Rea continues to impress on second day
Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) has taken Pole Position for tomorrow’s two 19 lap races after a thrilling Tissot-Superpole session kept the large crowd thoroughly entertained. This is the first Tissot-Superpole win for Rea this year, the third so far in his WSBK career and the 45th for Honda.
Jonathan Rea: “Honestly, I didn’t really expect that! I knew we had really good pace and we were working towards the race tomorrow. But this pole position lark doesn’t really have my name on it so I’m really happy. The lap was really good but I just want to thank all the guys in my box who’ve been working incredibly hard. They’re making the CBR better and better and to do it in Pata’s back yard here in Italy is just great. I’m looking forward to two strong races tomorrow and hopefully we can get some good results then.”
In Superpole 1, Niccolo Canepa (Althea Racing Ducati) and Leon Camier (BMW Motorrad Italia) emerged as the fastest two riders and progressed into Superpole 2 with the ten riders that were automatically seeded after Free Practice.
The final 15 minute session, held in blisteringly hot conditions eventually saw Rea come out on top after several riders including took their turn to head the standings. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) and Davide Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team) will line up alongside Rea with other factory Ducati rider Chaz Davies, Marco Melandri (Aprilia Racing Team) and reigning Champion Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) completing the second row.
After progressing courtesy of being in the top two in Superpole 1, Canepa was the fastest EVO rider today, making it onto row 3 in 9th position after a solid performance this afternoon.
Chaz Davies: “Today has gone well and we’ve taken another step forward. This morning we had really good pace and although there is still room for improvement I’m happy with how things have been going. The Superpole was also positive and finishing fourth is our best result so far, a result that gives me confidence, coming after some bad luck in previous Superpoles. Tomorrow I’m expecting two tough races, it will be difficult but today I was able to do race distance with the tyre and our pace wasn’t bad. We’re confident and ready to race here tomorrow.”
Times: 1. Rea (Honda) 1’46.289 average 167.182 kph; 2. Guintoli (Aprilia) 1’46.554; 3. Giugliano (Ducati) 1’46.555; 4. Davies (Ducati) 1’46.678; 5. Melandri (Aprilia) 1’46.740; 6. Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’46.767; 7. Baz (Kawasaki) 1’47.014; 8. Laverty (Suzuki) 1’47.715; 9. Canepa (Ducati) 1’48.240; 10. Haslam (Honda) 1’48.242; 11. Camier (BMW) 1’48.371; 12. Lowes (Suzuki) 1’48.196; 13. Goi (Ducati); 14. Salom (Kawasaki); 15. Elias(Aprilia); 16. Badovini (Bimota); 17. Scassa (Kawasaki); 18. Morais (Kawasaki); 19. Iddon (Bimota); 20. Fabrizio (Kawasaki).
World Supersport
Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta RC – Yakhnich Motorsport) snatched Pole Position for the fourth round of the World Supersport championship at Imola in sweltering conditions with a final lap surge to displace multiple champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Maha Team India Kawasaki).
The winner from Phillip Island overcame a technical problem earlier in the weekend to take his sixth supersport Pole Position.
Italian Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) will complete the front row.
Row two comprises Kev Coghlan (DMC-Panavto Yamaha), Roberto Tamburini (San Carlo Puccetti Kawasaki) and Assen winner Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport Team).
Jack Kennedy (CIA Insurance PTR Honda) crashed and was unable to continue, he will start from 19th.
Alex Baldolini (ATK Racing MV Agusta) suffered a technical problem and will start the race from the back row of the grid in 24th position.
Times: 1. Cluzel (MV Agusta) 1’51.110 average 159.928 kph; 2. Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) 1’51.326; 3. Zanetti (Honda) 1’51.443; 4. Coghlan (Yamaha) 1’51.524; 5. Tamburini (Kawasaki) 1’51.711; 6. Vd Mark (Honda) 1’51.840; 7. Jacobsen (Kawasaki) 1’51.914; 8. Marino (Kawasaki) 1’51.961; 9. Leonov (MV Agusta) 1’52.416; 10. Rolfo (Kawasaki) 1’52.643; 11. Bussolotti (Honda) 1’52.729; 12. Wahr (Yamaha) 1’52.756; 13. Menghi (Yamaha) 1’52.926; 14. Russo (Honda) 1’52.982; 15. Wilairot (Honda) 1’52.994; etc.
