WSBK Round 2 - Lost In The Desert

[jhansen]

Thankfully we are back to racing this weekend! The World Superbike boys are in Qatar. Hopefully the conditions will be better than the Moto GP test, which saw lots of sand on the track. Will the finishers from Phillip Island remain on top, or will we get a shake up? Top 10 in points look like this:

1 Haga JPN Ducati 45
2 Neukirchner GER Suzuki 30
3 Haslam GBR Honda 26
4 Spies USA Yamaha 25
5 Kagayama JPN Suzuki 24
6 Fabrizio ITA Ducati 24
7 Laconi FRA Ducati 22
8 Rea GBR Honda 18
9 Smrz CZE Ducati 16
10 Sykes GBR Yamaha 12

Supersport should be brilliant as always. Top 10 in points:

1 Sofuoglu TUR Honda 25
2 Pitt AUS Honda 20
3 West AUS Honda 16
4 Crutchlow GBR Yamaha 13
5 Laverty IRL Honda 11
6 Aitchison AUS Honda 10
7 Foret FRA Yamaha 9
8 Lascorz ESP Kawasaki 8
9 Roccoli ITA Honda 7
10 Nannelli ITA Triumph 6

[jhansen]

Provisional WSBK Qualifying:

1. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 1min 58.886s
2. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 59.177s
3. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 59.731s
4. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1min 59.826s
5. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 59.937s
6. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 1min 59.980s
7. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 2mins 00.024s
8. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098R 2mins 00.101s
9. Regis Laconi FRA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 2mins 00.232s
10. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 2mins 00.238s
11. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1098R 2mins 00.254s
12. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 2mins 0.283s
13. Max Neukirchner GER Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 2mins 00.345s
14. Roberto Rolfo ITA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 2mins 00.374s
15. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 2mins 00.398s
16. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR 2mins 00.455s
17. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR 2mins 00.610s
18. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R 2mins 00.769s
19. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 2mins 00.799s
20. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 2mins 01.222s
21. Karl Muggeridge AUS Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000 2mins 01.224s
22. Tommy Hill GBR HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR 2mins 01.336s
23. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 2mins 01.464s
24. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR 2mins 01.560s
25. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 2mins 01.607s
26. Brendan Roberts AUS Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 2mins 01.779s
27. Ayrton Badovini ITA PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX-10R 2min 02.272s
28. Matteo Baiocco ITA PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX-10R 2mins 02.917s

Most of the front runners in qualifying also did well in first practice. But Biaggi came from much further back. Seems as though the Ten Kate Honda riders are enjoying some pace.

Top 10 from WSS provisional qualifying:

1. Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha SSP YZF R6 2min 2.634s
2. Fabien Foret FRA Yamaha SSP YZF R6 2min 2.772s
3. Kenan Sofuoglu TUR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR 2min 2.883s
4. Matthieu Lagrive FRA HANNspree Althea Honda CBR600RR 2min 2.950s
5. Mark Aitchison AUS HANNspree Althea Honda CBR600RR 2min 3.065s
6. Joan Lascorz ESP Kawasaki Provec Motocard.com ZX-6R 2min 3.111s
7. Eugene Laverty IRL Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR 2min 3.114s
8. Garry McCoy AUS Triumph BE1 Racing 675 2min 3.177s
9. Anthony West AUS Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR600RR 2min 3.253s
10. Andrew Pitt AUS HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR 2min 3.282s


Times courtesy of crash.net.

[jhansen]

Such an active topic...

Here is a different kind of stat, since Qatar has that nice long front straight. Trap speeds from Qatar:

Max Neukirchner (Suz GSX-R1000), 195.1 mph
Max Biaggi (Apr RSV4), 194.5 mph
Michel Fabrizio (Duc 1098 F09), 193.2 mph
Noriyuki Haga (Duc 1098 F09), 193.2 mph
Yukio Kagayama (Suz GSX-R1000), 193.2 mph
Jakub Smrz (Duc 1098R), 193.2 mph
Tommy Hill (Hon CBR1000RR), 192.6 mph
Makoto Tamada (Kaw ZX-10R), 192.6 mph
Carlos Checa (Hon CBR1000RR), 192.0 mph
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hon CBR1000RR), 192.0 mph
Ben Spies (Yam YZF-R1), 192.0 mph
Shane Byrne (Duc 1098R), 191.4 mph
Shinya Nakano (Apr RSV4), 191.4 mph
Jonathan Rea (Hon CBR1000RR), 191.4 mph
Tom Sykes (Yam YZF-R1), 191.4 mph

That covers most of the factory bikes. Interesting to note that Xaus and Corser are down at 189.5 and 186.4 mph. Courtesy of:

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/...?article=35813

[Dani Filth]

last year Suzuki were a bit further in front in that department i think ..

