WSBK: Rea Leads British Domination Of Portimao Tests

( from SPeed.com, Written by: Media Release, 01/24/2010, Portimao (POR
(pics by Jim Race)

Jonathan Rea powered to the best time at the end of the three-day Infront Motor Sports official Superbike test session at Portimao in Portugal. The Northern Ireland youngster’s time of 1 minute 42.270 seconds was quicker even than Ben Spies’ 2009 pole mark for Yamaha.
The battle between Rea and his fellow-Brit Leon Haslam, who had been quickest on day 1, continued right until the very end, the Suzuki Alstare man ending up three-tenths behind.
British rider domination continued with Shane Byrne taking his private Althea Ducati 1098 to third place in the timesheets, and with Cal Crutchlow, one of Yamaha Sterilgarda’s two new 2010 signings, in fourth.
In the final stages, after most of the top riders had used their soft tires normally reserved for Superpole, Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) found himself in fifth place with a time of 1’43.137 ahead of former double world champion James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda), who returns to Superbike after a gap of two seasons.

Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) was the only one of the leading runners not to go out on softer rubber and the Italian finished the test in seventh place with a time of 1’43.364, just ahead of 2009 runner-up Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), forced to slow with a technical problem during his quick lap.

Jonathan Rea: “This test was a lot of fun, we worked through everything methodically and we are in good shape to begin the season. We got most of the big things like suspension spec, linkage and swing-arm teed off so now we can go to Phillip Island and fine-tune our racing. To say we are ready to go racing at Phillip Island, we’re not sure about that, but the bike is ready and now I plan to put the next three or four weeks to good use with my trainer and hopefully I’ll be ready. We’re all excited about the prospect of racing for a world championship.”

Leon Haslam: “It’s been a really positive test, we managed to test the Suzuki for the first time in the rain and intermediate conditions. We had a few issues at the end of the day but ended up second and I was really happy with that. Every test I’ve been to so far, this is our fourth, we’ve not been outside the top 2. Hopefully we can continue progressing and I can take it to Phillip Island.”
Shane Byrne: “This is my third year riding the Ducati and I honestly thought I knew everything there was to know about these bikes, but this year Genesio (Bevilacqua, team owner) has put together a fantastic team and we have two very good bikes. I have a strong teammate, everything about the team is very good, the bike is so different from last year, and we made some really good progress in three days. I wish the second day had been dry also, so we still have some more work to do now at Valencia and Phillip Island before the first race.”

The 2010 winter tests will conclude at Phillip Island the week before the start of the season at the same circuit in Australia on February 28th. In the next few days however several teams, including BMW, Aprilia and Ducati, will be heading to Valencia for some extra testing.

Portimao Testing - Superbike Overall (Friday/Saturday/Sunday)
1 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'42.270
2 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'42.557
3 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'42.877
4 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'42.960
5 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'43.137
6 52 Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'43.157
7 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1'43.364
8 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'43.417
9 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 1'43.471
10 50 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'43.508
11 7 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'43.629
12 2 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1'43.749
13 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'43.931
14 77 Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'44.108
15 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'44.365
16 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'44.570
17 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 1'44.751
18 31 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'45.348
19 95 Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'46.990
20 12 Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'47.293

WSBK arrives in Donington

British WSBK invasion returns home for Donington round

Thursday, 25 June 2009 16:16worldsbk.com

The top World Superbike riders got together for a meet and greet with the media this morning at the Donington Park Grand Prix Collection museum in the build-up towards round 9 of the championship. Following the spectacular racing at Misano World Circuit just a few days ago, this weekend will surely see more of the same as the season moves into its second half. Anglo-American rivalry will be one of the key aspects of the weekend as this year's top influx of British riders return to home ground, while the Ducati-Yamaha battle at the top becomes even more intense.

Britain's Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who became the fourth winner this year at Misano, started the ball rolling: "It was nice for me and the whole team to win at Misano because they've been working so hard since the start of the year. For me to be the guy who gets the team's first win of the year is really surreal because Carlos and Kiyo are such accomplished riders and it's really set me up with some momentum for my home race here".

Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), who leads the table on 292 points, has been coming to Donington since 1998, when he picked up a double win: "I remember coming here many years ago and winning both races against Corser and Fogarty, which was a great satisfaction for me. I actually like this track and always find strange conditions here, but I hope this weekend it will be sunshine and I have to try and win again. With Ducati I try to push hard and win the title this year".

For Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike), the Donington circuit is a familiar track on this year's calendar, as he did the MotoGP race last year: "We were here last year, so I know this one! This weekend's important for us, it's good with all the British guys in town. Right now for me, we need a good result, it could backfire but we're going to give it everything, hopefully we'll get some good weather and some good racing. My team-mate Tom knows the circuit well, so I'm going to be latching on to him in the first session!".

Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) finally scored his first podium of the year last week with a second place in race 1, and could even have come away with a sensational win: "It wasn't for lack of trying!" said Shakey. "It was a good race and nice to have a bit of success. Since the winter test, things have been very difficult but it was a good time to get back to form with Donington coming up this weekend and I'm really looking forward to it".

Derby-born Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda) had an excellent start to the season with a brace of podiums, but has found it difficult to keep the momentum flowing in recent races: "The last four rounds have been pretty tough because the last four circuits I've not been to but Phillip Island and Assen, which I do know, have produced good results so I'm going to try and get back on the podium this weekend at my home round. The effort that the team is putting in is second to none, it's fantastic, but it gets a bit frustrating sometimes because we know we can finish on the podium at every race".

About Donington Park

The Donington Park circuit is situated near Castle Donington and is one of Britain's most famous and most popular venues. The original track was opened in 1931 and initially used for motorcycle races, but was then closed in 1939 due to World War 2. In the early 1970s the circuit was bought by Tom Wheatcroft, who funded the rebuilding of the circuit, which was re-opened in 1977. The Melbourne Loop was built in 1985 to increase the lap distance to 2.5 miles (4.02 km) and allow the track to host Grand Prix motorcycle races. In recent times Donington has held World Superbike, MotoGP, British Touring Car Championship and British Superbikes, as well as the 1993 F1 European Grand Prix.

Lap records: Race - Troy Bayliss (Ducati) 1'31.575 (2007); Best lap - Troy Bayliss (Ducati) 1'30.370 (2007).

The UK Round of the HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship takes place from Friday 26th through Sunday 28th June. The action starts with free practice and qualifying the first two days, followed by WSBK Superpole on Saturday at 15.00. The two 23-lap (92.529 km) Superbike races are scheduled to run on Sunday at 12.00 and 15.30, with the 22-lap (88.506 km) Supersport race at 13.25 local time.

Gang of Four winners meet up at Donington

Wednesday, 24 June 2009 18:13worldsbk.com

The echoes of a splendid weekend of racing at Misano World Circuit are still ringing loud and clear as the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship crosses the English Channel for its next appointment, round 9 at Donington Park. The British circuit, situated directly under the East Midlands Airport landing strip, measures 4.023 km, has 15 curves and is a difficult track to master, a severe test for the resistance and concentration of riders, especially if it should rain.

The championship heads into its second half of the season with Noriyuki Haga, Ben Spies and Michel Fabrizio the big favourites, but also with Jonathan Rea, who took a fantastic win in race 2 at Misano, now part of the gang of four winners. Haga is the current rider who has the most wins at Donington, three, and he is followed by Troy Corser (2) and Kiyonari on 1. The most successful rider is Carl Fogarty with six wins to his name, followed by Scott Russell with 5. On the manufacturer front, the lion's share goes to Ducati with 16 in 34 races, then Yamaha and Honda equal on 6, Kawasaki on 5 and Suzuki on 1.

TRADING WINNING PLACES - Even though six rounds remain (and 300 points are up for grabs), the fight for the title appears to be a three-way affair between the Ducati Xerox duo of Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio, and Yamaha World Superbike's Ben Spies. Nitro-Nori has led the standings since the start of the season, but has not had a positive run recently and has given the impression of racing somewhat in defense. He still has a 48 point lead over Spies, who picked up his eighth win at Misano, but had it not been for the various technical problems that have afflicted him, the Texan would be right there with his rival. At least this time around Spies is not faced with a totally unfamiliar track, having raced here last year for Suzuki in MotoGP as stand-in for the injured Loris Capirossi, finishing 14th. As for Fabrizio, after unleashing all of his talent in race 2 at Monza, the Italian has just kept on going and has accumulated a constant sequence of podiums without however stepping onto the top rung. Fabrizio is in excellent form, has nothing to lose and will surely be a contender this weekend.

HOME RUN FOR HOME RIDERS - Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) might not be a part of the title battle as he is 125 points behind, but he may yet have a say in the matter. Race 2 at Misano brought out the Northern Ireland youngster's talent, and this, together with the improved competitiveness of the Hondas following a switch to Ohlins suspensions, means that he will be a potential winner this weekend at the only British round in this year's championship. Eyes out as well for Tom Sykes (Yamaha World Superbike), who finished runner-up to Bayliss last year in race 1, Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda), Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati), galvanized by his Misano podium, and also Ryuichi Kiyonari (Ten Kate Honda) who, despite clearly not being British, twice won the BSB championship as well as the second race here last year. It will also be interesting to see how the young wild-card, and current BSB points leader, Leon Camier fares on the Airwaves Yamaha R1 machine against the WSB regulars at his home track.

