Ben Spies claims the all time World Superbike Superpole record

QUALIFYING 2 REPORT 24/10/2009 Spies claims the all time World Superbike Superpole record Any doubt of Ben Spies' claim to all-time rookie fame was squashed today as he took pole position ahead of tomorrow's races with an incredible flying Superpole lap. This makes eleven poles for Spies, and gives him the record for most poles in a season ever in World Superbike to add to his other records already smashed this year. The American rider had a clear strategy for the three Superpole heats, coming out for just one lap in the first to qualify fifth for the second session with a 1'43.532. He then switched to a qualifier for the second heat and immediately dropped below the 1.43 mark to put in an astonishing 1'42.568, nearly eight tenths of a second faster than the previous lap record held by Troy Bayliss in 2008. Having moved through to the final heat, Spies then made it clear he was here to win this weekend, using his second qualifier to smash his own record, setting pole with an incredible 1'42.412. Spies had spent the earlier qualifying and free practice sessions working quietly on the set up of his race bike, holding out for the Superpole to reveal the Yamaha's balance and turn of speed. Yamaha World Superbike rider Tom Sykes continued to struggle today with his shoulder injury. The British rider bravely battled on despite being in serious pain and discomfort, but was unable to translate his efforts into a fast consistent lap time on what is a very physical track. He will start tomorrow's two races from 21st on the grid. Ben Spies Ben Spies, Yamaha World superbike Team (1st ,1'42.412) "Getting the Superpole record is cool, it's one of those things that one day I'll look back on and enjoy, however right now I just see it as track position for me. I've got no other goals but to gain further help for my race tomorrow. We saw Haga struggle a little bit today but I'm sure Ducati will work it out quickly. We're just going to put it together tomorrow and see what happens. We've not wanted to show our pace until Superpole, then we pinned it and got some good laps in. We've got some other things to work on for race day and hopefully we can tie it down some more." Tom Sykes Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (21st, 1'44.978) "We tried a number of things today to get myself comfortable, I've spent a lot of time in the Clinica Mobile, hats off to them they are working really hard to patch me up. It seems I need more time to recover from the injury properly though. I'm really sorry for the Yamaha World superbike Team. To end this way is not ideal for me, It's not how I wanted to repay them for a season of hard work, we'll see what tomorrow brings." Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team "There are places where we can still improve on Ben's bike so for sure tonight the guys will try to find some solutions to make him more comfortable, hopefully we'll see positive results from that in the morning warm up. Tom unfortunately missed the Superpole session but I was expecting something like that today as he has been in a lot of pain. I know what he's feeling so all I can say is that he's trying really hard." Circuit Length: 4692 Fastest Lap Ever: 1'42.412 (Ben Spies, 25/10/2009) Last Years Winner: Troy Bayliss 2009 WSB Portugal - Portimão 24/10/2009 Superpole Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 1'42.412 2 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 1'42.996 3 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 1'43.015 4 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 1'43.126 5 Leon Haslam Honda GBR 1'43.523 6 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 1'43.526 7 Fonsi Nieto Ducati ESP 1'43.553 8 Troy Corser BMW AUS 1'44.719 9 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'43.240 10 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 1'43.377 11 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 1'43.406 12 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 1'43.461 13 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 1'43.671 14 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'43.717 15 Makoto Tamada Kawasaki JPN 1'44.050 Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Nat. QUAL I QUAL II 1 Jonathan Rea GBR 1'43.786 1'43.458 2 Michel Fabrizio ITA 1'44.154 1'43.597 3 Max Biaggi ITA 1'44.210 1'43.714 4 Jakub Smrz CZE 1'43.866 1'43.796 5 Noriyuki Haga JPN 1'44.254 1'43.803 6 Ben Spies USA 1'43.870 1'43.870 7 Shane Byrne GBR 1'43.947 1'43.885 8 Leon Haslam GBR 1'44.324 1'43.943 9 Carlos Checa ESP 1'43.945 1'43.945 10 Fonsi Nieto ESP 1'44.005 1'44.005 11 Luca Scassa ITA 1'45.077 1'44.010 12 Troy Corser AUS 1'44.830 1'44.039 13 Yukio Kagayama JPN 1'44.674 1'44.087 14 Matthieu Lagrive FRA 1'45.133 1'44.214 15 Leon Camier GBR 1'45.333 1'44.264 21 Tom Sykes GBR 1'45.239 1'44.978 25 David Checa ESP 1'46.775 1'46.006 QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 24/10/2009 Crutchlow sets up on the front row for race day Yamaha World Supersport rider Cal Crutchlow continued to show the fast consistent pace needed to claim the title this weekend in today's Supersport qualifying session. The British rider was never out of the top three, showing consistent fast lap times throughout the session. Crutchlow ended the heat with a front row start on the grid in second spot. His final time of 1'44.909 was less than a tenth of a second of pole position rival Eugene Laverty. Crutchlow's team mate Fabien Foret had a solid session but ended still looking for something extra from his Yamaha R6. The French rider improved his set up from the first day but still felt he could find further feeling in the front end for tomorrow's race Cal Crutchlow Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (2nd, 1'44.909) "It was a good enough session for today and I'm really happy to have qualified on the front row. I do need to be careful tomorrow, I need to stay out of the way of any less experienced riders and keep my focus. I need to do my job, which is to win the championship and not just the race." Fabien Foret Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (8th, 1'45.742) "Another second row start for me, I think we're still missing something to make the bike more comfortable and stable. Otherwise I still find it hard to do one flying lap but overall my pace is good. I hope we can improve the bike a little bit in the warm up then I can manage a pretty strong race and anything could happen." Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager "Everything is good today, Cal just missed out on pole to Eugene by a tenth of a second, he was looking hot for a couple of laps and his time did drop into the red but it didn't work out. He didn't come in to change tyres, he just continued so that may not have helped. It would have been nice to take the last pole position of the championship but it's not our target, we need the championship title, and with our lap times it should be in range. Fabien struggled a bit in qualifying with the front end, he feels the bike is a bit nervous so his ideal lap should be half a second faster. We are hoping to find a solution for that, but other than that his speed is good and he's fit and ready for it so we'll see." Circuit Length: 4692 Fastest Lap Ever: 1'44.836 (Eugene Laverty, 25/10/2009) Last Years Winner: Kenan Sofuoglu 2009 WSS Portugal - Portimão 24/10/2009