[LuiggiSpeed]

Kind of tells you road racing is not won by the fastest bike but the smartest pilot.

[2000yellow360]

What they didn't say was that this was the first time Ben had been on the track. Wonder how much faster he'll be tomorrow, after he gets those changes to his set up.

Art

[jhansen]

Spies on pole with a new lap record. Both Aprilia riders in the top six with Haga 4th. It sounds like Rea got caught out with the qualifying format. He's been fast all weekend. This race is gonna be a cracker!

1. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 1min 57.280s
2. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 1min 57.384s
3. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1min 57.694s
4. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1098R 1min 57.850s
5. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 1min 57.878s
6. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1min 58.755s
7. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 59.090s
8. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 2mins 00.021s
9. Roberto Rolfo ITA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 1min 58.734s
10. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098R 1mins 58.919s
11. Regis Laconi FRA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 1min 59.044s
12. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 59.055s
13. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R 1min 59.074s
14. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 1min 59.134s
15. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 59.454s
16. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR 2mins 00.494s
17. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 59.713s
18. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 1mins 59.882s
19. Max Neukirchner GER Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 1min 59.926s
20. Tommy Hill GBR HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR 2mins 00.108s
21. Karl Muggeridge AUS Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000 2mins 00.738s
22. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 2mins 00.839s
23. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 2mins 01.047s
24. Brendan Roberts AUS Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 2mins 01.165s
25. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR 2mins 01.560s
26. Ayrton Badovini ITA PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX-10R 2min 02.561s
27. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 2mins 01.607s
28. Matteo Baiocco ITA PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX-10R 2mins 02.663s

[jhansen]

Crutchlow's first pole, nice. Supersport Q2 times:

1. Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha SSP YZF R6 2mins 01.586s
2. Eugene Laverty IRL Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR 2mins 01.629s
3. Kenan Sofuoglu TUR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR 2mins 01.810s
4. Andrew Pitt AUS HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR 2mins 02.266s
5. Fabien Foret FRA Yamaha SSP YZF R6 2mins 02.282s
6. Matthieu Lagrive FRA HANNspree Althea Honda CBR600RR 2mins 02.450s
7. Gianluca Nannelli ITA Triumph BE1 Racing 675 2mins 02.450s
8. Robbin Harms DEN Veidec Racing RES Honda CBR600RR 2mins 02.592s
9. Garry McCoy AUS Triumph BE1 Racing 675 2mins 02.634s
10. Mark Aitchison AUS HANNspree Althea Honda CBR600RR 2mins 02.656s
11. Michele Pirro ITA Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni YZF R6 2mins 02.664s
12. Anthony West AUS Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR600RR 2mins 02.808s
13. Katsuaki Fujiwara JPN Kawasaki Provec Motocard.com ZX-6R 2mins 02.844s
14. Miguel Praia POR Parkalgar Honda CBR600RR 2mins 03.098s
15. Joan Lascorz ESP Kawasaki Provec Motocard.com ZX-6R 2mins 03.111s
16. Pawel Szkopek POL Factory Racing Triumph 675 2mins 03.163s
17. Massimo Roccoli ITA Intermoto Czech Honda CBR600RR 2mins 03.178s
18. Barry Veneman NED Hoegee Suzuki GSX-R 600 2mins 03.215s
19. Gianluca Vizziello ITA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR600RR 2mins 03.507s
20. Jesco Gunther GER RES Software Veidec Racing 2mins 03.703s
21. Daniel Dell'Omo ITA Kuja Racing 2mins 03.829s
22. Patrick Vostarek CZE Intermoto Czech Honda CBR600RR 2mins 03.942s
23. Arie Vos NED Veidec Racing RES Honda CBR600RR 2mins 03.951s
24. Russell Holland AUS ECHO CRS Grand Prix Honda CBR600RR 2mins 04.333s
25. Matej Smrz CZE Factory Racing Triumph 675 2mins 04.504s
26. Jose Carlos Morillas Cuenca ESP Holiday Gym Yamaha YZF R6 2mins 04.710s
27. Fabrizio Lai ITA ECHO CRS Grand Prix Honda CBR600RR 2mins 04.988s
28. Doni Tata Pradita INA YZF Yamaha R6 2mins 05.234s
29. Yannick Guerra ESP Holiday Gym Racing Yamaha YZF R6 2mins 05.565s
30. Shaun Geronimi AUS Hoegee Suzuki GSX-R 600 2mins 06.803s

[ghinzani]

Love this new WSB qualifying system - 2 sets of qualifiers and 3 knockout sessions - as the Italians say 'eet ees Big Casino'..

[gomick]

Looking forward to seeing if Ant West can come through the field from 12th like he did at Phillip Island - hope his bike has some straight line speed....