MID-SEASON SLUMP - After a positive (Aprilia) and fairly good (BMW) start to the season, the two rookie WSB manufacturers now appear to be in a mid-season slump against their racing cousins, Ducati, Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki. At Misano the Aprilia Racing duo of Max Biaggi and Shinya Nakano only succeeded in bringing home a handful of points, without ever getting a look-in. BMW fared even worse, with just two points scored for 14th by Ruben Xaus, and none by a still sore Troy Corser. Immediately after the Donington round both the Italian and German squads have scheduled testing sessions to try out new updates and evolution components. For this weekend Aprilia probably have the higher ambitions, as Biaggi has a particular feeling with Donington; the Italian has finished his four SBK races here with a second, two thirds and a sixth place.

YOUNG AMERICAN - The American contingent in the championship goes up by one at Donington after the Alstare Suzuki team, while waiting for the return of Max Neukirchner, opted to replace Fonsi Nieto with the young American Blake Young. The 21 year-old from Wisconsin is thought to be one of the best young talents around and comes with the ‘backing' of racing legend and former champion, Kevin Schwantz. Young joins his fellow Americans Ben Spies, Jamie Hacking and John Hopkins in the series.

The X-Rea Factor

Wednesday, 24 June 2009 15:53 worldsbk.com

The list of world Superbike race winners grew to 62 in total last weekend, when Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) found the X- factor he and his team had been missing so far as he posted his first career victory. Honda, and the ‘conventional' four-cylinder machines in general, also took a first race win of the 2009 season.

It was a reward for Rea for his perseverance and sheer determination to succeed, and for his team's endless hard work to find ‘the combination' to allow their true potential to be translated into their first win since Ryuichi Kiyonari's at Donington last year.

Rea is of course highly positive about his prospects at Donington this coming Sunday, not just because it is his home race. "You could say I know which way the circuit goes..." joked Rea at the post race press conference in Misano. "It is really nice there and we'll come back strong at Donington. We have only had four or five days with our new suspension so with another seven in between we will get even better."

The cool-headedness which typified his approach to the race-long fight with Fabrizio at Misano is a characteristic that singles Rea out as a real prospect for the immediate and long-term future. His businesslike comments only 30-minutes or so after such a landmark win for him and his team just add to the impression that Rea is really going places. "I don't want to get carried away because I want to keep winning," said Rea. "When I crossed the line for the last time I didn't know what to think, but my first thought was that ‘I hope the boys in my team really enjoy this.' So I wanted them to have a few beers and savour the moment because next week we have another tough job ahead."

Still only 22 years old, Rea's racing education on a Superbike has been long in the making and a story of ever-increasing achievement. So although he may be a rookie in WSB, he is no stranger to Honda Fireblades.

He raced in Red Bull Honda colours in BSB as far back as 2005, finishing 16th that year, and even securing a pole position. One season later he was fourth overall, with four podiums and two poles. One year after that, in the official HM Plant Honda team, he was runner-up behind Kiyonari, taking five wins along the way. As an official Honda rider Rea has also had the chance to impress the Honda bosses in Japan, by running strongly in testing and racing at the Suzuka 8-Hour, so it looks like Honda is the way forward for the man from Northern Ireland.

His Supersport exploits in 2008 are well documented to regular WSS followers - three wins, six podiums in all and a runner-up spot only to his more experienced team-mate, Andrew Pitt.

With one WSB win down, Rea must be a favourite at a circuit he knows better than any other on the WSB trail.

World Superbike Misano Results

Chris McNeil from:motorcycle-usa.com

Sunday, June 21, 2009

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Race 1

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) scored his eighth win of the season in the first World Superbike race at the Misano World Circuit in San Marino, Italy. Drama unfolded as the race was held in flag-to-flag conditions, all riders starting with their full wet tires and switching mid-way to finish in the dry. Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) had a dominate lead over Ruben Xaus, Michel Fabrizio and Spies mid-way through the 24-lap race. Spies and Fabrizio both chose to change to their dry bikes on the 13 lap, which proved the turning point of the race. Equipped with his slick tires the Texan slipped back on the track behind Fabrizio in eighth. By lap 17 he had taken the lead from Xaus and set the pace for the rest of the race, finishing almost eight seconds ahead of runner-up Byrne.

Ben Spies' focus was on getting ahead of Michel Fabrizio, who has been running at a similar pace throughout the weekend and last few rounds of World Superbike.

"I stayed as close as I could to Fabrizio, I couldn’t run Byrne’s pace but wanted to stay with Michel as he was the one who mattered to me in the championship, " explained the rider known as the Texas Terror. "I picked the right moment to come in and get out on dry tires and switch bikes and put in good pace and we managed to win the race."

It took a couple laps for Fabrizio to find feeling with his Ducati 1198, but he was able to hold-off the rapidly charging poleman Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Racing Ducati) in a very close battle for the last podium position. Despite being 20 seconds behind Smrz, Haga managed to garner 11 points as he passed fellow Japanese rider Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare) to take fifth.

Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate) was the first Honda to the checkered-flag despite starting from the back of the grid and also picking up a ride-through penalty. Tom Sykes made up for an average qualifying position to take eight more points for Factory Yamaha, adding to Spies' first-place trophy of 25. Shinya Nakano was the top Aprilia rider in ninth, with Biaggi also collecting three points in 13th. World Superbike rookie Matt Lagrive, who was chosen by the Honda Althea team to permanently replace struggling English racer Tommy Hill in Round 5, scored his first points of the season in tenth.