Superstock 1000
Fabio Massei (EAB Racing Team) will start tomorrow’s third round of the FIM Superstock 1000cc Cup from Pole Position after a blistering lap in official qualifying.
For Italian Massei, it was the first Pole Position of his career and the first for the EAB Ducati Team.
Italy made it two riders in the top two positions as Lorenzo Savadori (Pedercini Kawasaki Team) closed to within 0.031s but had to be content with second on the grid. Czech rider Ondrej Jezek (Barni Racing Team) took 3rd and the final front row spot.
Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing Team), Federico D’Annunzio (FDA Racing Team BMW) and Romain Lanusse (Pedercini Kawasaki Team) will be on the second row of the grid, whilst American Josh Day (Agro-On Racedays Honda) will move off from 7th position.
Kevin Calia (Nuova M2 Racing) made his Aprilia debut in the class with a spirited ride to 13th at the flag.
Times: 1. Massei (Ducati) 1’50.351 average 161.028 kph; 2. Savadori (Kawasaki) 1’50.382; 3. Jezek (Ducati) 1’50.707; 4. Mercado (Ducati) 1’51.635; 5. D’Annunzio (BMW) 1’51.825; 6. Lanusse (Kawasaki) 1’51.874; 7. Day (Honda) 1’52.053; 8. Smith (Honda) 1’52.071; 9. Nemeth (Kawasaki) 1’52.410; 10. Grotzkyj G. (Kawasaki) 1’52.515; 11. Muresan (BMW) 1’52.541; 12. Lussiana (Kawasaki) 1’52.598; 13. Calia (Aprilia) 1’52.690; 14. Castellarin (BMW) 1’52.824; 15. Schiavoni (BMW) 1’52.959; etc.
Superstock 600 – Race
Marco Faccani (San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki) narrows his gap to the leader of the FIM Europe Superstock 600 Championship Tuuli after taking a lights to flag victory in the third round of the series at Imola today.
Behind Faccani, a titanic race long battle kept the crowd entertained with eventually Niki Tuuli (Kallio Racing Yamaha) and Stefano Casalotti (VFT Racing Yamaha) completing the podium. The Finnish rider recovered from saving what looked almost certain to be a big highside crash on the opening lap, starting his charge on the leader before eventually settling for second place and keeping the championship lead for just 2 points over today’s race winner.
Luca Salvadori (Team 10 Lap Racing Kawasaki), Michael Ruben Rinaldi (G.A.S. Racing Team Yamaha) and Federico Caricasulo (Evan Bros. Racing Team Honda) completed the top 6.
Kevin Manfredi (Agro-On Wil Racedays Kawasaki) fell off his ZX-6R, whilst he was running sixth, at the downhill section leading to Turn 18, in the late stages of the race.
Results: 1. Faccani (Kawasaki) 12 Laps/59.232 km in 23’06.453 average 153.799 kph; 2. Tuuli (Yamaha) 3.270; 3. Casalotti (Yamaha) 5.966; 4. Salvadori (Kawasaki) 9.618; 5. Rinaldi (Yamaha) 9.925; 6. Caricasulo (Honda) 10.967; 7. Mikhalchik (Kawasaki) 12.515; 8. Tucci (Kawasaki) 12.598; 9. Tessels (Suzuki) 13.524; 10. Marchal (Yamaha) 17.521; 11. Mercandelli (Yamaha) 21.635; 12. Lahti (Yamaha) 22.101; 13. Puffe (Kawasaki) 24.657; 14. Nestorovic (Yamaha) 25.774; 15. Patronen (Yamaha) 26.582; etc.
