Newcastle’s Broc Parkes best of Aussies in 16th; Troy Corser 17th after risky tyre selection backfired

American Ben Spies (pictured holding trophy, with former Ducati star Troy Bayliss) has lived up to his tag as the new world superbike sensation by placing his factory Yamaha in pole position for tomorrow’s opening round of the championship at Victoria’s Phillip Island.

In his first appearance at the 4.445km circuit and in his world superbike debut, the 24-year-old played the new Superpole format to perfection, which was a process of elimination – and a corresponding fascinating game of strategy -- over three 12-minute sessions.

While Spies and his factory Yamaha team were overjoyed, Australia’s Troy Corser (BMW #11) criticised the new format after being left languishing 17th on the grid – his third worst WSBK qualifying result in a decorated career.

Corser’s team took a gamble on tyres in the opening 12-minute session, and the two-time world champion wasn’t able to post a good enough time to see him advance.

“The new superpole system seems a bit confusing really,” said a frustrated Corser. “We only get an x amount of qualifying tyres, and we thought we could go out on a race tyre and still be there.

“It’s a bit strange. It seems like it’s not just go out and do one fast lap and that’s where you end up -- you have to do it three or four times.

“You look at who got knocked out (in the first two sessions), and probably half the guys that are up in contention for the championship aren’t even on the front two rows.  It’s very strange, very confusing.”

In the last superpole stanza, after the original 20 starters had been whittled back to eight, Spies flexed his muscles and uncorked a brilliant 1min31.069sec lap, which was enough to keep his opposition at bay.

It was an ominous performance from the rookie, who is looking to continue America’s fine tradition in the production-based championship.

“I think I just put a little more pressure on myself in that last session of superpole,” said Spies. “Anything in the 31-second bracket is very fast around here, and we really had to grit our teeth in the last one and put together a good lap.

“And we did and I gotta thank the Yamaha team, as the bike is just getting better and better every time I go out. It hasn’t just been a big change for me this year – it’s also been a big change for Yamaha with the new engine.

“Pole is good today and I am very happy about it -- but it is a small step. The races are going to be very difficult, as there are always 10 guys that can win a race. World superbike is the best for the close racing, and I am happy to be in it.”

Kawasaki’s Broc Parkes was the best of the locals in 16th position, while Brendan Roberts (Ducati) and Karl Muggeridge (Suzuki) didn’t compete in superpole and will start from 21st and 25th in the 28-rider field.

“I’ve been pushing really hard, and I did the best job I could,” said Parkes. “I am a bit concerned with some setting issues that I tried to iron out, but I ran out of time.

“I hope to run top 15 tomorrow and score some points, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

In a sign of just how competitive this year’s world superbike title will be, the front row of the grid will be completed by three different manufacturers – Aprilia’s Max Biaggi (#3), Honda’s Jonathan Rea and Ducati surprise packet Jakub Smrz.

Biaggi, a 42-time grand prix winner, was delighted with his performance on the new Aprilia.

“It’s very satisfying for me and all the Aprilia squad,” said Biaggi. “We are coming back after so many years and this is a new project. The bike is really a young baby, so we are playing with the bike to understand which way is the best to go. But this is really encouraging start.”

Rea was also encouraged by his third place on the grid, especially after a number of set-up problems yesterday.

“Of course I’m happy to be on the front row for the first race of the year,” said the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland. “The new format of Superpole was pretty exciting for everyone and it was amazing to see so many riders doing 31s laps round here.

“The races tomorrow will be pretty hard and the key is what happens to the tyres after about 16 laps. We’ll go away and have a good think tonight about it.”

Michel Fabrizio, Leon Haslam, Carlos Checa and Regis Laconi complete row two.

In the second 12-minute Superpole block, the mercurial Laconi set the best ever WSBK lap around Phillip Island -- 1:31.050.

A number of top guns will be on rows three and four, including Japanese triumvirate Noriyuki Haga (Ducati), Shinya Nakano (Aprilia) and Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda), Suzuki’s Max Neukirchner and pre-season pacesetter Shane Byrne (Ducati).