Qualifying 1

Pos.	Rider	Manu.	Nat.	Total Time
1	Eugene Laverty	Honda	GBR	1'44.836
2	Cal Crutchlow	Yamaha	GBR	1'44.909
3	Michele Pirro	Yamaha	ITA	1'45.087
4	Kenan Sofuoglu	Honda	TUR	1'45.157
5	Joan Lascorz	Kawasaki	ESP	1'45.161
6	Garry McCoy	Triumph	AUS	1'45.366
7	Miguel Praia	Honda	POR	1'45.436
8	Fabien Foret	Yamaha	FRA	1'45.742
9	Mark Aitchison	Honda	AUS	1'45.886
10	Barry Veneman	Honda	NED	1'46.052
11	Andrew Pitt	Honda	AUS	1'46.072
12	Katsuaki Fujiwara	Kawasaki	JPN	1'46.216
13	Massimo Roccoli	Honda	ITA	1'46.443
14	Chaz Davies	Triumph	GBR	1'46.514
15	Martin Cardenas	Honda	COL	1'46.614
18	Kev Coghlan	Yamaha	GBR	1'47.467
20	Doni Tata Pradita	Yamaha	IDN	1'48.429
23	Yannick Guerra	Yamaha	ESP	1'48.899
25	Marcin Walkowiak	Yamaha	POL	1'50.233

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