| QUALIFYING 1 REPORT | 15/05/2009 | | Spies and Sykes hunt for the perfect set-up in South Africa | | | Yamaha rider Ben Spies had a steady first day of qualifying at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa today. Spies spent the day working through some small issues to improve the set-up of the bike in advance of tomorrow's second qualifying session and afternoon Superpole heats. Although hunting for the perfect set-up, Spies was still very strong in the session, ending in third position, behind Rea and Fabrizio.
Team-mate Tom Sykes managed to find a relatively good pace from the outset today, although he did struggle with the set-up of his bike and will work on larger changes in advance of Saturday's sessions to ensure he gets a faster pace and move further up the pack. He finished the first qualifying session in eighth position, ahead of Aprilia rider Max Biaggi.
Issues facing both riders in finding a good set-up include corner entry speed, and the surface of the Kyalami track itself. There are a large number of bumps on the circuit, making it difficult to fine tune the set up for race day.
The World Superbike Championship is back in South Africa and the Kyalami circuit this weekend for the first time since 2002. The championship has undergone major changes since the last visit, including a single tyre rule and a wealth of new team entries. Only three riders in this weekend's line up were present at the last race, Noriyuki Haga, Broc Parkes and Rueben Xaus, making it a more level playing field for Yamaha rookies.
The Yamaha team also tested in Kyalami last year, meaning they come to the track with valuable data and a good set up to start with, although the bike they ran here previously was a far less developed machine than the current incarnation of the 2009 R1 race bike. |
| Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (3rd, 1'38.600)
"We've been going through the motions today, working things out with the bike as we've struggled with a couple of points. We haven't really gone crazy but been steady, and will make some more changes now so we can get ready to turn it up tomorrow and get on it." |
|  | Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (8th, 1'39.258)
"We've been working out a couple of changes for tomorrow, we're going to change the geometry of the bike to help around the circuit, which should make me quicker. I'm looking forward to being stronger on the circuit and faster as a result. We tried some good tyres today and found a good race pace. I'm looking to be the fastest though so with the changes for tomorrow we should be in for big improvements."
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
"We have been working on the bike set up today, it's not perfect yet. We've also been working with the race tyres, both riders have done lots of laps on the same tyres which we think we'll use in the race, they've been performing well and the pace is pretty good. Tonight we're going to go through the feedback from the riders, and analyse the data we've gathered and work on improving the bike set up for tomorrow's qualifying sessions and Superpole."
The Yamaha France GMT 94 IPONE Team will have South African rider Shaun Whyte in place of David Checa for the Kyalami race weekend. |
| | 2009 WSB South Africa - Kyalami 15/05/2009 | | Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time | | 1 | Michel Fabrizio | Ducati | ITA | 1'38.103 | | 2 | Jonathan Rea | Honda | GBR | 1'38.506 | | 3 | Ben Spies | Yamaha | USA | 1'38.600 | | 4 | Leon Haslam | Honda | GBR | 1'38.865 | | 5 | Shinya Nakano | Aprilia | JPN | 1'38.998 | | 6 | Noriyuki Haga | Ducati | JPN | 1'39.055 | | 7 | Jakub Smrz | Ducati | CZE | 1'39.230 | | 8 | Tom Sykes | Yamaha | GBR | 1'39.258 | | 9 | Max Biaggi | Aprilia | ITA | 1'39.284 | | 10 | Ruben Xaus | BMW | ESP | 1'39.357 | | 11 | Carlos Checa | Honda | ESP | 1'39.370 | | 12 | Sheridan Morais | Kawasaki | RSA | 1'39.388 | | 13 | Gregorio Lavilla | Ducati | ESP | 1'39.389 | | 14 | Shane Byrne | Ducati | GBR | 1'39.470 | | 15 | Yukio Kagayama | Suzuki | JPN | 1'39.475 | | 23 | Whyte Shaun | Yamaha | RSA | 1'41.737 |
| FREE PRACTICE REPORT | 15/05/2009 | | Yamaha Supersport in the top five for free practice | | | Yamaha World Supersport riders Cal Crutchlow and Fabien Foret took advantage of two free practice session in Kyalami today to test out some tyre choices for race weekend and work on their set-ups with the team. Crutchlow got straight onto the pace and was quick again on a new circuit for the British rider, ending the second session in third position just .25 of a second behind leader Sofuoglu.
Team-mate Foret took longer to get up to speed today, having been upset by the morning crash of good friend and fellow French rider Regis Laconi who fell in the Superbike free practice. Foret went on to pick up his pace in the second session and ended the day fifth quickest, a second off the pace leader. |
| Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team, (3rd, 1'41.969)
"It was good to get started learning the circuit and I'm really pleased that we're still up there in the time sheets. We need to work on the settings for tomorrow so we can look to improve on the times. I managed to go quicker on the same tyres over the session so hoping for a couple steps better tomorrow as a result." |
|  | Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (5th, 1'42.597)
"Today was a really tough day for me. It was very sad to see my good friend crash this morning, and it also reminded me of my crash last year in Brno. I managed to clear my head and found a good rhythm on the track. I need to come back tomorrow and pick up the pace again for the qualifying session."
Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team
"For Kyalami we have used more or less the set up from Monza. It looks that we still have a good base set up which adapts very quickly which is great. Cal seems to have found the pace straight away. Sofuoglu is currently faster but I think on fresh tyres, so we are happy with the first day's progress. Tomorrow we have some new things to try and see if we can up the pace a bit. Today was difficult for Fabien, this morning was marred by his good friend Laconi crashing. In the second session he picked up and was a lot faster with his pace so it wasn't so bad in the end and there's more to come tomorrow I think." |
| | 2009 WSS South Africa - Kyalami 15/05/2009 | |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time |
| 1 | Kenan Sofuoglu | Honda | TUR | 1'41.566 |
| 2 | Eugene Laverty | Honda | GBR | 1'41.812 |
| 3 | Cal Crutchlow | Yamaha | GBR | 1'41.969 |
| 4 | Andrew Pitt | Honda | AUS | 1'42.511 |
| 5 | Fabien Foret | Yamaha | FRA | 1'42.597 |
| 6 | Garry McCoy | Triumph | AUS | 1'42.735 |
| 7 | Gianluca Nannelli | Triumph | ITA | 1'42.797 |
| 8 | Joan Lascorz | Kawasaki | ESP | 1'42.823 |
| 9 | Mark Aitchison | Honda | AUS | 1'42.990 |
| 10 | Katsuaki Fujiwara | Kawasaki | JPN | 1'43.258 |
| 11 | Doni Tata Pradita | Yamaha | IDN | 1'43.407 |
| 12 | Russell Holland | Honda | AUS | 1'43.408 |
| 13 | Michele Pirro | Yamaha | ITA | 1'43.497 |
| 14 | Gianluca Vizziello | Honda | ITA | 1'43.837 |
| 15 | Massimo Roccoli | Honda | ITA | 1'43.918 |
| 27 | Yannick Guerra | Yamaha | ESP | 1'46.426 |
| 29 | Jose Morillas | Yamaha | ESP | 1'49.054 |
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