Tomorrow’s races will be held at midday and 3.30pm respectively.


WORLD SUPERBIKE FINAL QUALIFYING

1          19 Spies Ben. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'31.069
2          3 Biaggi Max. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1'31.402
3          65 Rea Jonathan. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'31.596
4          96 Smrz Jakub. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'31.600
5          84 Fabrizio Michel. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'31.837
6          91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.112
7          7 Checa Carlos. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.537
8          55 Laconi Regis. (FRA) Ducati 1098 RS 09 1'32.649
9          56 Nakano Shinya. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 1'31.843
10         9 Kiyonari Ryuichi. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'31.860
16         23 Parkes Broc. (AUS - Newcastle) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'32.719
17         11 Corser Troy. (AUS - Wollongong) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.873
21         24 Roberts Brenda. (AUS - Adelaide) Ducati 1098R 1'33.588
25         31 Muggeridge Karl. (AUS – Gold Coast) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'34.341

 

WORLD SUPERSPORT FINAL QUALIFYING 
Phillip Island circuit, Australia - Saturday February 28, 2009

Sofuoglu to start on pole; three Australians in top 10

Turkey’s Ken Sofouglu (#54) set the best ever world supersport lap at Phillip Island in final qualifying. The 2007 world champion saved his best until the dying minutes when he peeled off a searing 1:34.320 to claim pole position from Kawasaki’s Joan Lascorz (1:34.689) and his Australian teammate Andrew Pitt (1:34.876).

Pitt previously held the best lap around Phillip Island – 1:34.592. The official race lap record is 1:34.976.

The hard-charging Sofuoglu is returning to world superbike competition in 2009 after a lean year in world superbikes last year.

“For us, the goal today was to start from the front row of the grid so I am very happy to have pole position,” said Sofuoglu. “It’s a great bonus not only for me, but also my crew who have worked really hard to give me a great bike here.

“Really, everything is as we would want it, but we are still not too sure how the tyre will last in the race tomorrow. Whatever happens, I will try my best to get a podium and hopefully a win.”

Meanwhile, Pitt is quietly confident he has the set-up to make it back-to-back wins at Phillip Island.

“The front row is certainly good enough and I’m happy with everything, and the front tyre is fine,” said Pitt. “We’ll have to see how we go for 21 laps here but, looking at the times, I think we’re the only ones to have done longer runs, so it’ll definitely be an interesting race tomorrow.”

Lascorz was the big improver today, catapulting 11 spots from provisional qualifying yesterday, while Irishman Eugene Laverty (Honda, 1:34.962) leapfrogged five positions to qualify in fifth.

Ahead of Laverty, the front row of the grid will be completed by Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow (1:34.875), who is making his full-time world supersport debut at Phillip Island.

All up, there are three Australians in the top 10, with Triumph’s Garry McCoy ninth and Mark Aitchison (Honda) 10th. The duo will now be banking on great starts in tomorrow’s 21-lap to give themselves the best chance being caught in then tow of the riders ahead of them.

Russell Holland (Honda) and Shaun Geronimi (Suzuki) will start from 21st and 28th respectively.

Final Qualifying for Sunday's 21 lap round one of the World SuperSPORT Championship at Phillip Island

1 54 Sofuoglu Kenan. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.320
2 26 Lascorz Joan. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'34.689
3 1 Pitt Andrew. (AUS – Gold Coast ) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.786
4 35 Crutchlow Cal. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1'34.875
5 50 Laverty Eugene. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.962
6 99 Foret Fabien. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'35.063
7 51 Pirro Michele. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'35.086
8 24 McCoy Garry. (AUS - Sydney) Triumph Daytona 675 1'35.187
9 8 Aitchison Mark. (AUS - Newcastle) Honda CBR600RR 1'35.263
10 77 Veneman Barry. (NED) Suzuki GSX-R600 1'35.401