Put a whopping 50 cents on Ben Spies at $3.50 to win the 1st race

[ghinzani]

Get in Laverty! Another cracking WSS race, man they are exciting!

[Gerben24]

Originally Posted by ghinzani

Love this new WSB qualifying system - 2 sets of qualifiers and 3 knockout sessions - as the Italians say 'eet ees Big Casino'..

I'm still not used to it. I'm also a bit dissapointed that they're showing the same riders throughout all sessions. I wouldn't be surprised if they're going to change the format somewhat and I wouldn't be surprised if that would be sooner than later.

First SBK race today was a bit of a procession. Supers was great. Ten Kate didn't have the fastest bike this time!

[Dani Filth]

Originally Posted by gomick

Looking forward to seeing if Ant West can come through the field from 12th like he did at Phillip Island - hope his bike has some straight line speed....

Put a whopping 50 cents on Ben Spies at $3.50 to win the 1st race

so you're 3.50 richer
nice win for Spies .. and nice battle between MaxB and Haga .. i was hoping to see the Aprilia in front .. but maybe next race
shame for MaxN .. i guess he pushed too much too early and lost it .. laptimes were competitive before the final crash .. only a 10th or so down on Haga and Spies and faster than the Aprilias

WSS was great as usual .. shame that gap formed after the top 7 or so quite early

[2000yellow360]

Bets on when Ben wraps up the championship?

Art

[Dani Filth]

lets hope it won't come down to that ... that soon

[LuiggiSpeed]

Props for Elbowz he shooled WSBK big guns. He will not have it that easy when the plot thickens in Europe but then there's the Miller round which I belive he will be already in the showers while everybody else still racing!!!

Some ppl claim the more technical tracks will give him fits but I believe he was very good at Barber right?

[gomick]

2 great rides by Ben Spies on the Yamaha - he certainly goes alright & makes me think what Mladin could've done in WSBK against the likes of Bayliss & Edwards etc a few years back. Good to see the Aprilia doing really well too & the BMW's finishing top 10. Come on Honda get up there & mix it with the top 3...

Supersport race was awesome - congrats to Eugene on the race win , out dragging a Ten Kate Honda to the finish line ... Pity for Aitchison dropping the bike a cuppla laps from the end

[chunder]

I think the problem is with Spies that EVERYONE is gonna say Mladin was quicker

That may be true in some cases but you also have to remember how long Mat has been in teh US, he knows the tracks so well! Ben beat him fair and square a fair few times, more than anyone else has in the past on equal bikes so I say Ben is about where Mladin might have been in WSBK

And in fairness he did get a chance, albeit a poisoned chalice. He had offers to go back but chose to fatten his wallet

Spies is younger so can afford to go for it a bit more after earning a considerable sum no doubt these past few years.

[gomick]

Originally Posted by chunder

I think the problem is with Spies that EVERYONE is gonna say Mladin was quicker.

I think those that know bike racing will say that Spies beat Mladin 3 of the past 4 years - took as many race wins (if not more) & was fastest qualifier as many times if not more aswell.... i dont think Mladin was any quicker!

[jhansen]

Spies rocked the house! Race 1 was a pretty good fight. I'd call Race 2 vintage Spies. Once he got in the lead that was all she wrote. You could tell though, the Aprilia and Duc could pull on him as they came off the last turn. If that R1 gets a little more grunt look out.

Happy to see the Aprilia doing well. Both bikes even. BMW still have some work, but it was cool to see Corser up there for a bit. The Ten Kate boys need to get down to it.

As of right now, looks like Haga vs. Spies for the title.

[jhansen]

Interesting to note that the commentators said that Rossi had made a visit to Qatar to catch a little World Superbike. Hmm!

[Tazz]

Maybe he's just boared and needed to have some weekend fun

[jhansen]

Originally Posted by gomick

Supersport race was awesome - congrats to Eugene on the race win , out dragging a Ten Kate Honda to the finish line ...

Ten Kate stated that they are not running '09 bikes yet. So maybe that had something to do with it. Still, it's nice to see a privateer bike with some grunt!

[2000yellow360]

Originally Posted by chunder

I think the problem is with Spies that EVERYONE is gonna say Mladin was quicker

You have no idea the games that Mat and his team played on Ben when he first joined the team. It was total warfare from the jump. Not saying that Mat did anything illegal or against the rules, but it was total warfare, both on and off the track. Ultimately Ben grew up, was able to deal with the warfare and beat the crap out of Mat. If you PM me, I'll explain, but not on a public site.

Yosh should not have allowed some of the things that occurred, but they did, and that's competition.

Art

[gomick]

Originally Posted by 2000yellow360

Ultimately Ben grew up, was able to deal with the warfare and beat the crap out of Mat.

Dont think he beat the crap out of Mat - got the championship wins though...