Ruben Xaus led the race with seven laps to go, but received a 'ride-through' penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed after coming in to switch bikes. Xaus would finish in 14th and take the only points for the BMW team in Round 8, with his teammate Troy Corser sitting out Race 1 after an electronic problem caused him to high-side during the warm-up lap. Fortunately the Australian ride did not further injure his shoulder in the crash. The last point went to Alex Polita, who replaces Celani Suzuki's injured Karl Muggeridge during this round and the next at Donington.

The 2008 British Superbike champion Shane Byrne took his first podium of the 2009 World Superbike season in Race 1.
Ben Spies: "It was a hard one, we knew from the start it was going to get dry and in that first half hats off to Shakey, he rode great. I had the feeling in the rain that I wasn't quite happy but I tried as hard as I could to stay close to Michel. My box showed me that some riders were starting to come in for a change so I said that it was time to get in now. It was a hectic race, pretty eventful, not a great race but I was happy to pull this one off."

Shane Byrne: "That was a fantastic race. It's a shame it didn't stay wet for a little bit longer because I had a really big lead at one point. I wasn't sure what to do with the tyre situation and all the time the lead was going up, and I didn't know whether to stay out or not. I switched bikes with about seven laps to go and the first two laps were really difficult. Ben had done a couple more dry laps than I had, he passed me and there was no way I was going to get him. It was a fantastic result for the team at their home circuit, they've all worked really hard."

Michel Fabrizio: "That's not a bad result, it was a great battle with Jakub for the final podium slot. When I saw that on the big screen that he was getting closer and closer, I knew that I had to invent something special on the last lap. I was unable to find the best possible feeling immediately with the dry tyres and I slipped back a bit but I've had a lot of bad luck in recent years at Misano so I'm very happy to get onto the podium." (worldsbk.com)

Misano World Superbike - Race 1 Results
1. Ben Spies (Yamaha YZF-R1) 45'02.773
2. Shane Byrne (Ducati 1098R) +7.931
3. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati 1098R) +11.836
4. Jakub Smrz (Ducati 1098R) +11.886
5. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati 1098R) +31.670
6. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9) +33.241
7. Jonathan Rea (Honda CBR1000RR) +35.772
8. Tom Sykes (Yamaha YZF-R1) +41.931
9. Shinya Nakano (Aprilia RSV4) +51.507
10. Matthieu Lagrive (Honda CBR1000RR) +59.921
11. Carlos Checa (Honda CBR1000RR) +1'04.285
12. Leon Haslam (Honda CBR1000RR) +1'04.313
13. Max Biaggi (Aprilia RSV4) +1'19.822
14. Ruben Xaus (BMW S1000RR) +1'22.412
15. Alex Polita (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9) +1'31.635
16. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki ZX 10R) +1'39.830
17. Broc Parkes (Kawasaki ZX 10R) +1'42.964
18. Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9) +1'43.303
19. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati 1098R)
20. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Honda CBR1000RR)
21. David Checa (Yamaha YZF R1)
22. Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati 1098R)
23. David Salom (Kawasaki ZX 10R)
NC. Roland Resch (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9)
RET. Luca Scassa (Kawasaki ZX 10R)
RET. Matteo Baiocco (Kawasaki ZX 10R)
RET. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda CBR1000RR)
RET. Troy Corser (BMW S1000RR)
NP. John Hopkins (Honda CBR1000RR)

Race 2
(motorcycle-usa.com)
Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider Jonathan Rea took his maiden World Superbike victory after regaining the lead from Ducati's Michel Fabrizio on the final lap of Race 2, crossing the finish-line just 0.06 of a second ahead of the Italian. Championship leader Noriyuki Haga led the race in the opening laps, but was passed by Rea and then forced to battle with his teammate for second. Fabrizio passed Haga and then Rea to take the lead on the 16th lap, where he remained until Rea's ultimate race winning maneuver. Haga easily took the final spot on the podium as he finished over three seconds ahead of the next group of riders. Fabrizio remains third in the Championship, but narrows Haga's lead by nine points.

Privateer Ducati rider Jakub Smrz converted his pole position into another fourth-place finish when he passed Carlos Checa on the final lap as the tires of the Spaniard's Honda CBR1000RR began to peel off. Finishing just behind Checa in sixth was Shane Byrne, pairing another good run with his Race 1 podium. Tom Sykes was the first of the Yamaha World Superbike riders across the line as he battled with Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda) to win eighth. Sykes' teammate Spies dropped from second to 17th at the start following a technical issue with his clutch. The 24-year-old sorted the problem and fought his way through the field to take ninth. Although the mechanical failure undoubtedly caused Spies to miss-out on potential points, the American still managed to reduce the points lead of Haga from 53 to 48 points over the weekend.

