Spies Still The Superpole King
Cycle News Staff | June 27, 2009
Knocked off pole position last week for the very first time, Ben Spies was back to his natural position atop the rest of the World Superbike pack after earning his eighth pole in nine tries at Donington Park in England today.Spies went through the three-part Superpole unscathed, lapping at 1:29.846 to best Aprilia’s Max Biaggi’s 1:30.080. And he did so at the right time as light rain started to fall, thus preventing anyone from bettering their times in the final minutes of the session.Following Biaggi was Shane Byrne, the lone Brit in the final eight who made it through the Superpole 3. Byrne, a former British Superbike Champion, rode his Guadalini Ducati to a 1:30.555.The front row for tomorrow’s two races was filled by Shinya Nakano as Aprilia celebrated its best day of World Superbike qualifying with the second and fourth spots on the front row.The second row will be led by championship contender Michel Fabrizio, the Ducati Xerox man almost a second off Spies’s best lap, and .289 of a second better than his World Championship leading teammate Noriyuki Haga.Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Carlos Checa and Guadalini Ducati’s Jakub Smrz will round out the second row for the two races tomorrow and were the final two riders in Superpole 3.A list of British locals made up most of the rest of qualifying, though Byrne was the only one who made it through to Superpole 3. Leon Haslam and Tom Sykes qualified ninth and 10th with Californian John Hopkins 11th on the Stiggy Honda.Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking and Alstare Suzuki fill-in rider Blake Young failed to make it through to Superpole.
Superpole
1. Ben Spies (Yamaha) 1:29.846
2. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) 1:30.080
3. Shane Byrne (Ducati) 1:30.535
4. Shinya Nakano (Aprilia) 1:30.671
5. Michael Fabrizio (Ducati) 1:30.734
6. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) 1:31.023
7. Carlos Checa (Honda) 1:31.342
8. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) 1:34.797
