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Spies smashes best lap record with tenth Superpole

Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies was back on form today, working up speed through the Superpole sessions to end the final heat with an incredible lap, smashing last year's record by nearly seven tenths and leaving the other qualifying riders nearly five tenths of a second behind. The ten poles by Spies mean he has now equaled Doug Polen's 1991 record for the number of pole position starts in a season. Spies also enjoyed a productive earlier qualifying session, continuing to fine tune the set up for tomorrow's two races, he ended in second behind Michel Fabrizio.

Tom Sykes had worked solidly through qualifying, hitting ninth position by midway. As the session drew to a close he ended with a provisional 13th on the grid in advance of qualifying. An unfortunate crash in free practice in the afternoon session deprived him of his number one bike, throwing the British rider off balance for the Superpole heats. Despite the setback Sykes still made it through to the second Superpole session and will start tomorrow's two races from 14th position on the grid.

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (1st, 1'37.709)

"The Superpole lap was a great lap, we've spent the weekend and the qualifying sessions working more on race tyres and fuel loads and really looking to make sure the bike is ready come Sunday. Superpole was the first time we really got down to banging out a lap and it was a good one. It's good to see Johnny is up there again, it's pretty much the same four guys as last time so it should be a good race. I don't think anybody is going to be getting away and I think it will be settled in the last few laps. I'm pretty confident with the bike so I'm happy going into Sunday."

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (14th, 1'39.361)
"It was a tough day today. We were making good progress in the qualifying session, and were finding improvements to the bike. Unfortunately in the free practice I had a very strange crash, I'm not sure why it happened at all. When we came out on the second bike the set up was completely different and so it was a struggle to get back on the pace. We don't have an ideal start position from the grid but if we can get off the line well, we can get in there and fight for the front."

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager

" After yesterday we found some good improvements with the bike and Ben managed a really incredible lap, but most importantly we've found a really good set up for the race and our tyre choices are ready as well. Tomorrow will be a really tough race but we will be part of the front group and fighting for the win. Unfortunately Tom crashed during the free practice session and his second bike had a very different set up, so he didn't have as much confidence as with the first bike. He did his best and did manage to achieve the second qualifying session. It will be a tough race for him tomorrow but we know he will give it 100%."

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Team Suzuki Alstare news
2009 Superbike World Championship
Round 13, Magny-Cours, France
Final qualifying, Saturday 3rd October
Circuit: 4.411 kms. Conditions: Dry, mostly sunny 17-20 C.

ROWS THREE AND FOUR FOR KARL AND YUKIO IN MAGNY-COURS.

Team Suzuki Alstare riders Karl Muggeridge and Yukio Kagayama ended final qualifying and Superpole with the eleventh and thirteenth fastest times respectively and will line up on the third and fourth rows of the grid for tomorrow's pair of 23-lappers at Magny-Cours. Both riders continued to work with their new Ohlins suspension and were happy with the feedback they are getting and the progress they are making. Ben Spies (Yamaha) once again won Superpole - his tenth of the season - with Jonathan Rea (Honda) second, Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) and Biaggi (Aprilia) fourth.

Karl - 11th, 1:38.851
Once again we began the day with the two bikes set up differently, so that we could do as much as possible in the shortest time. We had a small engine problem with one in the morning, but it didn't affect what we were trying to do too much.
What's good at the moment is the fact that every time we make a change, it's for the better. On race tyres, the bike feels pretty good and although there is a bit of a problem with rear grip on acceleration, it's probably something we can sort out. We're making progress and I think a good set of results are possible, even though I'm starting from the third row.

Yukio - 13th, 1:39.148
For Superpole 1, we put in one of our qualifying tyres, but straightaway I got a lot of chattering and so was unable to set a good lap time. Compared to the race tyres, the qualifiers give me more grip, but also more chatter.
But I feel positive, because every time I go out I think we are making progress with the new suspension and understanding it more and more. Tomorrow we'll make some small changes to the front and rear suspension to see if we can improve the bike further and get more grip. I need two good starts but I am ready for this challenge and will fight as hard as I can - as usual.

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Leon on second row for tomorrow's races, West hoping for a good start

Saturday, October 3
Leon, who was on the pace right from the start this weekend, continued his progress throughout the second day. Picking-up where he left off yesterday by performing strongly in the second and final qualifying, with a lap time of 1'39.149s, he took a steady fifth place. That result firmly moved him through to the afternoon's three Superpole knockout sessions. In SP1 Leon yet again proved his strength by setting the fastest lap time using a race tyre, with a lap of 1'38.770s. Going out in the second shoot-out on a fresh qualifying tyre Haslam struggled, as he got caught up behind another rider, being unable to use the full potential of his tyre. Still in the running as the seventh fastest rider moving into the last and final session Haslam went out again on a used qualifier to finally take a sixth place and as a result will start from a second row in tomorrow's races.