Max Biaggi broke into the top-ten on his Aprilia RSV4, while his teammate Shinya Nakano also scored three more points for the rookie Aprilia World Superbike team. Yukio Kagayama and Fonsi Nieto each netted points for Suzuki, but the Kawasaki and BMW riders failed to finish in the top 15.

Jonathan Rea takes his first win of the season after scoring podiums in each of the last rounds.
Jonathan Rea: "To win my first race in Italy here is really special for me before my home round next weekend at Donington. As everybody's aware we switched suspensions, and tried them for the first time on Monday at Magny-Cours and the team all did a marvelous job to get me to win the race here so this is really special for them as well. I got settled into my own rhythm and Michel came past but he couldn't outbrake me and that spared my bike from doing all the running. I could pass where I wanted to pass and I saved it to the last lap. I'm really over the moon with the win!"

Michel Fabrizio: "In race 2 I didn't have a perfect feeling with the front and Rea's Honda accelerated better out of the corners than me. It's a pity I didn't win today but two podiums are my best result on this track and knowing that I did my best makes me happy. I'm just a few points behind Spies in the table and maybe I can start thinking about the title now although I realize that to be a serious candidate I have to keep on getting good results and even win a few races".

Noriyuki Haga: "Race 2 was much better than the first one: I got a good start but then Johnny and Michel passed me and it was hard to keep their pace, maybe because they're much younger than me! Seriously though we have taken home some good points and that's important because Misano is not one of my favourite tracks. Now I'm looking forward to racing at Donington where in recent years I've always had good results."(worldsbk.com)

Misano World Superbike - Race 2 Results
1. Jonathan Rea (Honda CBR1000RR) 39'11.204
2. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati 1098R) +0.063
3. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati 1098R) +0.457
4. Jakub Smrz (Ducati 1098R) +3.635
5. Carlos Checa (Honda CBR1000RR) +4.460
6. Shane Byrne (Ducati 1098R) +4.538
7. Tom Sykes (Yamaha YZF-R1) +12.679
8. Leon Haslam (Honda CBR1000RR) +12.763
9. Ben Spies (Yamaha YZF-R1) +13.237
10. Max Biaggi (Aprilia RSV4) +14.412
11. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9) +20.073
12. Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9) +20.239
13. Shinya Nakano (Aprilia RSV4) +22.351
14. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda CBR1000RR) +24.547
15. Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati 1098R) +24.696
16. Ruben Xaus (BMW S1000RR) +25.615
17. Broc Parkes (Kawasaki ZX 10R) +31.887
18. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati 1098R) +34.751
19. Troy Corser (BMW S1000RR) +38.061
20. Luca Scassa (Kawasaki ZX 10R) +47.717
21. Matthieu Lagrive (Honda CBR1000RR) +48.973
22. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki ZX 10R) +51.027
23. Alex Polita (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9) +52.526
24. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Honda CBR1000RR) +57.589
25. Roland Resch (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9) +1'36.359
RET. David Salom (Kawasaki ZX 10R)
RET. David Checa (Yamaha YZF R1)
RET. Matteo Baiocco (Kawasaki ZX 10R)

Misano- WSBK- Day 1

WSBK: Fabrizio edges out Spies

At end of Misano Q1( moto-live.com)

