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Spies The Unstoppable Pole Man

Author: WSB News
Posted on: Sunday, May 17 2009



Third and fourth places on the front row for tomorrow’s two races went to Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox). The Italian, who again recorded the top speed of the day at 251.8 km/h on his RSV4, capitalized on his final run to jump up from seventh to third. For points leader Haga, fourth place can be considered an excellent result because the Japanese rider was almost eliminated in the second knock-out phase, but just managed to make the cut by a whisker from Shinya Nakano (Aprilia Racing).



Ben Spies:
“It was a good Superpole session for us, although it hasn’t all gone well. After qualifying we had to look in the mirror and get our stuff together but we’ve been improving the bike all weekend and I got down to some very fast times on race tyres. I had both qualifiers for the last Superpole but they had so much grip that they were definitely changing the bike and I never could nail one lap but luckily we were able to get it today. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good to get the six in a row. I think we have a very good package but it’ll be a very tough race and for sure there’ll be a lot of sliding around tomorrow.”


Michel Fabrizio:
“I really thought I’d taken the pole but unfortunately Ben beat me by a thousandth of a second. In any case I’m really happy with the way things are going this weekend. I’ve got a good race pace, let’s see if we can do a couple of good races tomorrow, for sure they’ll be other guys up there with us, including Nori, as there are a lot of riders who are quick out there. At Monza I really enjoyed myself with the win, for sure here it’ll be even more fun because there are a lot more curves than Monza for overtaking.”


Max Biaggi:
“It’s good to be back on the front row again and I’m very excited for that. In the qualifying we’ve been running comfortably at a good pace. When we put soft rubber on, things were coming better but we had to solve some real problems and that made the chattering high. For the race we will do some little modifications, but the bike is working well compared to the winter tests so hopefully for tomorrow we can continue this way.”


The second row line-up sees an impressive Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) in fifth place, and he will be flanked by the best of the privateers, Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati), his Hannspree Ten Kate team-mate Carlos Checa and Tom Sykes (Yamaha World Superbike). South African rider Sheridan Morais put in a good performance for eleventh place on the Kawasaki ZX-10R machine vacated temporarily by Makoto Tamada, while Suzuki and BMW struggled, with Yukio Kagayama and Ruben Xaus down on the fourth row of the grid.

World Superbike - Kyalami Superpole Result

Pos – Rider – Bike – 1st Quali – 2nd Quali - Superpole

Superpole 3

1 - Ben Spies - Yamaha YZF R1 - 1'38.600 - 1'38.627 - 1'37.288

2 - Michel Fabrizio - Ducati 1098R - 1'38.103 - 1'38.362 - 1'37.289

3 - Max Biaggi - Aprilia RSV4 Factory - 1'39.284 - 1'39.469 - 1'37.466

4 - Noriyuki Haga - Ducati 1098R - 1'39.055 - 1'38.961 - 1'37.544

5 - Jonathan Rea - Honda CBR1000RR - 1'38.506 - 1'39.262 - 1'37.634

6 - Jakub Smrz - Ducati 1098R - 1'39.230 - 1'38.934 - 1'37.677

7 - Carlos Checa - Honda CBR1000RR - 1'39.370 - 1'38.905 - 1'37.940

8 - Tom Sykes - Yamaha YZF R1 - 1'39.258 - 1'38.514 - 1'38.241



Superpole 2

9 - Shinya Nakano - Aprilia RSV4 Factory - 1'38.998 - 1'39.453 - 1'37.935

10 - Leon Haslam - Honda CBR1000RR - 1'38.865 - 1'38.505 - 1'37.988

11 - Sheridan Morais - Kawasaki ZX 10R - 1'39.388 - 1'38.767 - 1'38.013

12 - Ryuichi Kiyonari - Honda CBR1000RR - 1'39.788 - 1'38.905 - 1'38.081

13 - Yukio Kagayama - Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 - 1'39.475 - 1'38.523 - 1'38.130

14 - Shane Byrne - Ducati 1098R - 1'39.470 - 1'39.193 - 1'38.171

15 - Ruben Xaus - BMW S1000 RR - 1'39.357 - 1'39.270 - 1'38.194

16 - Gregorio Lavilla - Ducati 1098R - 1'39.389 - 1'39.089 - 1'38.733



Superpole 1

17 - Broc Parkes - Kawasaki ZX 10R - 1'39.961 - 1'39.668 - 1'38.766

18 - Luca Scassa - Kawasaki ZX 10R - 1'40.192 - 1'39.672 - 1'38.779

19 - David Salom - Kawasaki ZX 10R - 1'40.105 - 1'39.735 - 1'38.880

20 - Tommy Hill - Honda CBR1000RR - 1'40.308 - 1'39.589 - 1'39.001



Others on the grid

21 - Fonsi Nieto - Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 - 1'40.544 - 1'39.831

22 - Karl Muggeridge - Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 - 1'40.304 - 1'39.852

23 - Steve Martin - BMW S1000 RR - 1'42.015 - 1'41.227

24 - Shaun Whyte - Yamaha YZF R1 - 1'41.737 - 1'41.951


World Superbike - Kyalami Combined Qualifying

Pos – Rider – Bike – 1st Quali – 2nd Quali

1 - Michel Fabrizio - Ducati 1098R - 1'38.103 - 1'38.362

2 - Leon Haslam - Honda CBR1000RR - 1'38.865 - 1'38.505

3 - Jonathan Rea - Honda CBR1000RR - 1'38.506 - 1'39.262

4 - Tom Sykes - Yamaha YZF R1 - 1'39.258 - 1'38.514

5 - Yukio Kagayama - Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 - 1'39.475 - 1'38.523

6 - Ben Spies - Yamaha YZF R1 - 1'38.600 - 1'38.627

7 - Sheridan Morais - Kawasaki ZX 10R - 1'39.388 - 1'38.767

8 - Ryuichi Kiyonari - Honda CBR1000RR - 1'39.788 - 1'38.905

9 - Carlos Checa - Honda CBR1000RR - 1'39.370 - 1'38.905

10 - Jakub Smrz - Ducati 1098R - 1'39.230 - 1'38.934

11 - Noriyuki Haga - Ducati 1098R - 1'39.055 - 1'38.961

12 - Shinya Nakano - Aprilia RSV4 Factory - 1'38.998 - 1'39.453

13 - Gregorio Lavilla - Ducati 1098R - 1'39.389 - 1'39.089

14 - Shane Byrne - Ducati 1098R - 1'39.470 - 1'39.193

15 - Ruben Xaus - BMW S1000 RR - 1'39.357 - 1'39.270

16 - Max Biaggi - Aprilia RSV4 Factory - 1'39.284 - 1'39.469

17 - Tommy Hill - Honda CBR1000RR - 1'40.308 - 1'39.589

18 - Broc Parkes - Kawasaki ZX 10R - 1'39.961 - 1'39.668

19 - Luca Scassa - Kawasaki ZX 10R - 1'40.192 - 1'39.672

20 - David Salom - Kawasaki ZX 10R - 1'40.105 - 1'39.735

21 - Fonsi Nieto - Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 - 1'40.544 - 1'39.831

22 - Karl Muggeridge - Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 - 1'40.304 - 1'39.852

23 - Steve Martin - BMW S1000 RR - 1'42.015 - 1'41.227

24 - Shaun Whyte - Yamaha YZF R1 - 1'41.737 - 1'41.951


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