| QUALIFYING 2 REPORT | 27/06/2009 | | Spies defies the rain to take his eighth Superpole | | |  | Yamaha World Superbike superstar Ben Spies showed more of his unbeatable talent today, flying through the three Superpole sessions with ease. Despite rain drops starting to fall as the third and final session got under way, the American rider hit the track with an incredible display of speed and put down a pole grabbing lap less than two tenths off the Best Lap record put down in the dry by Fabrizio in the previous session. He was the only rider to drop under the 1.30 mark in the final session. Spies enjoyed a good qualifying session earlier in the day, perfecting his race set up and tyre choice, and finishing in third, just two tenths from session leader Fabrizio. Spies time was just 1.1 seconds off Valentino Rossi's 2007 qualifying time in the 2007 Donington MotoGP.
Team-mate Tom Sykes continued to show his potential today as he spent the majority of the second qualifying session in the top three, only dropping to sixth as the session drew to a close. Sykes started the Superpole sessions well, and went through to the second with ease. The second session saw him take what was thought to be a safe fifth place, only to be dropped to tenth at the last minute. With not enough time to get back out he missed out on the third and final session.
Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1st, 1'29.846)
"It was a good Superpole session for us, we almost got caught out as I think I was the last one to leave the garage. As soon as I came out of the pit lane I could see the drops start to come so I had to really attack the warm up lap. I told myself to nail the first sector so I could relax a little bit in the back half in case it rained a bit more. The first sector was brilliant, in the second and third rain drops were coming so I wanted to be careful not to touch any paint down. It was good to get up there to the front as it's a short start to turn one so it's a good position for us. The bike is working great on race tyres as well so I'm looking forward to what will be an exciting race." |
|  | Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (10th, 1'30.229)
"A bit of a shame, obviously I'm not impressed, on the qualifier I ran wide on lap one a little bit and didn't make it happen. It's especially frustrating as looking at the times in Superpole three a front row start was definitely on the cards for me. We messed up a bit in session two, really disappointing as race pace is up there and I wanted a good clean start for tomorrow. We're on row three so let's see what happens. I'm going to have to dig deep and make some passes. The qualifying session was ok, we definitely have a fast race pace, if we can get away clean we are in with a good chance tomorrow."
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
"Another Superpole is great, it just gives us more confidence for tomorrow with Ben. Tom has also been making great improvements compared to the last races. I think tomorrow the results will depend a lot on the weather, it could be wet or dry. I really hope it's dry as its always better to have a dry race, but whatever happens we are ready for both conditions." |
| | 2009 WSB Europe - Donington Park 27/06/2009 | | Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time | | 1 | Ben Spies | Yamaha | USA | 1'29.846 | | 2 | Max Biaggi | Aprilia | ITA | 1'30.080 | | 3 | Shane Byrne | Ducati | GBR | 1'30.535 | | 4 | Shinya Nakano | Aprilia | JPN | 1'30.671 | | 5 | Michel Fabrizio | Ducati | ITA | 1'30.734 | | 6 | Noriyuki Haga | Ducati | JPN | 1'31.023 | | 7 | Carlos Checa | Honda | ESP | 1'31.342 | | 8 | Jakub Smrz | Ducati | CZE | 1'34.797 | | 9 | Leon Haslam | Honda | GBR | 1'30.159 | | 10 | Tom Sykes | Yamaha | GBR | 1'30.229 | | 11 | John Hopkins | Honda | USA | 1'30.272 | | 12 | Jonathan Rea | Honda | GBR | 1'30.387 | | 13 | Gregorio Lavilla | Ducati | ESP | 1'30.612 | | 14 | James Ellison | Yamaha | GBR | 1'30.816 | | 15 | Troy Corser | BMW | AUS | 1'30.916 | | 17 | Leon Camier | Yamaha | GBR | 1'31.176 |
