Spies takes Donington pole

Spies takes Donington pole

Eurosport - Sat, 27 Jun 16:44:00 2009

Ben Spies took Superpole at Donington Park after setting a quickest lap just before rain prevented anyone from challenging him in the British leg of the World Superbike Championship.

His eighth pole position of the season, Spies's effort of one minute 29.846 seconds was timed to perfection as the riders struggled to react on the increasingly slippery surface.

It meant the first lap attempts would prove crucial, allowing Max Biaggi, Shane Byrne and Shinya Nakano to complete a surprise front row.

Provisional pole sitter Michel Fabrizio was forced to settle for fifth, ahead of team-mate Noriyuki Haga.

Carlos Checa and Jakub Smrz completed the second row, the latter having left it too late to set a representative time.

Crash.Net / Eurosport
Ben Spies: "It was a good session for us, but we almost got caught out. I was one of the last to leave the garage and as soon as I went out of pit-lane I could see the drops starting to come, so I had to really attack the warm-up lap to make sure I got around and get relaxed in case it started raining. The first sector was brilliant, but then the rain started to come and I had to be careful not to touch the paint. It was good to get pole, this circuit has a short start for turn one so it's good positioning. The bike's working well on race tyres so we need a good start tomorrow."

Max Biaggi: "In the last session I was really lucky because no one expected any drops and then it really started to rain. I started soon because I had nothing more to learn after what I had done in free practice and I thought I must put my head down and go as fast as I can. Second place is good for us, for tomorrow I'm quite OK, maybe not exactly the way I wanted to be but OK. It's great to be here, I like this track, my bike could be a little bit better but I think I can go well tomorrow."

Shane Byrne: "I think we got a little bit lucky because the bad weather came in quickly. Fortunately we got through the first Superpole session without using qualifying tyres, but I was kind of hopeful of a good result anyway. We've been doing a lot of work on both bikes this weekend and we ended up with them going in different directions, but I'm happy with the direction that we've been going since America and Misano. I'm delighted with getting the first front row of the season for myself and the team."

Shinya Nakano: "Like Max said we had some luck today, but so far this is my best qualifying performance in Superbike. On Friday we were struggling but things went much better today and I am looking forward to racing here at the Donington Park track." moto-live.com

Full Superpole qualifying times for the ninth round of the World Superbike Championship at Donington Park, Great Britain.

1. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 1min 29.846s

2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1min 30.080s

3. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 1min 30.535s

4. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1min 30.671s

5. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098R 1min 30.734s

6. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1098R 1min 31.023s

7. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 31.342s

8. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 1min 34.797s

9. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 1min 30.159s

10. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 1min 30.229s

11. John Hopkins USA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 1min 30.272s

12. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 30.387s

13. Gregorio Lavilla ESP Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 1min 30.612s

14. James Ellison GBR Airwaves Yamaha YZF-R1 1min 0.816s

15. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 30.916s

16. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 31.120s

17. Leon Camier GBR Airwaves Yamaha YZF-R1 1min 31.176s

18. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 1min 31.215s

19. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 1min 31.260s

20. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 31.217s

Positions 21 to 31 decided in Q2

21. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 31.874s

22. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R 1min 31.887s

23. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 32.183s

24. Matthieu Lagrive FRA HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR 1min

32.243s

25. Jamie Hacking USA Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 1min 32.245s

26. Simon Andrews GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 32.343s

27. Alessandro Polita ITA Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000 1min 32.584s

28. Blake Young USA Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 1min 32.735s

29. David Checa ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 1min 32.811s

30. Roland Resch AUT TKR Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 1min 33.384s

31. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR 1min 33.408s

Spies takes Donington pole

Spies takes Donington pole

Eurosport - Sat, 27 Jun 16:44:00 2009

Ben Spies took Superpole at Donington Park after setting a quickest lap just before rain prevented anyone from challenging him in the British leg of the World Superbike Championship.

His eighth pole position of the season, Spies's effort of one minute 29.846 seconds was timed to perfection as the riders struggled to react on the increasingly slippery surface.

It meant the first lap attempts would prove crucial, allowing Max Biaggi, Shane Byrne and Shinya Nakano to complete a surprise front row.

Provisional pole sitter Michel Fabrizio was forced to settle for fifth, ahead of team-mate Noriyuki Haga.

Carlos Checa and Jakub Smrz completed the second row, the latter having left it too late to set a representative time.

Crash.Net / Eurosport

Full Superpole qualifying times for the ninth round of the World Superbike Championship at Donington Park, Great Britain.

1. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 1min 29.846s

2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1min 30.080s

3. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 1min 30.535s

4. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1min 30.671s

5. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098R 1min 30.734s

6. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1098R 1min 31.023s

7. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 31.342s

8. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 1min 34.797s

9. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 1min 30.159s

10. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 1min 30.229s

11. John Hopkins USA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 1min 30.272s

12. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 30.387s

13. Gregorio Lavilla ESP Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 1min 30.612s

14. James Ellison GBR Airwaves Yamaha YZF-R1 1min 0.816s

15. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 30.916s

16. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 31.120s

17. Leon Camier GBR Airwaves Yamaha YZF-R1 1min 31.176s

18. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 1min 31.215s

19. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 1min 31.260s

20. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 31.217s

Positions 21 to 31 decided in Q2

21. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 31.874s

22. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R 1min 31.887s

23. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 32.183s

24. Matthieu Lagrive FRA HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR 1min

32.243s

25. Jamie Hacking USA Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 1min 32.245s

26. Simon Andrews GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 32.343s

27. Alessandro Polita ITA Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000 1min 32.584s

28. Blake Young USA Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 1min 32.735s

29. David Checa ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 1min 32.811s

30. Roland Resch AUT TKR Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 1min 33.384s

31. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR 1min 33.408s

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: Shinya Nakano #56

Shinya Nakano #56

Personal opinion: A nice guy, had dissent results in MotoGP, very consistent, Hope to see more of him, didn’t have the best start of the season so far, even due it wasn’t a bad start, but can he compete with Ben “elbowz” spies and Haga?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shinya Nakano
Shinya Nakano
Nationality	Japanese
Grand Prix motorcycle racing career
Active years	1998-2008
Teams	Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki
Grands Prix	168
Championships	0
Wins	6
Podium finishes	21
Career points	1282
Pole positions	5
Fastest laps	9
First Grand Prix	1998 250cc Japanese Grand Prix
First win	1999 250cc Japanese Grand Prix
Last win	2000 250cc Valencian Community Grand Prix
Last Grand Prix	2008 MotoGP Valencian Community Grand Prix

Shinya Nakano (born in Tokyo on October 8, 1977 and brought up in Chiba) is a Japanese Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He is not related to the former Formula One racer Shinji Nakano. After placing 2nd the 250cc World Championship behind Olivier Jacque in 2000, he moved up to MotoGP and had been there constantly until 2008 riding Yamaha, Kawasaki and Honda bikes. For 2009 he embraces a new challenge as he joins WSBK with an Aprilia..

Early Years

Shinya Nakano was All-Japan 250cc champion in 1998, the highlight of a long career in both 125cc and 250cc Japanese national championships. Nakano moved to international competition in 1999, adjusting to 250cc Grand Prix racing quickly, finishing 4th overall with five podium finishes. In 2000 Nakano and team-mate Olivier Jacque battled with Daijiro Kato for the title, which ultimately went to Jacque. Nakano set the fastest 250cc lap at Motegi in 2000, a record that stood until 2008 – the longest standing lap record in the series.

MotoGP

Shinya Nakano

For 2001 the Tech 3 team moved up to the 500cc World Championship, which would eventually become MotoGP in 2002. Despite semi-works machinery, Nakano only managed to finish 5th in the championship. Nakano started 2002 on a 500cc two-stroke machine, but the team was able to provide the newer 990cc four-stroke by the end of the season. 2003 was less successful prompting a move to Kawasaki for 2004.

Tech3 suffered a disastrous debut year with Garry McCoy and Andrew Pitt the team improved with Nakano on board. The team's first podium came at Motegi and two seasons of consistent results earned him a pair of 10th place championship finishes. 2006 Nakano was able to produce strong qualifying runs but less competitive races, a trait of the Bridgestone tyres. Two jump-start penalties did not help Nakano’s results. At Phillip Island Nakano started on the front row and lead the early laps, before switching to wet tyres too late and not being competitive on them.

For 2007 Nakano joined Konica Minolta Honda. With Honda/Michelin having been the strongest package in 2006 a competitive machine was expect - he did not get one. Results were thin in 2007, with only a handful of top 10 qualifying and race results. Rumors began that that Nakano might make the move to the highly competitive World Superbike Championship for the 2008 season. However, Nakano ultimately joined Fausto Gresini's MotoGP team [1], replacing Toni Elias. Bringing experience with Bridgestone tyres and Honda bikes, he had a solid if unspectacular season, scoring more points in the first half of 2008 than in the whole of 2007. At Brno, Nakano was given the factory spring-valve Honda RC212V, beginning a string of greatly improved results.

Nakano will leave the Gresini team at the end of the 2008 season, following the team's decision to sign Alice Ducati rider Toni Elias for 2009.

2009: World Superbike Championship debut

Nakano was signed by Aprilia for their return after a 3 years absence from the World Superbike Championship, and he'll be partnering Max Biaggi on their factory squad.