Spies Takes Record-Setting World Superbike Pole Position at Miller Motorsports Park
- May 30, 2009
Ben Spies (No. 19 Yamaha World Superbike) will start tomorrow’s Utah USA Round of the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship at Miller Motorsports Park from pole position after powering to a record seventh Superpole in seven races. The 24-year-old Texan wiped out the old record of six consecutive poles set by fellow Texan Doug Polen in 1991. Spies was quickest both in Superpole 2 and Superpole 3 in the three-session “knockout” qualifying format to take the front slot with a time of 1 minute 48.319 seconds. In Superpole 1 the fastest time of 1:49.261 was set by American Jamie Hacking, who surprised everyone on the No. 2 factory Kawasaki machine that has so far had a difficult start to the season. Second and third places on the grid went to the Ten Kate Honda pairing of Spain’s Carlos Checa, last year’s double race winner, and Ryuichi Kiyonari of Japan, while Italian Michel Fabrizio (No. 84 Ducati Xerox) continued his good feeling with the Miller track with the final front-row grid slot.
Shane Byrne (No. 67 Sterilgarda Ducati) proved to be best of the Brits with a good run to sixth, a couple of tenths behind Czech Republich’s Jakub Smrz on a similar Guandalini Ducati 1098. Broc Parkes and his temporary teammate Hacking made it a positive day for Kawasaki with seventh and eighth places on the grid. Max Biaggi’s unfortunate experiences with Superpole continued as Friday’s provisional polesitter crashed his No. 3 factory Aprilia RSV4 during Superpole 2; although the Italian managed to get back to the pits, he was eliminated from the third Superpole session and will start from row 4 with the 16th-fastest time. It was also a difficult Superpole for points leader Noriyuki Haga (No. 41 Ducati Xerox), who had a nasty-looking crash in qualifying from which he came away bruised and battered. Haga was eliminated from the second knock-out phase and will start from row 3 with the ninth-quickest time. Spies and Fabrizio, respectively 88 and 85 points behind in the championship chase, may now have a chance to cut the gap tomorrow in the two 21-lap races.
Ben Spies: “It was a good session for us. The last few minutes there were some drops coming down and we were pretty nervous, but we’d worked well since this morning and I stuck to the plan in Superpole. I think we have a good race pace; there are a few guys that have good pace as well, so the race should be interesting. Twelve months ago I didn’t think I’d be here on pole at Miller in Superbike, but it’s great. I’m having a blast!”
Carlos Checa: “Finally this year I’m starting to be in the front group, I feel that the second place is very important to make a good start tomorrow. Overall it looks good; I hope the weather stays dry because at the end of the practice it was a little bit scary, with dark clouds and lightning! I don’t know what is happening here at Miller; I always have a good feeling with this circuit. It’s a good track with a lot of grip, so we need to check why we have no grip in the other circuits!”
Ryuichi Kiyonari: “That was much better than Kyalami qualifying, and the feeling with my Honda is much better than the recent races. As for my race pace for tomorrow, I think it is a little bit not fast enough but if I can do a good start maybe I can follow the group and hope to get a podium.”
Michel Fabrizio: “Superpole went well and I’m really pleased with my form. I start from the front row of the grid and our race pace is really good; let’s see if we can do a couple of good races on this track tomorrow. We are losing a bit to the four-cylinder machines coming out of the turns, but all things considered we are in a good position and for sure tomorrow we’ll be competitive.”
