Losail Superpole: Haga Digs Deep but Spies Remains on Top
Outright lap records tumbled as the Duel in the Desert continued at Losail, Qatar during qualifying for the second round of the World Superbike Championship. After struggling with grip during practice that left him 11th fastest, factory Xerox Ducati rider, Noriyuki Haga dug deep during the 3 Superpole sessions running almost 3 seconds faster to qualify on the front row of the grid.
This herculean effort wasn’t enough to displace Ben Spies from pole position. Spies who has been fast in every session once again set the fastest time with 1.57.280, comfortably under the 1.58.053 record set by Troy Corser last year. To put this into perspective, Spies’ time would have made him 7th fastest at the recent MotoGP testing at Qatar!!!!!
Jacob Smryz continued his Phillip Island pace by making it 2 Ducati 1098R’s on the front row with his second fastest time, whilst Max Biaggi put the new Aprilia RSV4 into 3rd. Sykes, Nakano, Checa and Byrne make up the second row.
Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike): “The most important thing is being on the front row with this many fast guys. I almost ruined my lap but we eventually got the job done. Race pace is looking promising, which is important but I feel sure it’s going to be a hard race tomorrow. You still have to search for the speed and find the limit in Superpole, I don’t know anything different, it’s the only one I’ve done but it’s working well for me so far.”
Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox): “It was a much better Superpole for me than in Australia and I am very happy to be on the front row of the grid. We had a little problem today but managed to sort that and now I am sure that tomorrow we will go very well in the races.”
Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati): “We have made a really good weekend, now we still have the race to do, but we have a good set-up and for us the times are very positive. I was also working well in Superpole because there wasn’t much traffic, I didn’t catch anyone and I was able to do my best.”
link: Superpole Quotes :: SBK – Official Site ::
So after a poor start from the Ducati runners, we end up going into tomorrow’s 2 races with 3 Ducati’s on the first 2 rows of the grid. Note that the racing is held on a Saturday at Losail. ducatinewstoday will provide coverage. for our US readers, SpeedTV will show both races on Saturday.
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