John Hopkins posted a new circuit record at Silverstone while nabbing the Superpole victory by 0.027 seconds.
Wild-card rider
John Hopkins posted a new circuit record on Saturday at Silverstone, taking pole position for Round 9 of the 2011
World Superbike Championship. The American was just 0.027 seconds faster aboard his Samsung Crescent Suzuki than Yamaha’s Eugene Laverty, who recorded a lap of 2'04.068 at his home circuit.
“I’m over the moon right now," said Hopkins. "I know it’s just qualifying and Superpole, but I’m so grateful to be here and racing a wild-card in the World Superbike series, and just to be racing a motorcycle at all because last year I was told by many doctors that I had to retire because of my wrist. A big thanks also to the Samsung Crescent team, they’ve been working their butts off to build an amazing bike. But now the real work starts tomorrow and I’ll be giving it my best!”
Aprilia Alitalia’s Leon Camier will also start his home race from the front row after finishing third in Superpole, the Brit less than three-tenths off the pace of Hopkins. Althea Racing’s
Carlos Checa rounded out the top-four and just squeezed onto the first row with a time of 2'04.362.
“It's absolutely fantastic," Camier said. "I've always struggled in Superpole but today I am finally reaping the fruit of a lot of work. I have no illusions, I know that Carlos Checa has an extremely quick race pace and that a lot of riders are really close. What counts in a race is consistency and that is
Leon Camier has reported feeling good at his home track and the Brit will start from the front row after claiming third in Superpole.
precisely why we still need to do some work to find just a bit more of it."
Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli nabbed fifth in the final Superpole session more than a second off the pace of the leader. Though Yamaha’s Marco Melandri improved his time from Friday’s qualifying, the Italian remains 1.598 seconds off the pace of Hopkins coming into Sunday’s races. Alstare Suzuki’s Michel Fabrizio placed seventh on the timesheets just ahead of Pata
Aprilia’s Noriyuki Haga, who will round out the second row.
Only making it to the second Superpole session,
BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s Leon Haslam will have to start from ninth on the grid at his home race. Fellow BMW rider Aryton Badovini will join the Brit in Row 3, with Aprilia’s
Max Biaggi also facing a difficult start after having his worst qualifying of the year with 11th in the charts. Team Pedercini Kawasaki’s Mark Aitchison grabbed 12th on the grid through his lap time which was more than two seconds adrift of Hopkins. Liberty Racing Ducati’s Jakub Smrz and BMW Italia’s James Toseland will head the fourth row. Despite showing excellent pace in Friday’s session, Supersonic Racing’s Maxime Berger finished 15th in Superpole. The Frenchman was followed by
Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes, who posted 16th to round out Row 4.
Silverstone World Superbike Superpole 2011 Results:
1. John Hopkins (Suzuki) 2'04.041
Irishman Eugene Laverty dueled with Hopkins during Superpole and will start his home race from second on the grid.
2. Eugene Laverty (Yamaha) 2'04.068
3. Leon Camier (Aprilia) 2'04.303
4. Carlos Checa (Ducati) 2'04.362
5. Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) 2'05.456
6. Marco Melandri (Yamaha) 2'05.639
7. Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki) 2'05.997
8. Noriyuki Haga (Aprilia) 2'05.727
9. Leon Haslam (BMW) 2'05.091
10. Aryton Badovini (BMW) 2'05.115
11. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) 2'05.184
12. Mark Aitchison (Kawasaki) 2'06.238
13. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) 2'05.400
14. James Toseland (BMW) 2'05.403
15. Max Berger (Ducati) 2'05.709
16. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 2'05.899
World Supersport
Parkalgar
Honda’s Sam Lowes nabbed pole position at his home circuit. The Brit was 0.840 seconds faster than Ten Kate Honda’s Florian Marino, with teammate Fabien Foret another tenth behind the Frenchman. It was a great session for Honda, the brand occupying the top-three grid positions heading into Sunday’s race.
Kawasaki Motocard.com’s Broc Parkes was more than a second behind Lowes but grabbed the final spot on the front row. Step Racing Honda’s Gino Rea just missed Row 1 by 0.131 seconds after posting the fifth-best time at Silverstone. Yamaha ParkinGO’s Chaz Davies earned seventh on the grid, followed by Bike Service R.T.’s Roberto Tamburini and Harms Benjan Racing’s Robbin Harms. Davies’ Yamaha teammate, Luca Scassa, rounded out the top-10 with a time that was 1.798 seconds behind Lowes.
Silverstone World Supersport Qualifying 2011 Results:
1. Sam Lowes (Honda) 2'09.019
2. Florian Marino (Honda) 2'09.859
3. Fabien Foret (Honda) 2'09.962
4. Broc Parkes (Kawasaki) 2'10.080
5. Gino Rea (Honda) 2'10.211
6. David Salom (Kawasaki) 2'10.251
7. Chaz Davies (Yamaha) 2'10.316
8. Roberto Tamburini (Yamaha) 2'10.348
9. Robbin Harms (Honda) 2'10.583
10. Luca Scassa (Yamaha) 2'10.817