Times: 1. Spies B. (USA), Yamaha YZF R1, 1:48.344; 2. Checa C. (ESP), Honda CBR1000RR, 1:48.908; 3. Kiyonari R. (JPN), Honda CBR1000RR, 1:49.243; 4. Fabrizio M. (ITA), Ducati 1098R, 1:49.434; 5. Smrz J., (CZE), Ducati 1098R, 1:49.658; 6. Byrne S. (GBR), Ducati 1098R, 1:49.982; 7. Parkes B. (AUS), Kawasaki ZX 10R, 1:51.3288. Hacking J. (USA), Kawasaki ZX 10R, 1:51.438; 9. Haga N. (JPN), Ducati 1098R 1:49.516; 10. Nakano S. (JPN), Aprilia RSV4 Factory, 1:49.528; 11. Rea J. (GBR), Honda CBR1000RR, 1:49.541; 12. Haslam L. (GBR), Honda CBR1000RR, 1:49.765; 13. Kagayama Y. (JPN), Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9, 1:50.114; 14. Nieto F. (ESP), Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9, 1:50.488; 15. Scassa L. (ITA), Kawasaki ZX 10R, 1:50.987; 16. Biaggi M. (ITA), Aprilia RSV4 Factory, 1:51.351
World Supersport
Joan Lascorz, a 24-year-old from Spain, scored his first-ever pole position in the seventh round of the Supersport World Championship at Miller Motorsports Park. This is the seventh time since 1999 a Kawasaki has started from pole, the last time being the Australian Round in 2007 with Fabien Foret on board. Lascorz’s time of 1 minute 51.749 seconds on the No. 26 Kawasaki Motocard.com ZX-6R was a fraction quicker than Irishman Eugene Laverty (No. 50 Parkalgar Honda), while points leader Cal Crutchlow (No. 35 Yamaha World Supersport) qualified third. Italian Gianluca Nannelli produced a great performance on the No. 69 ParkinGO 675 machine to give Triumph its first front-row position in 2009, while another Italian, Massimo Roccoli (No. 55 Intermoto Honda), was fifth quickest. At the start of the session reigning World Champion Andrew Pitt (No. 1 Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was taken to the medical center for a slight concussion following a crash on his out lap, but it is not serious. In 27th place (out of 29 starters) can be found Melissa Paris, a 26-year-old from California, who becomes the first woman to start a Supersport World Championship race. Local rider Oleg Pianykh of Salt Lake City recovered from a blown engine in practice to qualify 29th in the 29-bike field, the last rider to make the qualifying cut. Two riders, 28-year-old Canadian Marie-Joseé Boucher and compatriot Ryan Taylor, failed to qualify.
Times: 1. Lascorz J. (ESP), Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:51.749; 2. Laverty E. (IRL), Honda CBR600RR, 1:51.829; 3. Crutchlow C. (GBR), Yamaha YZF R6, 1:52.051; 4. Nannelli G. (ITA), Triumph Daytona 675, 1:52.659; 5. Roccoli M. (ITA), Honda CBR600RR, 1:52.726; 6. Sofuoglu K. (TUR), Honda CBR600RR, 1:52.755; 7. McCoy G. (AUS), Triumph Daytona 675, 1:52.794; 8. Foret F. (FRA), Yamaha YZF R6, 1:52.827.
Larry H. Miller Superbike Challenge
In the GTU Class race of the Larry H. Miller Superbike Challenge, Cory West (No. 13 Suzuki GSX-R) of Eureka Springs, Ark., took the victory in a 12-lap race on a drying track with a 4.613-second margin of victory over a hotly contested battle for second place between Taylor Knapp (No. 44 Kawasaki ZX-6R) of Lapeer, Mich., and Robertini Pietri (No. 311 Yamaha R6) of Miami, Fla., who set the fastest lap of the race. Early leader Jimmy Wood (No. 371 Kawasaki ZX-6R) of Redlands, Calif., and Russel Wikle (No. 5 Suzuki GSX-R600) of Huntsville, Ala., completed the top five.
In qualifying for the GTO class of the Larry H. Miller Challenge, Jake Holden (No. 59 CBR1000RR) of Eatonville, Wash., took the pole position with a lap at 1:51.692, edging Taylor Knapp (No. 44 Suzuki GSX-R1000) by 1.087 second. David Anthony (No. 25 Suzuki GSX-R1000) of Murrieta, Calif., and Russel Wikle (No. 5X Suzuki GSX-R1000) completed the top five.
The HANNspree Superbike World Championship Utah USA Round will conclude tomorrow. Support series will include the Supersport World Championship and the Larry H. Miller Superbike Challenge. The day’s schedule includes races for the Superbike World Championship, Supersport World Championship and the Larry H. Miller Superbike Challenge GTO class.
Tickets for the final day of the World Superbike weekend are priced as follows: General Admission tickets are $47, and Grandstand tickets are $62 Sunday. Paddock Passes are $10.
For ticket information, visit www.MMPTix.com.
For information regarding Miller Motorsports Park, call 435-277-RACE (7223) or visit the track’s website atwww.MillerMotorsportsPark.com.
