| FREE PRACTICE REPORT | 25/09/2009 | | Challenging start to Imola for the Yamaha World Superbike Team riders | | |  | The first day of free practice did not go according to plan at Imola today. The first scheduled Superbike free practice session lasted for just two laps, with less than perfect conditions resulting in a huge high side crash for rider Tom Sykes. Luckily he walked away uninjured. Touring Car racing the weekend previously had resulted in a dirty track with minimal grip and spilt oil in places. The track was re-cleaned and practice got underway after several hours delay. Spies was quick from the word go, dropping into second position two tenths behind leader Byrne as soon as he started. He went on to take the lead until the closing moments, dropping to third as the free practice session ended.
Team mate Tom Sykes was working hard lower down the board, starting in 21st, the British rider improved his times to take 18th spot at the end. Sykes was still suffering from his huge high side crash which brought the first session to a premature end.
As a result of the closures and delays there will be just one qualifying session for the Superbike riders this weekend on the Saturday.
Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (3rd, 1'50.213)
"we got straight down to it this afternoon when we could finally get on track. Since we lost a lot of time today we've been focusing on the race set-up. There's a tyre that I think most people where on today which we haven't tried yet so we'll throw that in there tomorrow. We've got some time still to find, but we're on it. The cleaning made a big difference to the track, and felt a lot better, although still slower than the test. I think it will get better tomorrow."
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|  | Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (18th, 1'51.922)
"It was a very strange day today, the first time I can remember most of the day being cancelled that's for sure. It was a big crash for me this morning, I thought I was feeling ok from it but in the afternoon session I felt a bit sick so the knock was a bit more than I first thought. I'm going to have a nice sleep tonight and I'll come out tomorrow swinging. I'm a bit disappointed in my times as I was doing good 1.50s and 1.49s in the test and am a bit off that so far today. We've got different settings on the bike to try so we'll go back to basics and see what we can do tomorrow."
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team
"Today was definitely a strange day, we lost a complete session. Fortunately they found a way to clean the circuit so we had at least one practice today. In the end we are lucky to have already tested here so although we'll miss the practice, we still have a good set up to work from. Tom had a big crash today but we're happy that he's fine and ok. We will have some work to do tomorrow, the bike needs some improvement as the temperature is very different from the test, so we are looking forward to getting started in the morning."
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| Circuit Length: 4959
Lap Record: 1'50.266 (Alex Barros, 01/01/2006)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'48.804 (Troy Bayliss, 01/10/2006)
| | | 2009 WSB Italy - Imola 25/09/2009 | | Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time | | 1 | Michel Fabrizio | Ducati | ITA | 1'49.895 | | 2 | Carlos Checa | Honda | ESP | 1'50.125 | | 3 | Ben Spies | Yamaha | USA | 1'50.213 | | 4 | Jonathan Rea | Honda | GBR | 1'50.308 | | 5 | Max Biaggi | Aprilia | ITA | 1'50.515 | | 6 | Yukio Kagayama | Suzuki | JPN | 1'50.516 | | 7 | Leon Haslam | Honda | GBR | 1'50.716 | | 8 | Shane Byrne | Ducati | GBR | 1'50.801 | | 9 | Jakub Smrz | Ducati | CZE | 1'50.806 | | 10 | Troy Corser | BMW | AUS | 1'50.876 | | 11 | Matthieu Lagrive | Honda | FRA | 1'51.003 | | 12 | Marco Simoncelli | Aprilia | ITA | 1'51.090 | | 13 | Noriyuki Haga | Ducati | JPN | 1'51.112 | | 14 | Lorenzo Lanzi | Ducati | ITA | 1'51.333 | | 15 | Karl Muggeridge | Suzuki | AUS | 1'51.527 | | 18 | Tom Sykes | Yamaha | GBR | 1'51.922 | | 27 | David Checa | Yamaha | ESP | 1'54.428 |
| FREE PRACTICE REPORT | 25/09/2009 | | Careful start for Crutchlow and Foret | | |  | Following the un-scheduled closure of the track for further cleaning it was the Supersport riders who first took to the circuit to lay down some rubber in their delayed free practice session at Imola today. With 35 minutes of the practice session gone, Crutchlow ventured out onto the track and immediately took second place on the standings, two tenths of a second off leader Kenan Sofuoglu. With seven minutes remaining he had increased this to over two seconds as the grip increased on track. He ended the session a clear half second ahead of the rest of the field.
Team mate Fabien Foret had a slower start to the day, again like Crutchlow waiting until mid way through the session before taking to the track. Foret was careful not push too hard in the difficult conditions, and was happy to confirm some settings in advance of a faster session tomorrow.
Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (1st, 1'52.751)
"I thought we made the best of a bad day today, with the sessions being stopped and delayed. The track temperature wasn't great and the grip was really bad considering. It was so unpredictable making it very difficult to judge my speed round the track. We'll just have to keep on doing what we're doing and see what tomorrow brings."
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|  | Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Superbike Team (13th, 1'57.449)
"What can I say, not the best conditions for us to make any changes to the bike after our test. I took it easy but even if I had been going faster I don't think I would have made any changes to the bike before tomorrow. We know our base setting so hopefully when the track is more normal tomorrow we can fine tune it and get ready for Sunday."
Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
"We waited a long time to be able to get out on track to get some rubber down. We've been working today to be as fast as possible but also to keep some safety for the riders which is why we waited so long to come out in the session. None of the riders have enjoyed riding on the circuit today. Although Cal was fastest he wasn't enjoying himself, and Fabien was the same. They had very little feeling, the tyres felt very un-precise on the surface, a completely different feeling to when we had our test here. I don't think it should be our job to clean the track but it seems we were basically track cleaners today." |
| | 2009 WSS Italy - Imola 25/09/2009 | |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time |
| 1 | Cal Crutchlow | Yamaha | GBR | 1'52.751 |
| 2 | Kenan Sofuoglu | Honda | TUR | 1'53.234 |
| 3 | Joan Lascorz | Kawasaki | ESP | 1'54.897 |
| 4 | Eugene Laverty | Honda | GBR | 1'55.270 |
| 5 | Michele Pirro | Yamaha | ITA | 1'55.354 |
| 6 | Mark Aitchison | Honda | AUS | 1'55.499 |
| 7 | Massimo Roccoli | Honda | ITA | 1'55.564 |
| 8 | Andrew Pitt | Honda | AUS | 1'56.198 |
| 9 | Anthony West | Honda | AUS | 1'56.443 |
| 10 | Chaz Davies | Triumph | GBR | 1'56.537 |
| 11 | Danilo Dell'omo | Honda | ITA | 1'56.737 |
| 12 | Katsuaki Fujiwara | Kawasaki | JPN | 1'57.438 |
| 13 | Fabien Foret | Yamaha | FRA | 1'57.449 |
| 14 | Sam Lowes | Honda | GBR | 1'57.644 |
| 15 | Miguel Praia | Honda | POR | 1'57.662 |
| 23 | Emanuele Russo | Yamaha | ITA | 1'59.837 |
| 28 | Doni Tata Pradita | Yamaha | IDN | 2'01.509 |
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