Leon Haslam on pole for Aragon WorldSBK
Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) will start tomorrow’s two WorldSBK races of the third round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship from Pole Position. A lap time of 1.49.664s, the fastest of the weekend so far and the quickest ever for a superbike on the new MotorLand Aragon configuration, left the Englishman 0.033s ahead of his nearest rivals Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team), with Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) who will join him on the front row. For Haslam this is his first Pole Position since Phillip Island in 2010 and only the second of his career.
Row two will see championship leader Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) aboard his Ninja ZX-10, Xavi Fores who continues his impressive debut weekend on the second of the Aruba.it Ducati Superbike Team) and Ayrton Badovini.
The third row was decided in the final seconds of the session, with Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) taking 7th. He will start alongside Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) and Nico Terol (Althea Racing Ducati).
After a cautious start (in the first timed session Haslam had the tenth best time), Leon and his Red Devils Aprilia team consistently improved, taking the RSV4 RF into second position in the FP4 sessions that preceded Superpole. At that point Leon began the decisive session aware that he could be fast, but his performance with a qualifier tyre of 1’49.664 was extraordinary since it was almost two seconds faster than the times he put on the sheets in the FP4 sessions.
It was definitely a team result since work was done on various fronts, from the chassis to electronic control management, aiming at finding grip and speed in the various conditions without stressing the tyres too much in a race setting. For Leon Haslam this is the second pole in his Superbike career after the one he took at Phillip Island in 2010.
Leon Haslam: “When I saw the time on the dashboard I was really happy even though I didn’t know what place I had taken, especially because it wasn’t an entirely perfect lap. Being in front of everyone else is incredible when you consider that in the first session we were tenth! The team did a great job. We improved session after session and now the feeling is a lot better. There are various unknowns for tomorrow, not the least of which is the weather which may not be the best. We need to keep analysing the data to try and shave a few more tenths off of our pace. We are expecting two very heated races that will be decided over the long run.”
Jordi Torres also managed to improve his performance significantly compared to yesterday. The Spanish rider, determined to do well on his home track, is still not able to push his RSV4 RF to the limit, but he is showing continuous improvement, just like in the first two weekends of the season, which goes to show his commitment and steadfastness. He finished Superpole with the seventh best time which earns him a spot on the third row after using the “specialist” Pirelli qualifier tyre for the second time.
Jordi Torres: “We improved a lot compared to yesterday. We still need to be a bit faster, but we have taken a decisive step forward. I need to be more aggressive on the braking sessions and going into turns to get close to the front runners. In Superpole I used the qualifier tyre for the second time and I definitely need to learn how to take better advantage of it. If we can manage to take another step forward in looking after the front tyre we’ll be able to improve even more. The goal for tomorrow is not to lose contact with the lead pack, continuing to watch them in order to gain experience. They certainly won’t be two easy races!”
Tom Sykes rode his Kawasaki Racing Team Ninja ZX-10R to his first front row start of the 2015 season by finishing Superpole in third place at Motorland Aragon, with his team-mate Jonathan Rea just one place and one row behind.
Sykes declared that his fast lap using a qualifying rear tyre was not quite ideal as he had to adopt a degree of caution after pushing the front earlier during his best lap, because much more rear grip is available from the qualifying tyre. He set a 1’49.863 on his way to his front row start.
Rea, who has been consistently fast all weekend, was fourth, losing his 100% perfect record of pole starts in what has been a remarkable start to his season with Kawasaki. His best in Superpole was a 1’50.053. The championship leader is still in a good position to take on the two 18-lap races on Sunday and will make a final set-up call after morning warm-up.
The 5.077km Motorland circuit has proved to be fast and exciting in its new WSB layout, with the long final corner playing its part already for Sykes. He had to use a touch of caution as he completed his best lap of the weekend.
The circuit conditions have varied from providing a cool track surface in the morning sessions to warmer asphalt in the afternoons, but the weather conditions have been kind in general with all sessions conducted in the dry.
Tom Sykes: “I am happy to be on the front row because it was second row in the previous round, so that is a little bit better today. We are improving, so I am happy for that. As soon as we put the qualifying tyre in I had too many warnings early in the lap and when I came into the last sector there was a fast corner to finish. I did not want to go in there too hot. Those warnings earlier on did put me off a bit and so it was not a perfect lap. But I am happy enough to get on the front row. Starting from there also gives us a cleaner track ahead for the two races. We started the weekend in a good position and we are now in a better position. Everybody always tries to improve so we will have a look at the situation later and try to improve our set-up even more.”
