Brno (Czech Republic), Saturday 9 July 2011 – Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) took his second Tissot-Superpole win of the year today by posting a lap of 1 minute 58.580 seconds, holding off the push of his fellow Italian Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike).
Third on the grid is championship leader Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati). The top four riders in the championship convened a meeting on the front row when Melandri’s team-mate Eugene Laverty went fourth.
Max Biaggi: “It’s been very tough for track conditions, different from last year, different tyres as well. It’s very good for us and I’m so happy for this result to get pole in front of all these people. Brno is a really great track, lots of long blind corners, a lot of exit space and it’s very wide and I have a much better feeling here than at other tracks, but tomorrow is another story, it’ll be a long, long race and hopefully the tyre will do a good job.”
Marco Melandri: “Brno has also been a good track for me in the past, and since Friday morning we’ve done a good job with the Yamaha, the bike’s been working well step by step. A second place for sure is a very good position. It’s going to be very tough for the tyres tomorrow, but very interesting and I’m happy with today.”
Carlos Checa: “I think we did a great job over all the weekend, at the end of qualifying we are third, which is positive. We know it’s going to be hard against Max and Marco because they have done fast laps. Anyway I did a good lap in Superpole, we knew at the start that this was not one of our favourite circuits, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Eugene Laverty: “This morning we tried something which didn’t work very well , so we had to take a step backwards. In the free practice session we made progress in the right direction and I topped the times for the first time this year, which I am quite pleased with. Superpole went smoothly. All I wanted was a front row for two good races tomorrow, it’s very important in order to be in a position to fight for a win. That’s what I’m aiming for, but I’d be happy with a podium!”
Home rider Jakub Smrz (Effenbert–Liberty Racing Ducati) will start from fifth position on the grid, one place up on Suzuki Alstare’s Michel Fabrizio. Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) crashed in Superpole 1 but hurried back to the pits to ride his spare machine and he made it all the way to Superpole 3, and an eventual seventh place ranking. The last place on row two went to Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) who had to use his two qualifying rear tyres in the first two Superpole sessions, meaning he had no realistic chance of getting onto the front row in the final run.
Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK) heads the third row, from Sylvain Guintoli (Effenbert-Liberty Racing) and the ever-improving Mark Aitchison (Pedercini Kawasaki). Maxime Berger headed a host of bigger names to take his Supersonic Racing Ducati to 12th on the grid.
Times: 1. Biaggi M. (ITA)Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’58.580; 2. Melandri M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’58.801; 3. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’58.908; 4. Laverty E. (IRL) Yamaha YZF R1 1’59.055; 5. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’59.541; 6. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’59.908; 7. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’59.925; 8. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 2’00.303; 9. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1’59.684; 10. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 109 1’59.800; 11. Aitchison M. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R 2’00.362; 12. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 2’01.011; 13. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 2’00.252; 14. Haga N. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2’00.374; 15. Lanzi L. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 2’00.619; 16. Baiocco M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2’00.864; etc.
World Supersport
Fabien Foret (Ten Kate Honda) took a Honda bike to pole position in Supersport for the second time this year following Sam Lowes’ exploit at Misano Adriatico. The Frenchman’s time of 2 minutes 03.548 seconds came right at the end of the session and it allows the former Brno winner and Supersport champion to launch a major push for the win tomorrow.
Foret was just a fraction ahead of the two Kawasaki Motocard.com riders Broc Parkes and David Salom, who are also looking particularly competitive, while Britain’s Gino Rea also consolidated his weekend progress with an excellent fourth place for the Step Racing Honda team.
Massimo Roccoli (Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki) heads up the second row of the grid ahead of Parkalgar Honda’s Lowes, with Robbin Harms (Harms Benjan Honda), points leader Chaz Davies (Yamaha ParkinGO) and Roberto Tamburini (Bike Service Yamaha) the next qualifiers. The other top title contender Luca Scassa (Yamaha ParkinGO) was unable to go any higher than twelfth.
Times: 1. Foret F. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.548; 2. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’03.611; 3. Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’03.681; 4. Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 2’03.909; 5. Roccoli M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’04.093; 6. Lowes S. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 2’04.123; 7. Davies C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 2’04.610; 8. Harms R. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR 2’04.639; etc.
Superstock 1000
Two Ducatis and two BMWs will make up the front row of the starting grid for the Superstock 1000 race. Pole position went to Italian Danilo Petrucci (Barni Racing Team Ducati), who was just a fraction ahead of points leader Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Ducati). German bikes took the remaining two positions, with Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia Superstock Team) in front of Markus Reiterberger (Garnier Alpha Racing Team).
Row 2 is an all-Italian affair, starting with Lorenzo Baroni (Althea Racing Ducati), followed by Niccolò Canepa (Lazio Motorsport Ducati), Lorenzo Zanetti (BMW Motorrad Italia Superstock Team) and Fabio Massei (Piellemoto BMW). Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki Lorenzini) was the first non-Ducati and non-BMW rider in ninth, while rookie Ferruccio Lamborghini (Ten Kate Junior Team) had a good session, qualifying in fourteenth.
Results: 1. Petrucci D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2’03.617; 2. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2’03.855; 3. Barrier S. (FRA) BMW S1000 RR 2’04.006; 4. Reiterberger M. (GER) BMW S1000 RR 2’04.086; 5. Baroni L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2’04.355; 6. Canepa N. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2’04.421; 7. Zanetti L. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 2’04.480; 8. Massei F. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 2’04.638; etc.
Superstock 600 – Race
Dino Lombardi (Martini Corse Yamaha) led throughout the entire 10-lap race by a large margin, but was almost caught by three chasing rivals in the final stages. The Italian managed to take the win however by a couple of tenths from Joshua Day (Revolution Racedays Kawasaki), Tomas Krajci (TK Racing Slovakia Yamaha) and Gauthier Duwelz (MTM-RT Motorsports Yamaha), who finished in that order. Stefane Egea (ASPI Yamaha) finished in fifth place, just ahead of Assen winner Michael Van der Mark (Ten Kate Junior Honda), while Riccardo Russo (Trasimeno Yamaha) was next up.
In the championship Lombardi now lies second, ten points behind Romain Lanusse (MRS Yamaha Racing France), who crashed out. Third place in the table is in the hands of Jed Metcher (MTM-RT Motorsports Team Yamaha), who retired after a trip into the gravel.
Results: 1. Lombardi D. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 21’27.702 (151,051 kph); 2. Day J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 0.280; 3. Krajci T. (SVK) Yamaha YZF R6 1.133; 4. Duwelz G. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 1.450; 5. Egea S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 6.653; 6. Vd Mark M. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 6.797; 7. Russo R. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 7.292; 8. Calero Perez N. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 10.117; etc.
Points (after 5 of 10 rounds): 1. Lanusse 81; 2. Lombardi 71; Metcher 61; 4. Vd Mark, Day, Duwelz 51; etc.