West took more than a second off his fastest time set in yesterday's first free practice, improving significantly by finishing in 15th place in the second free practice session this morning. The Australian continued his development onboard his Honda CBR600RR in the afternoon's lone qualifying session, ending up in 16th place on the grid ahead of tomorrow's 22-lap race.

Leon Haslam - P6 -1'38.625s

"Overall I am happy because we did the first Superpole session on a race tyre and we got a 1'38.7, and felt comfortable doing it. I didn't get a free lap in the second session on my first qualifying tyre, so I had to go back in and get another qualifier. So we had to do the final Superpole session on a used qualifier, and that meant we couldn't push for a front row time. Our aim was to make sure we started on the front two rows and we have a good race set-up, so our confidence is high."

Anthony West - P16 - 1'42.954s

"Yeah today was not so good. Although better than the last race at Imola, so I guess that's an improvement in it'self. We tried some new things on the bike today that gave us some improvements but also some that got worse. But all-in-all we managed to improve the overall feeling for the bike which was a good step. I think I'll do pretty well in the race tomorrow, if I can manage a good start and a strong first couple of laps. It will not be easy for sure but I'll push my hardest to achieve a good result."

Johan Stigefelt - Team Manager:

"Leon and his crew have done tremendously well again, they have performed from the start of the weekend and progressed throughout all the sessions. It feels great to be up there "on our own" after all the struggles we have been through these last weeks. Our target as always is to be in the first two rows for Sunday's grid and I know Leon has the pace and consistency to run up front in tomorrow's races. Anthony is not doing so bad here as it shows, its basically three corners were he loses all his time and that's something we have to work on, for the rest I see a small improvement from his side personally and that makes me more happy. I really hope he can have a good race tomorrow to finish in a good spot, not only because of the close championship standings, but also as it would boost his confidence up and that's definitely what he needs."

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DUCATI XEROX'S FABRIZIO TO LINE UP THIRD AND HAGA FIFTH ON TOMORROW'S GRID AT MAGNY-COURS

Magny-Cours (Francia), Saturday 3rd October 2009: after a difficult Superpole for the two ducati Xerox rider Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio, both declare themselves satisfied with the results that will see them line up in third position (Michel) and fifth position (Noriyuki) on tomorrow's grid at Magny-Cours.

The morning's second qualifying session took place on a cooler track (22°C) but this did not prevent the majority of riders from improving on the times set in first qualifying. Yesterday's trend continued when the fastest four riders on track were once again the leading riders in the championship standings. Fabrizio, as yesterday, was fast from the start of the session, and set the quickest time of the morning in the latter stages. Haga meanwhile carried out a mini long-run of eight laps, the first of which was his fastest lap of the session, completed in 1m38.726s, exactly the same time, to the thousandth of a second, as that set by rival Ben Spies on the Yamaha. Michel thus qualified for Superpole in first position (1m38.3s), with Noriyuki, Ben and Jonathan Rea all hot on his heels, all three having set best times of 1m38.7s.

In the early afternoon free practice session, shortened after a problem with Jakub Smrz's machine caused a red flag, the ducati Xerox riders Haga and Fabrizio  finished in third and fifth place respectively.  

Unfortunately, just a few minutes before the first Superpole session, Michel's technicians identified a problem with the first bike and, together with his engineer Massimo Bartolini, Michel made the decision to exit with the second. Today both Noriyuki and Michel had some difficulties with the tyres, with both finding that the best level of grip came from the second of the two qualifiers available. Nori risked not passing to the third phase when he concluded the second phase in eighth place. Michel meanwhile chose not to use a qualifier, registering nonetheless a very fast lap to finish in sixth. In  the third and final Superpole session, while Haga only had one qualifier left, Fabrizio still had two to count ont. Nori improved his time with respect to the previous session, putting himself in second place, but in the last minutes Michel, Spies and Biaggi all went out once more with new tyres, registering faster times. The final result saw Michel close in third place and Noriyuki in fifth.