19/06/09 19:16

Michel Fabrizio Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) slammed in two quick laps in rapid succession at the end of today's Misano Q1 to end up with the provisional pole at the Misano World Circuit. The Italian's time of 1 minute 37.016 seconds was good enough to edge out Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) from the top slot, after the Texan rookie had headed the standings almost throughout. Third and fourth on the provisional front row of the grid went to the still injured Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare) and British rider Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). The top 19 positions in today's standings are all contained within one second, confirming the current equilibrium reigning in Superbike. The provisional front row is also made up of four different manufacturers - Ducati, Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda – with a fifth, Kawasaki, opening up the second row following a superb performance by Broc Parkes. The session also confirmed the constant improvement of the Ten Kate Honda team, with Ryuichi Kiyonari and Carlos Checa in sixth and seventh position respectively, ahead of points leader Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), four-tenths of a second down on his team-mate. After two difficult events, BMW have bounced back into the top 10, with Troy Corser running well throughout and ending up tenth overall. This time round BMW went better than Aprilia, as Shinya Nakano could only manage 11th and Max Biaggi 16th, eight-tenths off the polesitter. For the moment John Hopkins (Stiggy Racing Honda) is outside the Superpole top 20, the American down in 26th position on his return to action following his Assen crash. Misano Superbike - Free Practice 1st Session (worldsbk.com) 1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'38.049 284 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'38.154 3 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.591 4 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'38.616 5 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.645 6 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'38.746 7 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.750 8 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.935 9 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'39.043 10 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'39.047 11 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'39.095 12 10 Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'39.154 13 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'39.155 14 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'39.165 15 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'39.181 16 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'39.302 17 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'39.590 18 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'39.659 19 121 Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.814 20 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.863 21 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'39.907 22 2 Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'39.978 23 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'40.196 24 53 Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'40.297 25 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'40.305 26 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'40.385 27 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1 1'40.443 28 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'40.772 29 88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'42.365 Misano Superbike - Qualifying 1st Session (worldsbk.com) 1 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'37.016 2 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'37.102 3 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'37.209 4 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.238 5 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'37.281 6 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.396 7 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.441 8 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'37.451 9 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.490 10 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'37.503 11 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'37.630 12 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'37.702 13 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'37.710 14 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'37.773 15 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'37.786 16 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'37.813 17 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'37.898 18 10 Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'37.979 19 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'37.992 20 2 Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.441 21 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.522 22 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.671 23 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.755 24 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.827 25 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1 1'38.828 26 121 Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.856 27 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.067 28 53 Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'39.308 29 88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'40.489 Hopkins is back on track At Misano 19/06/09 15:51 (moto-live.com) American John Hopkins makes his return to the series this weekend for a second chance to show how well he can fare on the Stiggy Racing Honda Superbike. The high profile entrant to the Superbike series made a promising start with his new team at Valencia, but had to back down only two weeks later, after a horrific crash in the opening practice at Assen sidelined the ex-MotoGP rider for four rounds. A tough and determined John Hopkins has recuperated from his injuries in just six weeks time though, and is eager to hunt down the front runners of the Superbike field once again at one of his favourite tracks this weekend. " Misano is a track I do like a lot. I had some decent results there in the past, and got on the podium in the 2007 MotoGP race. It is a circuit I enjoy well, and the audience is always great. People really take a liking towards the World Superbike series, and I expect the atmosphere to be similar to the one we received at the MotoGP races”, he said. “It is going to be an exciting race and hopefully I can be out there from the start. Right now, I am not going to make any promises of running at the front of the field. I am just taking it step-by-step and focus on getting a good feeling with the bike again and set the best possible results for the team and myself." In the remaining seven rounds and 14 races of the championship there are another 350 points to divide, before the new World Superbike champion will be crowned. Ben Spies Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (2nd, 1'37.102) "It was a good first day for us, the second session we opted to run race set up and we never put any new tyres on. A race is 22 laps around here, on the 22nd lap today we were half a second off the fastest lap done here. I'm pleased with that and we ran our whole race simulation in the 37's. I'm ecstatic about the bike and tomorrow if it stays dry we know we've got a good package. We know if we put sticky tyres on it's definitely going to go fast. If it rains, I guess we get some good rain time and go play in the rain. It's still tough for us coming and learning these new tracks so I'm glad we picked it up as quickly as we did. There is still some more settings to find to be more comfortable but the speed is there. If it is wet then I hope we'll be up there too, I don't have as much time on this bike in the wet but I like riding in the rain." Tom Sykes Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (19th, 1'37.992) "I think today we've made big improvements, this morning we lost a bit of track time with a couple of things but this afternoon we went from a high 39 to a 37.9 so we've found two seconds. I'm only eight or nine tenths of the front guys which is not a lot and considering it's my first time here it's not bad. We can still make improvements over the weekend and hopefully we'll make it work and see what tomorrow brings." yamaha-racing.com

Fri+Sat news from WSBK- Round 3 - Valencia

Ben Spies took anther pole, after a slow start for the weekend he found his pas on Saturday where he took his 3rd pole out of 3 rounds.
As I predicted the other day, laconi is improving every round and today he proved me right by qualifying second. So well done Laconi.
Shinya Nakano had a bad crash this morning, broke his left collarbone in Saturday morning’s second qualifying session. Hope he gets well soon.
Haga is needs to win at least one of the races tomorrow, British Eurosport presenter Tony Carter believes this weekend's WSB outing is a crucial one for Noriyuki Haga and the Xerox Ducati campaign for 2009.
More details bellow:

Spies (Yamaha) powers to Superpole hat-trick at Valencia

Saturday, 04 April 2009 17:36 from: worldsbk.com

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) powered to his third Superpole position in three races at the Valencia track, the 24 year-old Texan once again proving to be the master of the new format. Spies, who had to switch to his second R1 machine in Superpole 2 after his first one developed a technical fault, set a record-breaking time of 1 minute 33.270 seconds, over half-a-second quicker than Neukirchner's best mark from last year. Flanking Spies on the front row will be a trio of Ducati 1098 machines, headed by the surprising Regis Laconi, who won on this track back in 1999 with a Yamaha 500. The two factory Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio are in third and fourth place respectively.

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike): "I was a bit worried about having to change bikes, we had an OK second Superpole but coming in we had a problem with the bike and had to revert back to the other one. It had a bit of a different set-up and I didn't get to try it in the morning practice, but luckily the change worked out well."

