World Superbikes: Superpole Results from Portimao
Spies Fastest, Haga Struggling with Setup
Ben Spies took his 11th pole position of the season, surpassing Doug Polen’s previous record and more importantly placing him in the prime starting position for the two races on Sunday he will likely need to win to become the 2009 World Superbike Champion in his rookie year. Noriyuki Haga struggled on qualifying tires finishing 10th fastest not making it easy for himself as he faces his best chance ever of taking the crown that has so far evaded him.
Spies time of 1:42.4 was almost 1 second under the pole time set last year by Troy Bayliss. Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne posted the 2nd fastest time ahead of Haga’s teammate, Michel Fabrizio, making it 2 Ducati’s on the front row but not the points leader.
Haga struggled with rear grip and will continue to work on settings overnight and in the warm-up but is reasonably philosophical about his grid position- after all he has won before after qualifying poorly. For his part, Fabrizio has vowed to help Nori take the title despite denying him what may turn out to be a crucial 5 championship points in Imola.
Ben Spies Pole:- “We’ve been working under the radar all weekend on a lot of different things. Superpole was good for us, we kept pushing as hard as we could. Unfortunately Nori is back on the third row but we need anything we can get for track position. But it’s not just about me and Nori tomorrow, there are other guys, we’ll just run our own race and give it everything we’ve got to try and win both these things.”
Shane Byrne 2nd:- “I’m delighted to be back on the front row, it seems like it’s been forever. We actually used both of our qualifying tyres before the last section and then a 42.99 came up on my dash and I was so tired that I closed the throttle on the straight and I had one more lap to go! Hopefully we can have a good weekend here and see what happens for next year.”
link: World SBK.com
Michel Fabrizio 3rd:- “Of course I’m satisfied to be on the front row but it wasn’t easy this afternoon. Ben really got the best out of the qualifying tyre while I found it more difficult to work with; there are also many strong guys out there this weekend. Anyway, I’ll start from third and, bearing in mind that the championship is at stake, I will do everything to get ahead of Ben tomorrow, to help my team-mate Nori in the fight for the title. It will be hard for him, starting from the third row but we will see tomorrow; he is an extremely strong and expert rider. For me it might be difficult to stick with Ben, especially in the first laps, but I feel prepared. There’s also another Ducati on the front row; it’s good to have Shakey here too and I hope that he can be part of tomorrow’s battle for the win.”
Noriyuki Haga 10th:- “Of course it is a disadvantage to be on the third row of the grid but I’ve won races from that position in the past and I know that anything can happen on race day. The problem is that all day today I’ve had trouble turning and, at the same time, I’m not happy with the level of rear grip. We used the two qualifying tyres in the second Superpole session and they gave me better grip but didn’t help me to move the bike into the corners any more easily. So I’m consistently losing time in the final split and that’s the real problem. We must change something for tomorrow so I’m talking to my engineer and we’ll see tomorrow morning if we’ve found a solution that will enable me to fight for the race and title wins.”
link: Ducati Press
Spies likely needs two wins to take the title and Haga needs to likely win at least one race and finish no lower than 5th in the second. Check here for a more complete analysis of what is needed for Haga or Spies to clinch the championship.
Times: 1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’42.412; 2. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1’42.996; 3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’43.015; 4. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’43.126; 5. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’43.523; 6. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’43.526; 7. Nieto F. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’43.553; 8. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’44.719; 9. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’43.240; 10. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1’43.377; 11. Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1’43.406; 12. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1’43.461; 13. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’43.671 ; 14. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1’43.717; 15. Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’44.050; 16. Baiocco M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’45.439
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