Crutchlow Takes Brno Pole

Paul Carruthers | July 10, 2010

Sterilgarda Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow earned his fourth pole position of the season today with a blistering lap that outpaced his nearest rival by .725 of a second during Superpole at the Brno Circuit in the Czech Republic.Crutchlow led all three Superpole session and saved his best for last, the Brit ripping off a 1:58.018 in Superpole 3 to earn his first pole since Kyalami in South Africa in May. The mark was also a new Superbike lap record at Brno and his best was far and away better than anyone else’s as he topped Aprilia’s Max Biaggi by .725 of a second with the World Championship leader the only rider within a second of the flying Brit.Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea will sit third on the front row for tomorrow’s two races, the Northern Irelander lapping at 1:59.094 as he failed to crack the 1:59 barrier. BMW’s Ruben Xaus will fill row one, the Spaniard representing well in the absence of Troy Corser – the banged-up Aussie pulling out of this weekend’s action after crashing hard on Friday. Xaus had the BMW up to second at the end of Superpole 2, but dropped two spots in Superpole 3.”Unfortunately I cannot race this weekend,” Corser said in a team release. “I feel quite exhausted right now, and I have a pain in my chest. It was a huge impact, and I am happy I was not hurt badly. I remember the crash pretty well – I somehow lost the rear, and then I highsided. I would have loved to race in Brno, but we all agree I need a couple of days to rest now to be able to start in Silverstone.”With four different manufacturers represented on the front row, a fifth will lead row two with Alstare Suzuki’s Sylvain Guintoli and his GSX-R1000 besting the three Ducatis of Luca Scassa, Michel Fabrizio and Carlos Checa. Those three will fill the second row – in that order.Biaggi is hoping to reap the rewards of his qualifying effort tomorrow as his rival for the title, Leon Haslam, will start 14th after failing to make it out of Superpole 2. Biaggi won race one at Brno last year and finished second to Ben Spies in race two.Ducati Xerox’s Noriyuki Haga also failed to make it out of Superpole 2 and he will start 15th after starting the weekend with such promise when he put the factory Ducati on provisional pole yesterday.

Superpole

1.                  Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) 1:58.018

2.                  Max Biaggi (Aprilia) 1:58.743

3.                  Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1:59.094

4.                  Ruben Xaus (BMW) 1:59.136

5.                  Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki) 1:59.179

6.                  Luca Scassa (Ducati) 1:59.393

7.                  Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) 1:59.451

8.                  Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1:59.571

9.                  Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) 1:59.699

10.                  James Toseland (Yamaha) 1:59.699

Paul Carruthers | Editor

Paul Carruthers took over as the editor of Cycle News in 1993 after serving as associate editor since starting his career at the publication in 1985. Carruthers has covered every facet of the sport in his near-28-year tenure at America's Daily Motorcycle News Source.