| Pos. | Rider | Nat. | QUAL I | QUAL II | | 1 | Michel Fabrizio | ITA | 1'30.775 | 1'30.493 | | 2 | Noriyuki Haga | JPN | 1'31.760 | 1'30.671 | | 3 | Ben Spies | USA | 1'31.294 | 1'30.695 | | 4 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | 1'32.103 | 1'30.782 | | 5 | Leon Haslam | GBR | 1'31.191 | 1'30.803 | | 6 | Tom Sykes | GBR | 1'31.838 | 1'30.957 | | 7 | Lorenzo Lanzi | ITA | 1'31.705 | 1'30.961 | | 8 | Gregorio Lavilla | ESP | 1'31.401 | 1'31.028 | | 9 | Max Biaggi | ITA | 1'31.913 | 1'31.243 | | 10 | Shane Byrne | GBR | 1'31.436 | 1'31.311 | | 11 | Ruben Xaus | ESP | 1'32.186 | 1'31.352 | | 12 | John Hopkins | USA | 1'32.007 | 1'31.382 | | 13 | Leon Camier | GBR | 1'31.454 | 1'31.808 | | 14 | Shinya Nakano | JPN | 1'32.188 | 1'31.457 | | 15 | James Ellison | GBR | 1'31.890 | 1'31.476 | | 29 | David Checa | ESP | 1'34.259 | 1'32.811 |
| QUALIFYING 1 REPORT | 27/06/2009 | | More pain for Crutchlow as he sets sensational pole | | |  | Yamaha World Supersport rider Cal Crutchlow set out to repeat his fortunes of Friday's free practice in qualifying today, losing the front end at Mcleans for a spectacular crash. Undeterred the British rider stopped long enough to change leathers before heading out again and going straight back to the top of the time sheet. Crutchlow's time was topped briefly by Laverty at the end of the session, however as the flag dropped he crossed the line to take pole back, setting a new Best Lap in the process.
Team-mate Fabien Foret had a less successful day. Having finished the morning's free practice session in third position the French rider struggled to improve his time in qualifying, and was also held up on a couple of hot laps by other riders. As the session ended he had to settle for tenth on the grid and a fight ahead of him in tomorrow's race.
Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1st, 1'31.701)
"It was a good enough for me to take pole. I went down in the session which was disappointing but other than that it was a good job. I think I could have gone a bit quicker to be honest but I was unlucky with other riders and the crash obviously held me up a bit! I'm going to relax now for the day and hopefully come out tomorrow fighting. Eugene is going to be a big threat again tomorrow so let's see what happens." |
|  | Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (10th, 1'33.182)
"The qualifying went not so well for me, I was in my hot lap and got blocked by another rider which annoyed me and really held me up. I'm starting from tenth tomorrow which is not ideal, but I've changed my approach to starting the sessions this weekend a bit so I hope it will help me get a good start tomorrow and make up some places."
Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
"It was a difficult qualifying session for us, Cal was on the pace but he crashed again on a hot lap. Finally he was able to do another 31.7 so he has pole but still he's injured. The bike is ready to race for sure and he's showed everyone he's fast but the race will be tough tomorrow. I expect Eugene will be up there as well. Fabien struggled a little bit, he did the same lap times as the morning practice where he was third but as a lot of riders improved in the afternoon we knew we had to do half a second faster. Unfortunately he was blocked in a hot lap which was a shame so he's in tenth which is disappointing as we saw what he could do in the morning." |
| | 2009 WSS Europe - Donington Park 27/06/2009 | |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time |
| 1 | Cal Crutchlow | Yamaha | GBR | 1'31.701 |
| 2 | Eugene Laverty | Honda | GBR | 1'32.222 |
| 3 | Joan Lascorz | Kawasaki | ESP | 1'32.481 |
| 4 | Kenan Sofuoglu | Honda | TUR | 1'32.818 |
| 5 | Mark Aitchison | Honda | AUS | 1'32.846 |
| 6 | Garry McCoy | Triumph | AUS | 1'32.879 |
| 7 | Massimo Roccoli | Honda | ITA | 1'33.062 |
| 8 | Katsuaki Fujiwara | Kawasaki | JPN | 1'33.120 |
| 9 | Anthony West | Honda | AUS | 1'33.143 |
| 10 | Fabien Foret | Yamaha | FRA | 1'33.182 |
| 11 | Michele Pirro | Yamaha | ITA | 1'33.283 |
| 12 | Gianluca Nannelli | Triumph | ITA | 1'33.365 |
| 13 | Miguel Praia | Honda | POR | 1'33.455 |
| 14 | Danilo Dell'omo | Honda | ITA | 1'33.476 |
| 15 | Andrew Pitt | Honda | AUS | 1'33.544 |
| 16 | Hudson Kennaugh | Yamaha | RSA | 1'33.590 |
| 29 | Yannick Guerra | Yamaha | ESP | 1'36.273 |
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