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| Spies extends incredible unbroken Superpole run | | | In the second day of qualifying at Assen Yamaha rider Ben Spies crossed the line in the Superpole shoot-out to become the only World Superbike rider ever to score four consecutive pole position starts at the beginning of a season. Not content with earning one record, Spies set about breaking the lap record previously held by Troy Bayliss of 1.38.355 with an incredible time of 1'37.626. Spies' record lap-time was also only 0.888 off Casey Stoner's Moto GP race time of last year on the same circuit.
Tom Sykes also had a good second day, having learnt from the tyre mistake in Valencia's Superpole the British rider timed his use of Qualifiers well and made it through to the final Superpole session and will start on the second row of the grid in 8th position. Both riders had small crashes during the pre-Superpole warm-up session but sustained no injuries. The second qualifying session earlier in the day saw Spies work on a good race pace using tyres from yesterday's sessions, whilst team-mate Sykes continued to work out and improve on the front-end issues of yesterday. |
| Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1st, 1'37.626)
"The qualifying session was good for us, we went out and worked on race set-up. We were out on tyres from yesterday and stayed on them for the whole session so we could get used to the tyres when they start to go off. I was able to turn some really fast laps at the end over race distance so I'm really happy with the way the bike's working after the tyres go off. Superpole was also good, it's a couple of extra feet at the start which helps. We're continuing to develop the bike and it's getting better and better every session, let's see what tomorrow brings."
Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (8th, 1'38.790)
Qualifying was ok for me, we changed a couple of things from last night and for sure the bike was faster and more consistent. There's maybe one or two more things I want to do in the same direction and hopefully make this a good race setting for tomorrow. Already I think we've got a decent set-up, after ten laps we were in the low 39s. Superpole was good for me. I did the first round on Qualifiers just to make sure and get through to session two. Then we had to use the second qualifiers to get into the top 8. In the final session we were reduced to race tyres, but I still did two 38 second laps which was good. Hopefully we have a very good race pace now so tomorrow is looking promising."
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
"What Ben did was great in qualifying. We started the day looking to do a long run with used tyres and in the end he was able to put in some really good lap times. This gives us a lot of confidence for tomorrow. Superpole was really good for us, four consecutive pole position starts is great, and Tom was also good to get onto the second row. I think the balance of the bikes is good and we know which tyres we want to use so we're confident we can do well. Both of them have the potential to have good races tomorrow"
WSB Assen Superpole times
1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'37.626;
2. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'37.765;
3. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.072;
4. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'38.202;
5. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'38.215;
6. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'38.353;
7. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.640;
8. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'38.790;
9. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'38.288;
10. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'38.441;
11. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.510;
12. Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'38.521;
13. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'38.802;
14. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'38.811;
15. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'38.906;
16. Kiyonari R. (JPN)Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.079
WSB Assen Qualifying 2 times
1 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'38.714
2 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'38.735
3 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'38.747
4 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'38.900
5 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'39.022
6 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.059
7 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'39.074
8 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'39.128
9 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.141
10 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'39.323
11 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.359
12 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.359
13 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'39.539
14 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'39.581
15 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 1'39.782
16 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'39.798
17 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'39.824
18 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'39.827
19 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'39.934
20 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'40.047
21 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1 1'40.496
22 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'40.572
23 32 Easton S. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'40.608
24 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'41.014
25 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'41.057
26 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'41.062
27 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'41.085
28 88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'41.978
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| Crutchlow aces third consecutive pole in Assen
Yamaha World Supersport rookie Cal Crutchlow put on yet another breathtaking display of consistent pace in qualifying today, setting the fastest time, breaking the best lap record set by Broc Parkes last year and putting himself on pole position for the third consecutive time in the 2009 World Supersport Championship. Crutchlow ended the qualifying session a clear half a second faster than closest rival Lascorz in second position.
Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (1st, 1'40.313)
"I'm pretty pleased to be honest. I was happy with the time and I was really pleased with how the team worked to be able to get me there but we still have some stuff to work out, once we've solved them we can go a lot faster. The race pace is not going to be anywhere near as quick as qualifying so I'm not that worried because if we slow up a little bit the laps should be easier and we'll be consistent. I think we're in a good position to win the race tomorrow, I'll be trying hard so I guess we'll just have to see what the weather brings us as well."
Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (5th, 1'41.130)
"It was a good session for me today, I could still do better but I'm still not 100% to be honest. It's also stupid to take risks and have even a small crash on my shoulder and potentially miss anything so I tried to be fast and safe. The bike is good, I'm happy with it and starting to enjoy riding it again and getting my confidence back. If we can fix a bit of front end chatter then I'll be really happy."
Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
"1st and 5th position starts, the same as Valencia is great. I hope we get the same end result for Cal and I really hope Fabien can put it on the podium too. There's some really strong competition in the pack, I think Lascorz will be strong tomorrow and Sofuoglu will definitely be in there. Laverty is also looking good. We have some small issues to work out before tomorrow on the bikes which should help and make us even better for the race."
WSS Assen qualifying times
1 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1'40.313
2 26 Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'40.848
3 54 Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1'40.998
4 50 Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1'41.002
5 99 Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'41.130
6 24 McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 1'41.412
7 51 Pirro M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'41.436
8 13 West A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1'41.496
9 127 Harms R. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR 1'41.566
10 1 Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1'41.653
11 77 Veneman B. (NED) Suzuki GSX-R600 1'41.743
12 8 Aitchison M. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1'41.794
13 55 Roccoli M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'41.858
14 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1'41.898
15 21 Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'42.007
16 117 Praia M. (POR) Honda CBR600RR 1'42.052
17 7 Vostárek P. (CZE) Honda CBR600RR 1'42.093
18 105 Vizziello G. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'42.354
19 69 Nannelli G. (ITA) Triumph Daytona 675 1'42.358
20 28 Vos A. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 1'42.553
21 83 Holland R. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1'42.605
22 9 Dell'Omo D. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'42.663
23 30 Günther J. (GER) Honda CBR600RR 1'42.792
24 53 Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R600 1'42.902
25 32 Lai F. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'43.314
26 5 Pradita T. (INA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'43.491
27 96 Smrz M. (CZE) Triumph Daytona 675 1'43.936
28 57 Bos K. (NED) Yamaha YZF R6 1'44.285
29 94 Van Nieuwenhuizen M. (NED) Yamaha YZF R6 1'44.363
30 88 Guerra Y. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 1'45.342
31 27 Van Poppel T. (NED) Yamaha YZF R6 1'45.782
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