Superpole.
It was more disappointment for Castrol
Honda as the team continues to struggle without Jonathan Rea. For the second round in a row teammates Ruben Xaus and Alex Lowes couldn’t make it into Superpole, placing them 17th and 21st respectively on the grid for the upcoming races.
Brno World Superbike Superpole 2011 Results:
Carlos Checa will start from third on the grid at Brno after finishing behind Biaggi and Melandri in Superpole.
1. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) 1'58.580
2. Marco Melandri (Yamaha) 1'58.801
3. Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1'58.908
4. Eugene Laverty (Yamaha) 1'59.055
5. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) 1'59.541
6. Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki) 1'59.908
7. Leon Camier (Aprilia) 1'59.925
8. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 2'00.303
9. Ayrton Badovini (BMW) 1'59.684
10. Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) 1'59.800
11. Mark Aitchison (Kawasaki) 2'00.362
12. Max Berger (Ducati) 2'01.011
13. Leon Haslam (BMW) 2'00.252
14. Noriyuki Haga (Aprilia) 2'00.374
15. Lorenzo Lanzi (BMW) 2'00.619
World Supersport
Ten Kate Honda’s Fabien Foret nabbed his second pole position of the season during qualifying at Brno. The Frenchman posted a time of 2'03.548 that narrowly edged him ahead of Kawasaki Motocard.com’s Broc Parkes, who finished the session just 0.063 seconds behind Foret. Parkes’ Kawasaki teammate, David Salom and Step Racing Honda’s Gino Rea will join Foret and Parkes on the front row, with Rea finishing 0.361 seconds adrift in the timesheets. Massimo Roccoli and Parkalgar Honda’s Sam Lowes posted the fifth- and sixth-fastest times, with ParkinGO Yamaha’s Chaz Davies finishing just over a second off the pace. Robbin Harms was only 0.029 seconds behind Davies in eighth. Bike Service R.T.’s Roberto Tamburini
Ten Kate Honda's Fabien Foret claimed his second pole victory of the season in Supersport ahead of Broc Parkes.
and Parkalgar Honda’s Miguel Praia rounded out the top-10 times in ninth and tenth, respectively, with ParkinGO Yamaha’s Luca Scassa placing 12th on the grid more than 1.4 seconds adrift of Foret.
Brno World Supersport Qualifying 2011 Results:
1. Fabien Foret (Honda) 2'03.548
2. Broc Parkes (Kawasaki) 2'03.611
3. David Salom (Kawasaki) 2'03.681
4. Gino Rea (Honda) 2'03.909
5. Massimo Roccoli (Kawasaki) 2'04.093
6. Sam Lowes (Honda) 2'04.123
7. Chaz Davies (Yamaha) 2'04.610
8. Robbin Harms (Honda) 2'04.639
9. Roberto Tamburini (Yamaha) 2'04.839
10. Miguel Praia (Honda) 2'04.862
