| QUALIFYING 1 REPORT | 26/06/2009 | | Yamaha get straight onto the pace in Donington | | |  | Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies got straight down to business at Donington today, with some rain falling in the second session. His track knowledge gained at last year's MotoGP clearly paid off as he ended the first free practice session of the day at the top of the time sheets ahead of British Superbike wildcard Leon Camier on the Airwaves Yamaha. The qualifying session saw Spies using old tyres from the morning's free practice while he worked on a good set up for the weekend. He finished the first qualifying session of the weekend in third, just half a second behind leader Fabrizio.
Team-mate Tom Sykes was clearly happy to be on a circuit he knows well and was regularly in the top five in the free practice session whilst setting up his Yamaha R1 for the Donington circuit for the first time, eventually finishing in eighth position. The afternoon's qualifying session saw him repeatedly in the top three however a change of set up in the last ten minutes to try different settings saw him drop to end the session in 11th.
Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (3rd, 1'31.294)
"today went well for us. We started out with a good first session. The second session started out wet, we tried a very different set up to the one we used in Misano and straight away we were quick, when the track was wet we were second quickest which was good. When it dried out we put on tyres that we had used in the first free practice session and put race distance on them. They were heat cycled and already had a lot of laps on them from this morning and we were still right there and running 1'31s easily so the bike's working really well. I'm looking forward to tomorrow." |
|  | Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (11th, 1'31.838)
"today we've made big steps, but I was a little bit annoyed that we made the top three in the qualifying session then with ten minutes to go I came in to make some changes which didn't work. By the time I was back out I didn't want to come back in so I put my head down and tried my best. I knew if I'd stayed with the setting from before I think we could have improved by at least 5/10ths plus. It's not where I wanted to be in first qualifying so I'll have to put my head down in qualifying tomorrow for a few laps just to put a good time in. overall I think things are progressing and I certainly think we'll be there at the end of the weekend."
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
"Pretty good for the first day. For sure the rain compromised it a bit, so we were unable to try some things we had planned but in the end we finished close to the front so we are still confident we can do another good result. Let's see what the weather brings tomorrow, both riders are confident and keen to get back on the track in the morning." |
| | 2009 WSB Europe - Donington Park 26/06/2009 | | Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time | | 1 | Michel Fabrizio | Ducati | ITA | 1'30.775 | | 2 | Leon Haslam | Honda | GBR | 1'31.191 | | 3 | Ben Spies | Yamaha | USA | 1'31.294 | | 4 | Gregorio Lavilla | Ducati | ESP | 1'31.401 | | 5 | Shane Byrne | Ducati | GBR | 1'31.436 | | 6 | Leon Camier | Yamaha | GBR | 1'31.454 | | 7 | Jakub Smrz | Ducati | CZE | 1'01.000 | | 8 | Lorenzo Lanzi | Ducati | ITA | 1'31.705 | | 9 | Carlos Checa | Honda | ESP | 1'31.736 | | 10 | Noriyuki Haga | Ducati | JPN | 1'31.760 | | 11 | Tom Sykes | Yamaha | GBR | 1'31.838 | | 12 | James Ellison | Yamaha | GBR | 1'31.890 | | 13 | Max Biaggi | Aprilia | ITA | 1'31.913 | | 14 | John Hopkins | Honda | USA | 1'32.007 | | 15 | Jonathan Rea | Honda | GBR | 1'32.103 | | 27 | David Checa | Yamaha | ESP | 1'34.259 |
| FREE PRACTICE REPORT | 26/06/2009 | | No pain no gain for Crutchlow as he tops the time sheets on day one in Donington | | |  | The first session of free practice at Donington was a bittersweet affair for British rider Cal Crutchlow after a high side on the first lap saw him break a bone in his ankle. Undeterred he switched to his second bike and proceeded to lay down consistently fast laps for the duration of the session, ignoring his obvious discomfort to finish at the top of the time sheets, over 3/10ths of a second faster than second placed rider Lascorz.
Team-mate Fabien Foret had an equally impressive start to the race weekend. Having missed last year's World Supersport race here through injury and never having ridden here on the R6 before, he made short work of the session, lapping consistently quickly and finishing the day in fourth and still looking to make some set up improvements in advance of tomorrow's qualifying.
Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (1st, 1'33.323)
"it was hard session for us today. It was good enough and we still came out on top. We tried something with the bike and the gearbox which didn't work so we went back to our usual setting which worked fine. Once I managed to get out of the medical centre I was all guns blazing. I'm very sore in both arms and hand, and my ankle is broken but I'll rest tonight and we'll have a good go tomorrow." |
|  | Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (4th, 1'33.928)
" It was actually a pretty good session for me, I was quite relaxed. I didn't race here last year so I tried to improve a little bit in different places and in the end it wasn't so bad. The bike is working ok but there are still some changes I want to make. Let's see what the weather will be like tomorrow, I hope it will be a bit more dry. A good start anyway!"
Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
"mixed feelings I have to say! We were fastest in the free practice on the first day but a big crash in the first lap from Cal. He's bruised everywhere but I think on adrenalin he was able to finish the practice, and his lap time was good. I'm afraid tomorrow he's going to feel some pain. These guys always want to try hard at their home track and I think he was just a bit hot too early, hopefully it won't hold him back tomorrow. Fabien is quite happy, he changed his approach to the first session a bit and he feels really well. He was not completely pleased with the setup but still he finished fourth so let's see what tomorrow brings as he's feeling good so we're pretty confident. |
| | 2009 WSS Europe - Donington Park 26/06/2009 | |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time |
| 1 | Cal Crutchlow | Yamaha | GBR | 1'33.323 |
| 2 | Joan Lascorz | Kawasaki | ESP | 1'33.650 |
| 3 | Eugene Laverty | Honda | GBR | 1'33.871 |
| 4 | Fabien Foret | Yamaha | FRA | 1'33.928 |
| 5 | Kenan Sofuoglu | Honda | TUR | 1'34.175 |
| 6 | Katsuaki Fujiwara | Kawasaki | JPN | 1'34.219 |
| 7 | Mark Aitchison | Honda | AUS | 1'34.578 |
| 8 | Garry McCoy | Triumph | AUS | 1'34.986 |
| 9 | Anthony West | Honda | AUS | 1'35.015 |
| 10 | Barry Veneman | Honda | NED | 1'35.061 |
| 11 | Miguel Praia | Honda | POR | 1'35.141 |
| 12 | Andrew Pitt | Honda | AUS | 1'35.209 |
| 13 | James Westmorland | Triumph | GBR | 1'35.248 |
| 14 | Michele Pirro | Yamaha | ITA | 1'35.253 |
| 15 | Robbin Harms | Honda | DNK | 1'35.267 |
| 21 | Hudson Kennaugh | Yamaha | RSA | 1'36.261 |
| 27 | Yannick Guerra | Yamaha | ESP | 1'37.704 |
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