| QUALIFYING 1 REPORT | 12/03/2009 | | Yamaha set the pace on day one at Qatar | | | The Yamaha World Superbike Team riders answered any questions raised about their ability to learn new tracks quickly on their first day of qualifying at the Qatar circuit. Three-time AMA champion Ben Spies finished the day fastest of all Superbike riders, with an impressive time of 1"58.886. Spies' team-mate, Young British star Tom Sykes also found his way around the dusty, sand-swept track quickly, spending most of the session lapping in the top three. His decision to hold back on fresh tires at the end of the session dropped him to 12th on the grid with a time of 2"00.283.
Both Spies and Sykes are new to the Qatar circuit in Losail, but have proved with their first day's qualifying, and supported by their results at Phillip Island that they are not daunted by the challenge of new circuits and can be quick straight out of the box. The all-new 2009 Yamaha YZF-R1 is also proving to be an extremely competitive bike, taking the young riders to the front of the pack at the beginning of the season.
In contrast to other race rounds, the qualifying will take place tomorrow and the races on Saturday, the WSB lights going off at 10.00 and 13.30 CET and the WSS race at 11.25 CET. |
| Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team
"The track has been great for my first day here and the team have been working great as always, we're continuing to make the bike better and better, hopefully we can get even faster for the race! We can't forget there are many fast guys out here and I'm sure they're doing their homework too." |
|  | Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team
"I took it a little bit steady today, we've been working hard and trying race tires in preparation for Saturday. All in all were reasonably happy and it's left us a lot of tires to play with. Straight away I was in the top three in the session, I know I can run fairly consistently with the top guys, so tomorrow we're going to make some small changes to the bike and improve the set up. Australia didn't really happen in qualifying for me which made it harder in the race so I'm looking for a better grid position for Saturday."
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager "The first practice and qualifying session went very well for the team today. Both Ben and Tom were very fast and I was pleased with how quickly they learnt the circuit. Tom decided to only use one set of tires this afternoon and was in the top five until fifteen minutes to the end when most of the riders changed tires. Ben was again very quick, adapting well to the new circuit and putting in an impressive qualifying time. We have more work to do tomorrow, but are pleased with the day." |
| | 2009 WSB Qatar - Doha/Losail 12/03/2009 | | Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time | | 1 | Ben Spies | Yamaha | USA | 1'58.886 | | 2 | Jonathan Rea | Honda | GBR | 1'59.177 | | 3 | Carlos Checa | Honda | ESP | 1'59.731 | | 4 | Max Biaggi | Aprilia | ITA | 1'59.826 | | 5 | Ryuichi Kiyonari | Honda | JPN | 1'59.937 | | 6 | Shane Byrne | Ducati | GBR | 1'59.980 | | 7 | Jakub Smrz | Ducati | CZE | 2'0.024 | | 8 | Michel Fabrizio | Ducati | ITA | 2'0.101 | | 9 | Regis Laconi | Ducati | FRA | 2'0.232 | | 10 | Shinya Nakano | Aprilia | JPN | 2'0.238 | | 11 | Noriyuki Haga | Ducati | JPN | 2'0.254 | | 12 | Tom Sykes | Yamaha | GBR | 2'0.283 | | 13 | Max Neukirchner | Suzuki | GER | 2'0.345 | | 14 | Roberto Rolfo | Honda | ITA | 2'0.374 | | 15 | Yukio Kagayama | Suzuki | JPN | 2'0.398 |
| QUALIFYING 1 REPORT | 12/03/2009 | | Yamaha World Supersport Team start from the top | | | Yamaha World Supersport Team riders Cal Crutchlow and Fabien Foret hit the ground running today in the first day of qualifying at the Qatar round of the World Supersport Championship. Crutchlow, who has never raced at Qatar previously, finished the day with an impressive fastest lap of 2"02.634, putting him at the top of the qualifying board. Experienced team-mate Fabien Foret, still nursing a shoulder injury from Phillip Island, was equally impressive, taking second spot on the day's qualifying with a time of 2"02.772 |
| Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team
"Not too bad a day for me considering I've never really done much on this track, it's been good for me to come to a circuit were everyone else has been before and still perform well. The track is good, it seems to suit our bike quite well too. We've still got some stuff to work on and I'm looking to make the most of tomorrow's testing and hopefully we can make a break in the race. I'd like to see us on the podium on Saturday." |
|  | Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team
"I'm a little bit sore, my shoulder is still achy and a bit tired. I'm surprised as I thought it would be completely better. We have it strapped up to ride with but it's not as good as I expected. This morning we had a few issues in practice, then I tried some new settings this afternoon in the early sessions before eventually moving back to last year's set-up. That felt good and we managed to get a reasonable time in the end. By the end of the session I was pretty confident, so I'm happy with the bike, just the shoulder is a bit tense and not so strong. I'm taking it easy and tomorrow will try to save a bit of my strength for the race itself."
Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team manager
"So far so good, we still have some work to do but it seems that both riders are quite fast compared to the competition, however we think we will need to improve along with the others so we still have some work to do. We are not 100% cool, but we are happy to be first and second. Other than that we still have things to do as normal after a Friday session. Cal has never been here before so it's good that he's fast straight away here on our bike. Also good to see Fabien straight in where he needs to be, considering his arm is still not perfect." |
| | 2009 WSS Qatar - Doha/Losail 12/03/2009 | |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time |
| 1 | Cal Crutchlow | Yamaha | GBR | 2'2.634 |
| 2 | Fabien Foret | Yamaha | FRA | 2'2.772 |
| 3 | Kenan Sofuoglu | Honda | TUR | 2'2.883 |
| 4 | Matthieu Lagrive | Honda | FRA | 2'2.950 |
| 5 | Mark Aitchinson | Triumph | AUS | 2'3.065 |
| 6 | Joan Lascorz | Kawasaki | ESP | 2'3.111 |
| 7 | Eugene Laverty | Honda | GBR | 2'3.114 |
| 8 | Garry McCoy | Triumph | AUS | 2'3.177 |
| 9 | Anthony West | Honda | AUS | 2'3.253 |
| 10 | Andrew Pitt | Honda | AUS | 2'3.282 |
| 11 | Gianluca Nannelli | Triumph | ITA | 2'3.374 |
| 12 | Michele Pirro | Yamaha | ITA | 2'3.400 |
| 13 | Robbin Harms | Honda | DNK | 2'3.405 |
| 14 | Miguel Praia | Honda | POR | 2'3.410 |
| 15 | Barry Veneman | Suzuki | NED | 2'3.560 |
| 25 | Doni Tata Pradita | Yamaha | IDN | 2'5.511 |
| 28 | Jose Morillas | Yamaha | ESP | 2'6.847 |
| 29 | Yannick Guerra | Yamaha | ESP | 2'7.154 |
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