Press release:
Italian Front Row for Rea
Jonathan Rea will start from the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s two 12th round World Superbike championship races at Imola in Italy after setting the third fastest time in today’s Superpole sessions.
Fastest after free practice this afternoon, the Northern Irishman set the pace in the first Superpole session but was edged off his maiden pole position by local rider, Michel Fabrizio, who was just a tenth of a second faster.
Rea and Fabrizio were split by championship leader, Ben Spies, with his closest challenger, Noryuki Haga, five hundredths of a second behind Rea, leaving 0.150s covering the front row.
Rea’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate Carlos Checa had looked threatening in the opening qualifying session and went sixth fastest in free practice just before Superpole. However, the Spaniard was unable to improve and slipped to thirteenth place on the grid for tomorrow’s two 21-lap races at the histori c 4.93km Imola circuit.
Jonathan Rea – P3, 1’47.834s:
"I didn’t really use the qualifier to its best effect in the first couple of laps and I wanted to go out and try again but fell short a little bit. The pace out there was fast today and, when I wanted to have another go, there just wasn’t enough tyre left. But we’ve got a good race setup for tomorrow and the guys have done a marvellous job. We’ve had so many new things to try and every week the package gets better and better. So, a big thanks to them, well done to Michel and Ben and I’m sure the racing will be pretty good tomorrow."
Carlos Checa – P13, 1’49.168s:
"I was in top ten, top five in all the practices but on my first pit exit on the qualifying tyre I made a few mistakes. When we put the second qualifier on we had some problems with the electronics cutting the power and I cou ldn’t find that last 0.5s that would have carried us forward. We’ll try something more in warm-up tomorrow but I need two good starts in the race because that’s another story to qualifying. It’s not an easy place to pass here, but if we can improve the pace a little, I think we can do something."
Ronald ten Kate – team manager:
"I will admit we were hoping for a bit more than the qualifying results that we got. We’ve seen all our riders in the top ten on race tyres, with Jonathan quickest in free practice just before Superpole. However, he’s still on the front row so that’s not a worry. It’ll be tough for Carlos, even though his speed on race tyres is a lot better than his Superpole result. He’ll have to be quite committed in the opening couple of laps to try and reach the top five or six riders. By the looks of things, it’s going to be another exciting race day tomorrow."
Superpole Disappointment for Kiyonari
Ryuichi Kiyonari made significant improvements to the setting on his Ten Kate Honda Racing CBR1000RR today but was unable to achieve a result that reflected this in this afternoon’s Superpole qualifying sessions for tomorrow’s two 12th round World Superbike championship races at Imola in Italy.
The Japanese rider struggled in yesterday’s only practice session but, in regulation qualifying this morning and, again, during free practice this afternoon at Imola, he ran comfortably in the top ten.
Kiyonari qualified for Superpole but was eliminated after the opening round with the 14th fastest time. He will therefore line up on the fourth row of the grid for the two 21-lap races around the 4.93km Imola circuit.
Ryuichi Kiyonari – P14, 1’49.340s:
"It’s a shame that we could not make the best of the improved feeling we had today. The bike has been improving ever since the warm-up at Nurburgring and the improvement continued today in every area. However, I had the same feeling on new race tyres as I did on old ones, and no change on the qualifying tyres, so I was unable to improve my lap time. We need to try and find something extra tomorrow morning in warm-up but, at the moment, the race pace feels OK. I will try my best for two good results, but it will be very difficult tomorrow."
Ronald ten Kate – team manager:
"The Superpole result does not really reflect the work that Kiyo-san’s team has put in to improving the feel of his bike. He showed in the earlier sessions today that the package had made a good step forward but we could not turn that into a good grid position. It means he will have to be quite committed in the early laps to stay in touch with the leading riders but, if he can do this, I am sure he can get close to their race pace."
2009 World Superbike championship, round 12 – Imola, ItalyFinal qualifying results:
1. Michel Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati 1’47.735s
2. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha 1’47.778s
3. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 1’47.834s4. Noriyuki Haga (JPN) Ducati 1’47.885s
5. Jakub Smrz (CZE) Ducati 1’48.156s
6. Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia 1’48.665s
7. Shane Byrne (GBR) Ducati 1’49.092s
8. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) Aprilia 1’49.338s
13. Carlos Checa (ESP) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 1’49.168s
14. Ryuichi Kiyonari (JPN) Ten Kate Honda Racing 1’49.340s