Jonathan Rea: “Superpole went OK and I felt that my lap was good but not good enough for the front row. We have been working really hard all weekend on our tyre option and trying to maximise our race set-up. I’m quite happy with our progress and we will work in warm-up to try and further improve my feeling. Tomorrow I hope to make a good start and to be in the front group to see how the race unfolds. For me the most important thing is to be fast in the last laps when the tyre performance drops.”
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team and its riders Chaz Davies and Javier Forés have closed the third Superpole of the 2015 World Superbike season at Motorland Aragón with positive results, obtaining second (Davies) and fifth (Forés) position on the grid for tomorrow’s races.
During the third and final timed practice session, which took place this morning, Davies continued to make progress, recording an impressive 1’50.934 in the opening phase and projecting himself to the top of the timesheets as a result. His lap was to remain the overall fastest of the combined sessions, meaning that the Welshman qualified in first place for the afternoon’s Superpole 2. A modification made to his Panigale R prior to his final exit on track allowed Forés to improve on his best of yesterday by almost a second. The Spaniard recorded a fastest time of 1’51.293, only three tenths from Chaz, to secure overall third position. He too therefore qualified directly without any difficulty for the second Superpole.
Superpole 2: Having completed a first lap on the race tyre, Chaz was already lying first, Javier fourth. Then, returning to the track just a few moments later with the qualifier, Davies was able to set an extremely fast 1’49.697. Thanks to this time, which he achieved despite making a couple of small mistakes through the first sector, the Welshman closed today’s Superpole in final second position, missing out on the pole by just 0.033 of a second. Forés, using the qualifying tyre for the first time this season, also put together a good lap, recording a time of 1’50.449 thanks to which he scored overall fifth position. The Spanish rider will therefore line up on row two of the grid, in fifth place, for tomorrow’s two 18-lap races.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #7) – 2th (1’49.697) – “In Superpole I was able to put together a good lap, not a great lap. Unfortunately I made a mistake in the first sector which I actually thought might have cost me the front row, so I was pleased to finish second, as a front row start is important. Compared to yesterday, things have gone better today, particularly this morning when I was able to complete race distance with good results. It looks like Rea and I have a similar pace from what I’ve seen so far but we’ll have to see tomorrow; the races won’t be easy, and we need to try and keep the grip in the rear tyre for as long as possible…”
Javier Forés (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #112) – 5th (1’50.449) – “I don’t think I made the most of the qualifying tyre but in the end, as a first approach, I can only be pleased with a second row start. Then as far as pace is concerned, I think we’re in a fairly good place. In the free practice I tried to make as many consecutive laps as possible on the same tyre and results were not bad – we’re lapping with similar times to the frontrunners I think. I know it will be very difficult tomorrow, but the aim remains to finish the races inside the top seven or eighth – we’ll see, but I’ll be doing my best…”
Alex Lowes dug deep to claim eighth position for Voltcom Crescent Suzuki in today’s World Superbike Superpole at Motorland Aragon in Spain.
A difficult day had seen both Lowes and Randy de Puniet out of the top-10 for the morning’s final free practice, qualifying them for the opening Superpole 1 this afternoon. The British racer pushed hard for the first 15-minute session, a spectacular last-lap progressing him into Superpole 2. Fresh determination, and qualifying rubber, resulted in a renewed push from Lowes to get the best from his Yoshimura-powered machine and despite the worry of end of session traffic, his 1’50.924 secured him eighth position, lining him up on row three for Sunday’s battles.
Continuing to struggle with the settings of his GSX-R’s new electronics package, de Puniet failed to tame his Suzuki Superbike for the Spanish qualifying. A high-side in the final free practice and a throttle connection issue in the following session left him little time to recover his pace and confidence. A mistake on the Frenchman’s last timed lap in Superpole saw him conclude the day with 19th position and a row-seven start for tomorrow’s races.
Alex Lowes: “Today was difficult but we stayed calm. We’re working hard and we’re improving every time we go out so we’ve just got to keep working as we are. I did the best I could with what I had and I will try to do a better job tomorrow. Thanks to the Crescent team as they are all working so hard to get us to where we know we can be – I really feel we have more potential in the long run with this system.”
