Team Alstare Suzuki rider Michel Fabrizio managed to get into Superpole 2, at Aragon today but was unable to get into Superpole 1 and so will start tomorrow’s 20-lap World Superbike Championship races from the third row of the grid.
Although his right arm and wrist felt better today, they are nowhere near 100% and the Italian knows that tomorrow seventh round is going to be very tough.
Marco Melandri (Yamaha) won Superpole with a lap of 1:57.634 with fellow Italian Max Biaggi (Aprilia) second. Third quickest was Leon Camier (Aprilia) with series leader Carlos Checa (Ducati) fourth.
Michel Fabrizio – 11th, 1:58.950:
“I was happy to do well enough to get into Superpole 2, but not happy because I didn’t get into the final Superpole. That would have guaranteed a place on the first two rows of the grid and that is something I have not had this season so far. So, once again I am a long way down the grid with lot of work to do – particularly at the start. I really need two good starts and not have to spend the best part of the race trying to catch the leaders.
“I am confident in my race pace and know that it would put me far higher than 11th, so now I’ve really got to give it a go from the start if I am to get good results. My right arm is definitely better – not perfect – but it is getting stronger. I did a longish run today – about 12 laps – and I didn’t have much pain, so I know that tomorrow it will be even better.
“At the moment, we are still trying to find the best set-up for the bike. I am losing time on the braking at the end of the long back straight. We go from flat-out in sixth gear all the way down to first gear and our bike is not quite set up perfectly for this yet. We will try a little change in the warm-up tomorrow and see if we can improve the set-up. It seems that when the track temperature is high, the grip goes down, but the tyre life is better. When the track is cooler, the grip is better, but the tyre life is worse. But, I guess it’s the same for everybody and we just have to deal with it. If I can get good starts, I know that my race pace is good enough to fight with the leaders and that’s my goal.”
Final qualifying and Superpole: 1 Marco Melandri (ITA-Yamaha) 1:57.634, 2 Max Biaggi (ITA-Aprilia) 1:57.790, 3 Leon Camier (GBR-Aprilia) 1:58.279, 4 Carlos Checa (ESP-Ducati) 1:58.472, 5 Tom Sykes (GBR-Kawasaki) 1:58.641. 6 Eugene Laverty (GBR-Yamaha) 1:58.756. 11 Michel Fabrizio (ITA-Alstare Suzuki) 1:58.950.