Standings (Round 3 of 7): 1. Tuuli 58; 2. Faccani 56; 3. Tucci 39; 4. Tessels 39; 5. Salvadori 31; 6. Manfredi 27; 7. Mikhalchik 27; 8. Casalotti 25; 9. Duwelz 18; 10. Rinaldi 15; 11. Lahti 14; 12. Hartog 13; 13. Caricasulo 10; 14. Marchal 10; 15. Nestorovic 9; 16. Mercandelli 5; 17. Gobbi 5; 18. Lewis 5; 19. Zeelen 5; 20. Puffe 3; 21. Canducci 3; 22. Pittet 2; 23. Patronen 1.
European Junior Cup
Javier Orellana (Europe Food SL) will be the pole sitter for tomorrow’s 9 lap Pata European Junior Cup, powered by Honda race at Imola. The young Spaniard, who is currently contesting his third year on the series, will be joined on the first row on the grid by Estonian Hans Soomer (Auto24ring) and compatriot Augusto Fernandez (WIL Sport). Current points leader Marc Miralles (Honda Spain) will start from the 11th place, after crashing unhurt at Turn 9 halfway through the session.
Times: 1. Orellana (Honda) 2’13.617 average 132.989 kph; 2. Soomer (Honda) 2’13.881; 3. Fernandez (Honda) 2’13.891; 4. Perez (Honda) 2’14.057; 5. Hubner (Honda) 2’14.699; 6. Fernandez (Honda) 2’14.819; 7. Gabellini (Honda) 2’15.084; 8. Grassia (Honda) 2’15.089; 9. Harland (Honda) 2’15.276; 10. Licciardi (Honda) 2’15.547; etc.
Voltcom Cresecent Suzuki Report
Voltcom Crescent Suzuki racer Eugene Laverty will start tomorrow’s races at the Imola Circuit in Italy on the third row after completing this afternoon’s Superpole qualifying in eighth place despite an encouraging morning’s work.
Laverty had showed promise on the Yoshimura-powered GSX-R throughout the morning’s two free practice sessions, almost breaking the 1’48 barrier to hold fifth in the last of the timed slots ahead of qualifying for the eni FIM Superbike World Championship’s fourth round. The Irishman’s expectation for the Superpole, however, was not fulfilled and a frustrating time of 1’47.715 left him settling for eighth on the grid for Sunday’s two races at the Italian track.
Alex Lowes had a similar rollercoaster of a day: Continuing his development with both the Suzuki GSX-R1000 and the notoriously-tricky Imola circuit, Lowes impressed in the morning’s free practices, consistently hitting the 1’48.1 mark; his lap-times echoing his growing confidence. Unfortunately the potential would remain untapped as a possible technical issue resulted in the team’s decision to withdraw the bike for the Superpole session. The Englishman will start tomorrow’s races from 12th place on the grid but his growing form and confidence with the track guarantee that he is certainly up for the challenge.
The soaring Italian temperatures reached 29°C for the afternoon’s 15 minute shootout with Honda’s Jonathan Rea claiming pole position on a blistering 51°C track surface.
Voltcom Crescent Suzuki will regroup overnight in preparation for tomorrow’s first race at 10:30hrs local time (09:30BST), the second instalment scheduled for 13:10hrs local time (12:10BST).
Eugene Laverty: 8th – “Another really difficult day! My aim was to be on the first two rows for Superpole to give myself a chance to start, and again I’m on the third row. It makes it difficult for ourselves but aside from that we have some work to do. Corner-entry is the biggest issue we have and we need to get some flow with the Voltcom Crescent Suzuki to allow it to handle the way I need it to. We’ll see what the races bring but I will be giving it my all.”
Alex Lowes: 12th – “I feel a lot more comfortable on the track today, the bike’s improving, I’m improving and I feel like I’ve worked really well this weekend. To be seventh before the qualifying session was good; we were just unlucky I didn’t get to go out and be further up the grid. It’s going to be difficult tomorrow but I’m going to do my best, enjoy it a lot; and hopefully I can take some experience and some good points ready for my home race at Donington. I do generally feel like I’m riding better, I think I’m doing a good job; and I’m looking forward to the races even though I know how hard it’s going to be after a difficult day today.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager: “There is no hiding behind it, the qualifying result today was a disaster and we felt we had the potential to do much better. I feel particularly bad for Alex because he has progressed really well over the course of the weekend, to a point where he was very close to the 47’s in free practice and I really believe he could have qualified very strongly. A yet-undefined potential gearbox issue is always a huge concern because, should there be a failure, the rider cannot do anything to control the situation. It was extremely hard to tell Alex that we wouldn’t be able to go out in Superpole but it was the only choice as a team that we could make. The rider’s safety and those of the other competitors has to be a bigger priority than any other; the guys are looking at it now and hopefully we will find a definitive and solvable fault so we can remedy it for race day tomorrow.