Regis Laconi (Ducati DFX): "I'm very happy because the bike is working really good on this track and we are ready. I won my first race in GP ten years ago and it's just a pleasure to be up here one more time. A big thanks to DFX and Ducati for giving me a great bike. I have had a couple of difficult years but I am happy now that I am back on a Ducati"

Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox): "I'm very happy for the front row. In the weekend I find a good solution for the race and I've already decided for the tyre. And I am feeling confident, so tomorrow I will try to do my best and win twice and that is my target"

Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox): "I've come from two races where I haven't had very good results, but we found our way already on the Friday and I'm hoping for two good results tomorrow. We made a change on the bike and the feeling is much better now, similar to what it was like in pre-season testing."

The second row sees a double pairing, with Suzuki ahead of Honda. Yukio Kagayama took fifth from Max Neukirchner, while Jonathan Rea was seventh ahead of Carlos Checa. The Spanish rider just managed to avoid being eliminated in Superpole 2, setting his best time despite a fall. Broc Parkes again put in a positive performance for Kawasaki, setting 13th quickest time on his ZX-10R machine, just ahead of the BMW of Troy Corser, who had been expecting to go better in Superpole after a positive qualifying session. Once again the first knock-out phase saw some illustrious victims with Tom Sykes (Yamaha World Superbike) and Max Biaggi (Aprilia), one of the quickest riders throughout the day, not making the cut. The other Aprilia rider Shinya Nakano missed the Superpole after breaking his left collarbone in a crash in the morning. He was operated on today with the aim of being ready for the next round at Assen.

Times: 1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'33.270; 2. Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'33.955; 3. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'34.082; 4. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'34.259; 5. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'34.755; 6. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'34.903; 7. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.056; 8. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.346 9. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'34.536; 10. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'34.655; 11. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'34.684; 12. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'34.742; 13. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'34.823; 14. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'34.863; 15. Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 1'35.082; 16. Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.251; 17. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'35.203; 18. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'35.204; 19) Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'35.806; 20. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'35.416

FYI- Motogp rider casey Stoner pole time in Valencia in 2008 was 1'31.502 and Marco melendis qualifying time (last on the grid) was 1'34.174 (that means he would have finished 5th in WSBK.

Nakano hurt at Valencia.

Sat 04 Apr, 06:00 PM from http://eurosport.yahoo.com/

Shinya Nakano will take no further part in the Valencia World Superbike weekend after breaking his left collarbone in Saturday morning’s second qualifying session.

The WSBK rookie, ninth in the championship with a best finish of fourth in the opening two rounds, was thrown from his Aprilia RSV4 after a mechanical failure.

The former MotoGP rider, eleventh in Friday’s first qualifying, underwent surgery afterwards and now faces a race against time to be fit for round four of the 2009 championship, at Assen on April 24-26.

Team-mate Max Biaggi will thus be the lone Aprilia rider in Sunday’s Valencia WSBK races. The Roman, fastest in Friday qualifying and Saturday free practice, was caught out in Superpole and will start just 18th.

Carter: Crucial weekend for Haga

Eurosport - Sat, 04 Apr 15:39:00 2009 from: http://eurosport.yahoo.com

British Eurosport presenter Tony Carter believes this weekend's WSB outing is a crucial one for Noriyuki Haga and the Xerox Ducati campaign for 2009.

Actually, scrub that - it's the most significant weekend for Haga for this year.

I'll explain. If Haga doesn't take the top spot in Valencia this weekend, at a circuit where he's constantly been a podium finisher, and multiple winner, over the years then he will struggle to dominate Ben Spies and the Yamaha anywhere else.

If Spies gets out on Sunday afternoon and finds his way to the top of the podium then it's hard to see how he will be stopped. He's not raced at Valencia before, he's still getting to grips with the Yamaha and he's undoubtedly going to get bumped and barged around Valencia's tough turns.

All things that could and should slow him down, or at the very least allow the other riders out there to close the gap up to the flying American on the growling Yam.

It's more about the mental game this weekend. If Spies wins another race then he's taken four from five, and five from six if he does the double.

There will be many in the paddock who will rue that if he hadn't been forced to take a close-up inspection of the gravel trap in race one in Phillip Island then Spies would, right now, be most likely sitting on four race wins from four races.

So for this weekend Haga has it all to do. He knows the bike, he clearly gets on well with it too. He knows the track and knows how to get a fast lap and a good result there. He is as aggressive as any of them on track and will, without hesitation, be more than up for the job in hand when Sunday's races come round.

But this will be a telling raceday. In previous years people have levelled the criticism at Haga that he only comes good towards the second half of the season. Well that might be true, but he's leading the championship going into Valencia so by anyone's standards he's had a strong start to his 2009 campaign.

But given how Spies performed in Qatar a couple of weeks ago, and the fact that he seems so very strong right now, I wouldn't bet on him getting out there and just wiping the floor with people again.

