Sunday, May 31, 2009

Seven-time Spies breaks the all-time Superpole record

Yamaha Racing

QUALIFYING 2 REPORT 30/05/2009
Seven-time Spies breaks the all-time Superpole record

Yamaha World Superbike phenomenon Ben Spies made it seven Superpoles in a row today at the Miller Motorsports Park, he is now the only rider ever in the history of Superbike to take seven consecutive poles in a row. Spies had spent the first qualifying session and free practice working and fine tuning the set-up of the bike, as the Superpole heats started, it was clear his hard work with the team had paid off as he laid down the fastest lap of each session to comfortably end on pole position for tomorrow's races. It was a fitting scene as thunder and lightning broke dramatically over the circuit as the 'Texan Terror' showed everyone how it should be done.

Team-mate Tom Sykes had struggled with his set-up during the morning practice and following qualifying session, ending with a 22nd position start on the grid for race day. After making several changes Sykes went out again for the afternoon free practice session and found the set up he was looking for. Finding another second and a half on his earlier times he was running in tenth for the free session. Although not an ideal start position the new settings will give him a good race pace and the opportunity to fight through the pack.

Ben Spies
Ben Spies

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1st, 1'48.344)
"It was a good set of sessions for us, the last few minutes of Superpole there was some drops coming down and I was pretty nervous but we had worked hard in free practice and qualifying on the tyres we were on and just went into Superpole and stuck to the plan and everything worked out. I think we'll have a good race pace for tomorrow, I think there's a few guys who have good pace as well so I think the race is going to be pretty interesting. "

Tom Sykes
Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (22nd, 1'50.807)
"In qualifying we really missed out, we didn't find the right direction fast enough and unfortunately didn't get to Superpole which was a big shame. For the final free practice we found an area of real improvement, the time was good enough for Superpole. So hopefully we can forget today and although we've got a bad starting position we can come out tomorrow focused and make the most of what we've got."

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
"One more pole for Ben, seven in a row is fantastic. The pace is really good and for sure we are able to fight for the race win tomorrow. I think there are two or three guys who will be tough so it should be a good race. On the other side of the garage Tom improved this afternoon with a better set-up in free practice, he made up almost a half second so this will give some motivation to push very hard tomorrow and fight to make up positions. In the end it's all about race day so lets see what happens."

Circuit Length: 4905

Fastest Lap Ever: 1'48.193 (Carlos Checa, 01/06/2008)
Last Years Winner: Carlos Checa
2009 WSB United States - Salt Lake City 30/05/2009
Superpole
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 1'48.344
2 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 1'48.908
3 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 1'49.845
4 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 1'49.434
5 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'49.658
6 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 1'49.982
7 Broc Parkes Kawasaki AUS 1'51.328
8 Jamie Hacking Kawasaki USA 1'51.438
9 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 1'49.516
10 Shinya Nakano Aprilia JPN 1'49.528
11 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 1'49.541
12 Leon Haslam Honda GBR 1'49.765
13 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'50.114
14 Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 1'50.488
15 Luca Scassa Kawasaki ITA 1'50.987
22 Tom Sykes Yamaha GBR 1'50.807


Qualifying 2
Pos. Rider Nat. QUAL I QUAL II
1 Michel Fabrizio ITA 1'50.457 1'49.204
2 Jakub Smrz CZE 1'50.282 1'49.329
3 Ben Spies USA 1'49.901 1'49.773
4 Max Biaggi ITA 1'49.820 1'50.214
5 Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN 1'50.701 1'49.845
6 Carlos Checa ESP 1'50.144 1'50.033
7 Jonathan Rea GBR 1'50.740 1'50.086
8 Noriyuki Haga JPN 1'50.755 1'50.094
9 Fonsi Nieto ESP 1'52.037 1'50.347
10 Karl Muggeridge AUS 1'50.757 1'50.391
11 Jamie Hacking USA 1'50.466 1'50.427
12 Shinya Nakano JPN 1'51.228 1'50.458
13 Leon Haslam GBR 1'51.389 1'50.505
14 Shane Byrne GBR 1'50.512 1'50.580
15 Broc Parkes AUS 1'50.961 1'50.532
22 Tom Sykes GBR 1'51.387 1'50.807
26 Erwan Nigon FRA 1'52.932 1'52.137

QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 30/05/2009
Yamaha Supersport riders take first and second row starts for race day

Yamaha World Supersport rider Cal Crutchlow endured a frustrating qualifying session today at the Miller circuit in Salt Lake City. The British rider worked hard and was on the pace for the duration of the qualifying heat however on several attempts at a flying lap came up against slower riders who thwarted attempts to lay down the perfect pole position time. As a result Crutchlow will start the race tomorrow in third position on the front row of the grid.

Crutchlow's team-mate Fabien Foret had much of the same trouble today. Having started the weekend's practice yesterday with an outstanding pace and adapting to the circuit quickly Foret also struggled today with some of the slower traffic during the qualifying session and will start the race tomorrow in eighth position from the second row of the grid.

Cal Crutchlow
Cal Crutchlow

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (3rd, 1'52.051)
"Today was really hard work. The last two days have been the hardest I've had so far this year. We're not feeling too comfortable here at Miller but maybe for the race tomorrow we'll be able to pull out the stops and there's no reason why we shouldn't be on the podium. Winning the race is going to be hard but I'm going to be fighting for it definitely. "

Fabien Foret
Fabien Foret

Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (8th, 1'52.827)
"I'm not really satisfied with my qualifying session. On my fastest lap I got stuck behind an American rider and was held up. I then waited too long to go for another good lap time on fresh tyres and messed up my session a bit. I'm on the second row though so it's not the end of the world and I'm feeling really good with the bike and everything so tomorrow will be different."

Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
"It didn't go really smoothly today, with the red flags and slow US riders blocking both riders when they were on good laps it's been a frustrating session. But we have two good guys and tomorrow is race day so we'll see. No matter what happened today in qualifying it's going to be a battle tomorrow, hopefully nobody will get away."

Circuit Length: 4905

Fastest Lap Ever: 1'51.749 (Joan Lascorz, 31/05/2009)
2009 WSS United States - Salt Lake City 30/05/2009


Qualifying 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ESP 1'51.749
2 Eugene Laverty Honda GBR 1'51.829
3 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 1'52.051
4 Gianluca Nannelli Triumph ITA 1'52.659
5 Massimo Roccoli Honda ITA 1'52.726
6 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'52.755
7 Garry McCoy Triumph AUS 1'52.794
8 Fabien Foret Yamaha FRA 1'52.827
9 Mark Aitchison Honda AUS 1'52.951
10 Katsuaki Fujiwara Kawasaki JPN 1'53.171
11 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 1'53.516
12 Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 1'53.630
13 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 1'53.799
14 Miguel Praia Honda POR 1'53.919
15 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 1'54.303
21 Doni Tata Pradita Yamaha IDN 1'54.901
26 Yannick Guerra Yamaha ESP 1'56.954
27 Melissa Paris Yamaha USA 1'57.079
28 Andrew Nelson Yamaha CAN 1'57.587
29 Oleg Pianykh Yamaha RUS 1'57.856



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