Michel Fabrizio 1m38.1s

"I'm very happy to be able to start from the front row again. A few minutes before Superpole we unfortunately found a problem with my first bike, the bike I'd been riding, and very comfortable with, up until then. So I had to go out with the second bike for the Superpole. It wasn't perfect and the qualifiers didn't give me the feeling that I expected but I did enough to assure myself of a place on the front row. Tomorrow won't be at all easy for Nori and myself as Spies and Rea both have a great race pace."

Noriyuki Haga 1m38.3s

"I prefer to start from fifth position than fourth because it might allow me to make a cleaner start and take a better line into the first corner. Over the weekend we've been working hard to sort the rear suspension in order to improve grip and we're getting there, although we'll make a few more changes tomorrow morning in the warm-up so as to be competitive to fight for the win. The first qualifier that I used in the Superpole didn't help us much but the second was a bit better; I made a few small mistakes but the result isn't too bad. We'll see how it goes tomorrow."

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Spies equals Superpole record at Magny-Cours

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) equaled the record of 10 Superpoles in his rookie WSB season to line up in the front slot for the penultimate round of the championship at Magny-Cours. The Texan bolted on one of his two regulation Q-tyres in the final few minutes to stop the clocks with an incredible time of 1 minute 37.709 seconds, a new circuit best lap. Spies was the only rider to dip under the 1'38" mark, and his time left Northern Ireland's Jonathan Rea trailing four-tenths of a second behind in second place. Third quickest time went to Italian Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), with Max Biaggi in fourth, the Aprilia Racing man knocking Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) off the front row of the grid with the final lap at his disposal.

Ben Spies: "It was a good lap, four-tenths ahead of the other guys, but we've been mainly working more on race tyres and fuel loads all weekend and trying to make the bike come good on Sunday and this was the first time we've really put in a really fast one. It's going to be a good race, the same four guys as last time, and Biaggi's very close, but I'm confident with the bike, unlike last week at Imola. It's good Johnny's up there again. I might buy him some dinner tonight to get him to help me out!"

Jonathan Rea: "We're in a good position anyway this weekend with race pace and I'm really happy, the team is working well and the bike's working excellent. It seems to be the same culprits up at the front again. We've been working on our starts all over the weekend, so we hope to get a good one. It's our test circuit here but nothing is really relevant because the pace is so much faster than last year and this one is all about who hangs in there at the end."

Michel Fabrizio: "I'm not very happy, this qualifying was very hard for me, my number 1 Ducati, which I was very happy with, broke down and the number two had a few problems and we had to change everything in a hurry and I wasn't really able to challenge in Superpole but a front row is OK anyway. Tomorrow for sure I will try for the win, if not I should have stayed stay at home, but then we'll see how things go during the race"

Max Biaggi: "It was a good performance and we are quite happy with the result. We have made a nice improvement from yesterday and today was a real improvement with the pace. The Aprilia is working better than before so now we are almost set up where we should be and tomorrow we are in the race for the win."

Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda) produced another storming performance to line up in sixth place behind Haga, while the surprise of the day came from Spain's Fonsi Nieto (Ducati DFX) in seventh, his best result of the season. The second row of the grid was completed by Troy Corser, his BMW again up in the front rows after the disappointment of Imola. Karl Muggeridge (Suzuki Alstare) had an encouraging Superpole session to end up on row 3, while Leon Camier finished his first Superpole on his Aprilia debut with 16th quickest time.

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Ryuichi Kiyonari struggled in today's free practice and qualifying sessions at Magny-Cours in France as he prepared for tomorrow's two 23-lap 13th round World Superbike championship races.

The Japanese ace, who broke his collarbone at Magny-Cours during a test last year -damaged his right shoulder in a crash yesterday afternoon and required a series of pain-killing injections in order to ride today.

The Ten Kate Honda Racing rider battled bravely to qualify for today's Superpole sessions but was unable to progress beyond the first stage, eventually qualifying in 17th place for a fifth row start.

Ryuichi Kiyonari - P17, 1'39.816s
It is very disappointing to have another shoulder injury here, especially because I was comfortable running in the top six yesterday morning. Hopefully, with a bit more treatment tonight, it will feel a little better tomorrow and we can try to find a little more pace during the warm-up. But, of course, I will try my best in the races, even though they will be very hard for me.

Ronald ten Kate - team manager
We all feel very sorry for Kiyo-san, because he was definitely showing good pace at the beginning of the weekend. His injury is clearly stopping him from going as fast as he is able to. With some treatment from the Clinica Mobile tonight, he will hopefully be in a position to score some points in tomorrow's races.