“Eugene’s qualifying was just simply disappointing. From 48.0, and fifth place in FP3 this morning we expected that forward momentum to continue, but if anything we went backwards between that session and qualifying. That said the lap-by-lap pace on race tyres is a different story and with both the guys I think the Voltcom Crescent Suzuki can do a much better job in the races tomorrow.”
Althea Racing
The Althea Racing Team and rider Niccolò Canepa, current leaders in the Superbike EVO category, are ready to take on tomorrow’s races at Imola. The weekend began on Friday with the first two timed practice sessions when Canepa recorded a best overall time of 1’50.015 that positioned him thirteenth. The team concentrated all of its efforts on finding the best possible set‐up for the bike and selecting the best tyre compound.
This morning, Saturday 10 May 2014, Canepa concluded the third timed practice session with a best time of 1’48.689, classifying second among the EVO riders, right behind Leon Camier but with a very past pace which confirms the Team’s hard work and the talents of rider Canepa, who is able to make the most of the new set‐up. In Superpole 1, Canepa set a fantastic lap time of 1’48.359 which propelled him to the top of the standings ahead of Leon Camier, second. This meant that the The Althea Racing rider gained entry to Superpole 2 together with the big names of the Superbike category. It was in this session that Canepa really demonstrated his full potential, earning an impressive spot on the third row of tomorrow’s grid, just behind some of the Superbike riders, with a time of 1’48.240 which places him ninth on the grid, the best performance by an EVO rider this afternoon.
Niccolò Canepa: “On Friday we immediately started to work on identifying the best feeling possible at the front of the bike, something that initially caused us some problems. I’ve been able to constantly improve my performance in each session, and then take ninth place on the grid, which means that I will be up there with the best riders. I have good memories of Imola, where I feel comfortable and I want to continue to give the best of myself in order to maintain my lead in the standings and gain as much positive experience for the future as possible . I always have so much support here in Imola and so I’ll be doing my best not to disappoint the fans.”
Genesio Bevilacqua: “It is always very emotional coming to race here at Imola. This track has always given Team Althea great results. Niccolò is fitter than ever and is now a fixed presence among the “Full Superbike” riders. It’s a great result to start on the third row here, as it serves to demonstrate both how hard my Team is working and the increasingly strong feeling that our rider has with the fantastic Ducati Panigale 1199 EVO. We are well aware that in tomorrow’s races there are some very strong competitors but we also know that we can fight for the positions that count.”
Pata Honda Report
Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea will start tomorrow’s two fourth-round World Superbike championship races from pole position after setting the fastest time in today’s Superpole sessions at Imola in Italy.
The British rider powered his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP around the 4.936km Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in a time of 1m46.289s, almost three tenths of a second ahead of Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli and Davide Giugliano of Italy, who completes the front row.
It is Rea’s fourth career pole position, the last occasion being at Portimao in Portugal in 2011. He received his trophy today from 15-time world champion Giacomo Agostini and the 27-year-old is also confident of his race for tomorrow’s two 19-lap outings at Imola.
His Pata Honda team-mate, Leon Haslam, will start the races from tenth place on the grid after some problems in today’s practice sessions. The 30-year-old crashed early in Free Practice 4 after being one of the front runners in the morning session.
Haslam was unable to maximise the additional grip from Pirelli’s qualifying tyre in Superpole, but he is determined to mount two strong challenges in tomorrow’s two races, the first of which goes at 10.30am local time.
Jonathan Rea – P1 – “Honestly, I didn’t really expect that! I knew we had really good pace and we were working towards the race tomorrow. But this pole position lark doesn’t really have my name on it so I’m really happy. The lap was really good but I just want to thank all the guys in my box who’ve been working incredibly hard. They’re making the CBR better and better and to do it in Pata’s back yard here in Italy is just great. I’m looking forward to two strong races tomorrow and hopefully we can get some good results then.”
