Ducati Struggles Early at Losail
Ducatis both factory and private struggled in the hot and humid conditions at Losail, Qatar as they chased a setup during opening practice and qualifying for Saturday’s second round of the World Superbike Championship. Series leader, Noriyuki Haga who came off a win and second place at the Phillip Island season opener has complained about a lack of rear grip.
Haga was not the only Ducati rider to struggle with teammate, Michel Fabrizio, and the customer Ducati riders Byrne, Smrz and Laconi all failing to crack the top 5. Haga complained about a lack of grip, especially at the rear. He will need to solve the problem heading into the sessions tomorrow which will set the grid, although at Phillip Island he achieved his strong finishes despite starting 13th.
“Today was a strange day for me. We tried a different rear suspension setting to that used in Australia but the grip did not improve as we expected it to. Anyway the feeling I have with the 1198 is good and tomorrow we really just need to resolve the fact that I’m lacking rear grip. I will speak with my technicians again to decide how we will proceed tomorrow, we need to find a new way forward. There were some fast times recorded today so I need to pick up my pace tomorrow”
The fastest Ducati rider was Serilgarda’s Shane Byrne who lapped just under the 2 minute mark to set the 6th fastest time.
“I like the track. I’m still working on bike setup though, but I’m almost done. I’ve made some small mistakes today that on this track affects time on the next two or three corners as well. I gave it my all at the end of the session and had a good series of fast laps but I know I can do better. I hope to do just that tomorrow in the Superpole, I like the new formula although I’m not a one lap shootout kind of rider. I prefer building up my time lap after lap.”
Yamaha’s Ben Spies and Honda’s Jonathan Rea set times a second faster than the rest of the field with Spies ending up top of the leader board as the team’s await tomorrow’s revised Superpole system.
World Superbikes, Round 2. Qualifying Practice Results
1 Ben Spies Yamaha World Superbike Yamaha YZF R1 1:58.886
2 Jonathan Rea HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1:59.177
3 Carlos Checa HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1:59.731
4 Max Biaggi Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 1:59.826
5 Ryuichi Kiyonari Ten Kate Honda Racing Honda CBR1000RR 1:59.937
6 Shane Byrne Team Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 1:59.980
7 Jakub Smrz Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 2:00.024
8 Michel Fabrizio Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 2:00.101
9 Regis Laconi DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 2:00.232
10 Shinya Nakano Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 2:00.238
11 Noriyuki Haga Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 2:00.254
12 Tom Sykes Yamaha World Superbike Yamaha YZF R1 2:00.283
13 Max Neukirchner Suzuki Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2:00.345
14 Roberto Rolfo Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2:00.374
15 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2:00.398
16 Troy Corser BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 2:00.455
17 Ruben Xaus BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 2:00.610
18 Broc Parkes Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. Kawasaki ZX 10R 2:00.769
19 Leon Haslam Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2:00.799
20 Makoto Tamada Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. Kawasaki ZX 10R 2:01.222
link: Soup :: World Superbike Friday Quote Machine :: 03-12-2009
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