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WSBK'09 Round 13 | Magny-Cours, day 2
 
Shakey Byrne put in a good performance in Superpole to qualify ninth on the grid at the end of a troubled day. In practice, the English rider ran into small technical problems which slowed down the team's work thus preventing him from achieving the best setup. However, Shakey did improve lap after lap but both team and rider will have to make some changes in warm up tomorrow, which should improve the bike's performance and, consequently, the rider's.

SHANE BYRNE | Ducati 1098R | 9th in 1'38.831: "We didn't find the right setup and so I didn't get a good feeling from the front of the bike. This hasn't happened in the last few races but the team did a great job despite the technical issues. We improved in qualifying practice and we did pretty well in Superpole too. However, we'll try to make a step forward tomorrow, score a good result and hopefully ensure my position in the standings".

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Jonathan Rea will start from the front row for tomorrow's two 13th round World Superbike championship races at Magny-Cours in France after setting the second fastest time in this afternoon's Superpole qualifying sessions.

It is the fourth consecutive front row start for the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland - the sixth of his rookie WSBK campaign. He and his team could have been forgiven for thinking his time of 1'38.191s - a new circuit best lap - might have earned him his maiden pole start, but America's Ben Spies grabbed the top spot at the end of the third Superpole session.

Rea's Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Carlos Checa, will start from the third row of the grid after struggling to put together a challenging lap in Superpole 2. The Spaniard, however, is confident that his race pace will allow him to challenge at the front for tomorrow's two 23-lap encounters at the 4.41km Magny-Cours circuit.

Jonathan Rea - P2, 1'38.191s
I knew I had the pace today, but it's not just me and Ben that are going to be battling it out tomorrow - it seems to be the same culprits up the front again. I wasn't really sure I had set the pole time because I know just how fast these guys are. But the team is working really well together and the bike is really great. I feel very strong into the first turn and on to the back straight and our race pace is good, so we'll see what happens in the races tomorrow.

Carlos Checa - P12, 1'38.924s

It has been quite a frustrating day because I have not been able to find where we have any particular problem. But I could not put a very good lap in Superpole, even with the qualifying tyre. The bike is not really bad in any one area, but it's not really good in any one area. We'll just have to sit down again tonight and see if we can find anything obvious that we can work on for warm-up tomorrow.

Ronald ten Kate - team manager

There have been a few times this season when we thought that Jonathan might be on pole position, but it seems there might be a gentlemen's agreement between the other riders that someone must really dig deep to take it away from him. Today it was Ben's turn again, so congratulations to him. Joking aside, and more importantly, our race pace seems fully OK so I believe that both Jonathan and Carlos can be in the midst of what we expect to be a really exciting race battle tomorrow.

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SUPERPOLE: BIAGGI IN THE FIRST ROW

A beautiful sunny day was the backdrop for the Superpole of the French
round of the SBK. And it was Ben Spies, on his Yamaha Factory, who captured
the Superpole with a time of 1:37:709, just 0:482 ahead of Rea's Honda and
0:487 ahead of Fabrizio's Ducati.
It was fourth place for Max Biaggi with a time of 1:38:235, 0:526 behind
the pole position. The Roman driver passed the first stage in fourth
position with his racing tyres, while in Superpole 2, he finished in fourth
place once again after mounting the first qualifying tyre. He used the
second qualifying tyre during the last minutes of the final eight, moving
into third place, which was then snatched away by Fabrizio, however, who
left Biaggi behind by just 39 thousandths of a second.
It was sixteenth place for Leon Camier, who had his Superpole debut with
the RSV4. The English driver passed the first stage in thirteenth place
with the first qualifying tyre. In Superpole 2, he lost too much time
because of a slower driver in front of him and he wasn't able to get back
to the box in time to mount the racing tyre, so he'll have to make due
with a spot in the fourth row.

"It went well, the first row is a good result," declared Biaggi, "plus, we
made some progress with both the suspension and the transmission. As often
happens, this year we had to start from zero and so it took a bit more time
to get things ready, even though we're still losing a lot of time at the
slowest part of the track where the management of a four-cylinder bike is
more difficult. Tomorrow's race will be very difficult, my competitors are
all very fast, but I'll give it my all, like I always do, and I'm sure that
we'll have a good result."

"From certain standpoints, it didn't go very well," said Camier. "In the
Superpole I made some errors in judgment and I wasn't able to mount the
second racing tyre. Everything else is going well, the feeling with the
RSV4 is growing and we found a good alignment. I hope I'll have a good
race, even though I know it won't be easy."

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