Leon Haslam – P10 – “Yeah, it was a pretty rubbish afternoon. I felt we were making some good progress up until the second session today when I had a problem with the shifter on the outlap which caused a bit of a highside. I couldn’t quite get the gear and it threw me off and we lost the whole session. I had a familiar problem in Superpole with the extra grip from the qualifer and ended up going slower than I did on the race tyre. We’d made some good progress this weekend, but had a bad afternoon.”
Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator – “Pole position for Jonathan, and his last one was a very long time ago! Well done to him and his team. There are four or five riders who can be fast in the race and will be battling it out tomorrow, but no-one is outstandingly strong and I think he is one of the contenders. After a good morning session Leon unfortunately had a crash in FP4. Luckily he wasn’t hurt but it put his progress on hold a bit. He had some problems with the qualifier too so we’ll have to see how he can do tomorrow.”
Aprilia Racing
Starting from the front was essential in the races tomorrow at Imola, the fourth round of World Superbike which promises to be heated down to thousandths of a second, and Aprilia Racing Team hit a bullseye, placing both riders on the first and second row.
Qualifying easily among the top 10 who are automatically admitted to the second decisive session and key players during all the timed practice sessions – as well as in the last free practice sessions prior to Superpole – Melandri and Guintoli never stopped working on race pace, searching for the best setup for tomorrow’s races which, with the standings up for grabs, promise to be extremely heated with numerous contenders for the final victory, a fact which is clearly demonstrated by the narrow gaps that separate the top riders.
Concrete and efficient as always, Sylvain Guintoli seemed to be in his team mate’s shadows during the sessions prior to the decisive fifteen minutes which would establish the starting grid. In all actuality, however, the Frenchman had focused his work on the races, not falling short when he attacked in Superpole, on the track until just a few moments from the end. The second place he took in the end left the Frenchman completely satisfied: “Another Superpole for us and the starting position here is important since it is quite a twisty track where it is difficult to overtake, so you need to set your pace straight way from the first laps. As always we worked a lot on our race pace, but many of the other riders did the same, so tomorrow should be quite interesting. I want to do my best for Aprilia and for my team. We are in Italy so that pumps me up even more.”
Marco Melandri had two positive days of testing which led him to finding a good feeling on his RSV4. These are good sensations that Marco had all the way through to the decisive Superpole session where he battled with his usual quality, putting the second best time on the boards at one point and then finishing with the fifth best time which places him a the centre of the second row on the grid. The narrow gap of just 45 hundredths behind the first place finisher is an indicator of the balance between the top contenders and Marco’s competitiveness.
“The second row is OK. I am gaining confidence in Superpole as well. Even if I made a few mistakes in my good lap which cost me a couple tenths of a second I am still very pleased with the result. It is a good period for us. Starting from the front tomorrow will be important because there are several riders here with a good pace. The races won’t be easy for anyone. The true difference will be made after the tenth round. As for our race pace, we have done some good work so after all our efforts we are ready to give it our all down to the end.”
Hero EBR
Geoff May and Aaron Yates gave themselves every opportunity of securing their best results of the season after a spirited performance by both American riders saw them close the gap to the front greatly in the third and fourth Free Practice sessions at the Imola circuit earlier today.
So far this weekend the EBR 1190RX has been trouble free and that has allowed the team to once again improve every time they go on track, putting them in an encouraging position ahead of tomorrow’s races.
Starting 26th and 27th on the grid, Geoff and Aaron know how tough the races, which are set to run in the hottest conditions of the year to date will be, but both are optimistic of being able to fight with other riders in the 19 lap encounters.
Geoff May – “I am happy with the bike because we are getting closer to the other riders. We improved a lot since yesterday and now we are closer to our rivals. We need to continue in this direction.”
Aaron Yates – “I was happy with the improvements that we made on the bike. I am enjoying riding in Imola and hopefully we will be faster again and we can fight with the other riders.”