Randy de Puniet: “It was a very difficult day because this morning we struggled again with the electronics. I had a high-side but I am fine, which is a good point. This afternoon, we continued to have an issue with the engine brake and traction control connection, so we lost the final free practice session and most of the Superpole because of this. I made a mistake, running wide on my qualifying tyre, and thought I had one more lap to recover but when I crossed the line I saw the chequered flag. When nothing is going well it is a nightmare, but I really hope to do well and have a better feeling tomorrow, get a good start and to score points.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager: “The challenges of introducing a complete new electronics system on the bike as an independent team – bearing in mind that we only have our in-house team to research, design, develop and test – has obviously been a big challenge and today, if anything, became more difficult compared to yesterday. For that reason the team has not been able to make a single chassis setting change so we have done none of the normal work that you would expect over the course of the two days, it’s been a matter of focussing solely on trying to make the bike rideable and predictable for Alex and Randy. With that in mind, for Alex to qualify eighth, just over one second from the fastest rider on such a long track, is nothing short of a miracle and for me is an even better performance than his front row in Thailand at the last round. Having achieved that kind of lap-time the data is now better for the engineers to try and take the next step and if we can have two solid races and score some reasonable points tomorrow we can then look forward to further development and taking full advantage of the additional capacity of the new system.
“Randy has faced the same difficulties as Alex but has found it more difficult to adapt and continue to push. For him, following the Phillip Island injury he needed a good solid event to rebuild confidence and unfortunately the timing of the electronics change couldn’t have been worse on his side, but we all know how fast he is and we’ll pull together and try to give him the best opportunity we can to demonstrate his ability.”
Team Althea Racing’s Superbike riders will start tomorrow’s races with Nico Terol on the third row, in ninth place, and Matteo Baiocco in thirteenth position on the grid.
Michael van der Mark will start tomorrow’s third-round World Superbike championship races from the fourth row of the grid after qualifying in 11th position today at Aragon in Spain.
The Dutch rider had a positive start in the morning’s free practice runs and the team will take the data from all sessions to continue to work on obtaining the right setting for the 5.077km Aragon circuit.
Meanwhile Sylvain Guintoli will start the two 18-lap races a row behind his teammate in 14th position after missing out on Superpole this afternoon. It has been a difficult two days for Guintoli and his crew as they continue to seek the optimum setting for the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP.
Michael van der Mark – P11, 1m51.510s – “I had a good feeling this morning, we improved a little bit and I thought we could go a lot faster in Superpole but it didn’t work out. I think the race pace is ok, but we have to come from quite far back on the grid and I am a little disappointed with that, but tomorrow is a new day.”
Sylvain Guintoli – P14, 1m51.481s – “We struggled a little bit today and couldn’t get qualifying pace, with the race tyre it felt good but I wasn’t able to improve my times. It will be hard work tomorrow for the races, we are trying everything and the crew is working hard to make improvements. We have to keep our heads down and try our best during the races.”
Pieter Breddels – Pata Honda Technical Director – “It’s been a difficult day, Michael was 11th and Sylvain missed out on Superpole in 14th place. There is a gap with the competition at the moment, but we have got a lot of data to go through and put some changes in place ready for warm-up tomorrow.”
Aragon WorldSBK Qualifying Results
1 Leon Haslam 1m49.664s GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils
2 Chaz Davies 1m49.697s GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
3 Tom Sykes 1m49.863s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
4 Jonathan Rea 1m50.053s GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
5 Xavi Fores 1m50.449s ESP DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
6 Ayrton Badovini 1m50.670s ITA BMW JR Racing Team
7 Jordi Torres 1m50.735s ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils
8 Alex Lowes 1m50.924s GBR SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
9 Nicolas Terol 1m51.146s ESP DUCATI Althea Racing
10 Leandro Mercado 1m51.243s ARG DUCATI BARNI Racing Team
11 Michael van der Mark 1m51.510s NED HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
14 Sylvain Guintoli 1m51.481s FRA HONDA Pata Honda World Superbike Team
World Supersport
Courtesy of a blistering last lap just before the chequered flag, Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) will start tomorrow’s 16-lap World Supersport race at Aragon from Pole Position.
The two-time WSS runner-up elevated himself to the top of the standings in the final seconds of the sole qualifying session, snatching Pole from former champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). American PJ Jacobsen (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) will join the pair on the front row. For Cluzel, today’s result marked the twelfth Pole Position of his World Supersport career, the second this year after the one taken at the opening round at Phillip Island.