I can't tell you how much I don't want that to happen. With all the respect in the world for Spies and his Yamaha crew I am so very keen to see someone who is not either Haga or Spies taking the win and we will have to see how it plays out. The beauty of Valencia is that, as we have seen over the years, it can throw up the odd curveball.

Haga will want to leave the track on Sunday evening leading the world, yet Spies must be convinced that he can get the upper hand this weekend.

But don't discount the other front men. Strange things have happened at the Spanish track and we all know how well a certain Carlos Checa goes when he's got a home crowd to play in front of.

Providing he doesn't skittle another rider off on the last corner of the last lap again...

Oh and we have a certain Mr Hopkins joining us too. Keen to prove a point or two, the Stiggy Honda man is.

Tony Carter / Eurosport

wsbk: Jonathan Rea #65

Jonathan Rea #65

In 2008 Wan races in World Supersport, finishing second in the overall championship and taking a late season wildcard ride in WSB at Portimao as well. He makes the full-time switch to WSB this year, and has been impressively fast in testing. didn't have the best start of the year, but... lets hope that things can only improve for the young scot.

you can read more about him at his blog: http://www.gspdesigns.com/jr65/index.php?categoryid=12
(nice friendly writing style)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jonathan Rea. August 2008.

Jonathan 'Jonny' Rea (born February 2, 1987 in Ballyclare, Northern Ireland) is a motorcycle racer, currently competing in the Superbike World Championship for Ten Kate Honda. He was runner-up in the Supersport World Championship for them in 2008, and runner-up in the British Superbike Championship in 2007 for the HM Plant Honda team.

Early years

For much of his career he has been backed by Red Bull. Rea was British 60cc motocross runner up in 1997, before moving up through the motocross classes. He was not originally keen to switch to circuit racing as he considered it to be boring, but considerably less boring than him. but he was persuaded to by friends Michael and Eugene Laverty, contesting the 2003 British 125cc Championship. His 2004 season was interrupted by a crash at Knockhill.

In 2005 Red Bull set up a British Superbike ride for him on a factory-spec Honda Fireblade. He showed his potential by snatching a pole position from the established names, and finished 16th in the series despite missing 2 races, at Snetterton after a heavy testing crash, and at Oulton Park after the death of a junior team-mate in the previous event.

BSB Success

He started the 2006 season strongly, lying 6th in the championship after 5 meetings. At Oulton Park he finished 3rd in race 2, before being demoted to 4th as he was deemed to have gained a place form Shane Byrne on the last lap illegally, although he claimed that he crossed the infield grass as he was squeezed out of road. He qualified 5th at Mondello Park before heavy rain forced the cancellation of the races, and claimed that he had been on race tyres, rather than special soft qualifying compounds. He impressed at Mallory Park too, qualifying on the front row and running 2nd until high-siding in race 1, despite having no race engineer for the weekend. At Knockhill he took pole position, and followed a 4th in race 1 with his first career podium in race 2, passing Leon Haslam for 2nd with 2 laps to go. He ultimately took 4th in the championship, ahead of the factory Honda of Karl Harris.

He took Harris' factory ride for 2007, alongside reigning champion Ryuichi Kiyonari of Japan. After four second places, he finally took his first win in the second race at Mondello Park, after dominating wet practice but struggling in the dry first race. A double victory at Knockhill followed, taking him to within 9 points of Kiyonari at the top of the standings - retaining this position after Oulton Park in which each HM Plant Honda rider won once and crashed once. He ultimately finished as the series runner-up, 26 points behind Kiyonari and 20 ahead of Leon Haslam.

Also in 2007, he raced with Kiyonari and won a three-hour endurance race, and were then entered for the Suzuka 8-Hour race on a factory Honda machine. Plans for him to contest the British MotoGP round on a Team Roberts bike were scrapped in favour of extra Suzuka preparation.

2008 –finished 2^nd World Supersport Championship - HAANspree Ten Kate Honda

World Supersport

In September 2007 he signed a three year deal with Ten kate Honda to ride in the World Supersport championship for 2008, and World Superbikes for 2009/10. He turned down the option of staying in British Superbikes with either HM Plant Honda or move to Rizla Suzuki, and turned down a World Superbike ride with the factory Xerox Ducati team. In his first race at Losail he crashed, badly injuring a finger At Assen he challenged for a first WSS win, losing by inches to team-mate Andrew Pitt. He did win for Ten Kate at the Donington Park British Supersport race, which the team entered as practice for the later WSS race there. His first World Supersport win came at Brno, and he immediately followed this with a second win at Brands Hatch, after the race was stopped early after Craig Jones crashed fatally. A third win followed at Vallelunga, pushing him back up to 2nd in the standings behind Pitt. His chances of winning the title were ended by a wild move from Robbin Harms in the penultimate round at Magny Cours.

World Superbikes

For the last round of 2008, Jonathan will ride the superbike at Portimao.

For 2009, Jonathan will ride for the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team in World Superbikes.

2008 – 2^nd World Supersport Championship - HAANspree Ten Kate Honda.