Behind the leading trio, Pata Honda’s Kyle Smith, Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) and Lorenzo Zanetti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) will line up on row 2, the top 6 covered by little more than a second.
Championship leader Ratthapark Wilairot (CORE Motorsport Thailand Honda) will line up on row 3 in 8th position, just behind Phillip Island podium finisher and former Moto2 rider Gino Rea (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda).
FIM World Supersport Championship MotorLand Aragon – Qualifying
1000 Superstock
Last year’s FIM Superstock 1000cc Cup runner up Lorenzo Savadori (Nuova M2 Racing Aprilia) will start the opening race of the 2015 season from Pole Position, with the front row split by only 0.056s.
Roberto Tamburini (Team MotoxRacing BMW) grabbed second after a strong performance in his debut race in the class, with Kev Coghlan, who makes a return to Superstock racing aboard the brand-new MRS Yamaha YZF-R1M, claiming the final place on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s 13-lap encounter.
Raffaele de Rosa powered his Althea Racing Ducati to fourth (+0.529s), ahead of one of Ondrej Jezek (Triple-M by Barni) and Bryan Staring, the top qualifying Kawasaki rider. The latter pair only 0.695s and 1.096s from Savadori’s time of 1.52.577s, respectively.
Former title winner on two occasions Sylvain Barrier (GM Racing) Yamaha recovered from a spectacular crash this morning to qualify 7th on his return to the class.
Lorenzo Savadori: “I am really very happy. We were aiming for the front row and thanks to everyone’s hard work we are on the pole here at Aragon in this new adventure with Aprilia. What counts is tomorrow. The bike is running well, we were able to lap fast and with a few small adjustments I think we can improve even more. From yesterday to today the bike has changed completely because we tested a wide variety of things to try and find the most suitable setting for m riding style that will let me ride fast. We have the race tomorrow and now we’ll be looking for a few more small changes we can make that will let me improve my pace. I’d like to thank all the guys who were able to interpret my every need well and this pole is a proper reward for all of them.”
FIM Superstock 1000 Cup MotorLand Aragon – Qualifying
1 Luca Savadori Ducati ITA 1’52.577
2 Roberto Tamburini BMW ITA 1’52.619
3 Kev Coghlan Yamaha GBR 1’52.633
4 Raffaele De Rosa Ducati ITA 1’53.106
5 Ondrej Jezek Ducati CZE 1’53.272
6 Bryan Staring Kawasaki AUS 1’53.673
7 Sylvain Barrier Yamaha FRA 1’53.933
8 Romain Lanusse Kawasaki FRA 1’54.036
9 Florian Marino Yamaha FRA 1’54.194
10 Fabio Massei Ducati ITA 1’54.194
11 Matthieu Lussiana Kawasaki FRA 1’54.216
12 Kevin Calia Aprilia ITA 1’54.280
13 Michele Magnoni Yamaha ITA 1’54.288
14 Jeremy Guarnoni Yamaha FRA 1’54.479
15 Federico D’Annunzio BMW ITA 1’54.490
16 Christoffer Bergman Yamaha SWE 1’54.544
20 Remo Castellarin Yamaha ITA 1’55.413
Razgatlioglu wins STK600 opener after successful overtake at last turn
A closely fought opening race of the FIM Europe European Superstock 600 Championship has seen 18-year old Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) come on top after an exciting last lap decider.
The Turkish rider notched up his 2nd win in the series, following his successful wildcard ride in Magny-Cours last year. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki) scored his maiden podium in the series with a fine ride to second, with Federico Caricasulo (Pata Honda Junior Team) completing the first podium of the weekend for the STK600 riders.
The 11-lap race, saw the leading riders exchanging positions throughout, with the top-7 locked together, until the final three laps when the first two eased away from the chasing pack. Behind the podium finishers, Gauthier Duwelz (MVR Racing Yamaha), Niki Tuuli (Kallio Racing Yamaha) and Guillaume Antiga (MTM – HS Kawasaki) rounded out the top-6.
The second race of this sole double-header of the season will see the field of STK600 riders do battle over another 11 laps tomorrow at 4pm local time.
FIM Europe European Superstock 600 Championship Cup MotorLand Aragon – Race 1
1 – Toprak Razgatlioglu Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
2 – Michael Ruben Rinaldi San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki +0.060
3 – Federico Caricasulo Pata Honda Junior Team +2.647
