2010 WSB Kyalami qualifying

In what was the closest ever period of Superpole qualifying in the Superbike World Championship, the top four riders, headed by Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda), all finished with 0.125 seconds of each other. Crutchlow and second placed man James Toseland each beat Ben Spies’ previous record best lap, with Crutchlow taking his third pole of the year with a 1 minute 37.243 second lap. Third fastest man when it mattered for grid positions was Carlos Checa from the Althea Ducati squad, and the front row was completed by Ducati Xerox rider, Michel Fabrizio.

Leon Haslam was fifth for Suzuki Alstare, while Ducati Pata B&G privateer Jakub Smrz (fastest in combined qualifying) was sixth in Superpole. The top eight was completed by Aprilia Alitalia duo, Max Biaggi and Leon Camier.

Superpole two was contested by the top 16 riders, but those to lose out on the chance to go for a front row start in Superpole 3 included privateer Luca Scassa (Supersonic Ducati), Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare) plus other big names like Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Tom Sykes on his Kawasaki Racing Team machine, who was 12th.

Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) was 13th after a good period of early qualifying was not improved on today. Local rider Sheridan Morais (EmTek Aprilia) was cheered all the way in Superpole and qualified 14th, taking a fourth row start. Noriyuki Haga, winner of each race here last year, was 16th in Superpole, having a tough time again.

Cal Crutchlow: “It didn’t look like we were going to be one and two on the grid this weekend. Coming to what was Yamaha’s worst track last year results-wise, as a team we have done a fantastic job to get first and second. It will be interesting tomorrow but today is today and we are first and second. If we get away and make a good start then it will make for entertaining racing.”

James Toseland: “I went wide twice in my fast lap, and felt there was a high 1′36 in there. But to go from high 1’39s at the start of the weekend to even thinking about a high 1′36, it just gives great credit to the team. I came out this afternoon thinking, ‘right this championship is still there and I am not prepared to just let it slip away.’ To be second on the grid after being 17th this morning means I have to give thanks to everybody from the team and Clinica Mobile.”

Carlos Checa: “Here again we are at track where the bike works quite well. We did the best qualifying job of the year because we did not know the track, but we knew that the Ducati was going to work. Finally it was very exciting in qualifying, one of the closest. I though these guys in front would maybe be in the 1’36s but we all did 1′37.2s. I think we will have exciting racing.”

Michel Fabrizio: “I pushed very hard in Superpole and when I did a 37.3 I thought that was it, I would be second, but then I saw I was only fourth. But I have a lot of faith in myself and tomorrow I am going to do well in the races.”

Superpole

1 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′37.243
2 52 Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′37.260
3 7 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1′37.296
4 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′37.368
5 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′37.401
6 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1′37.561
7 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′37.613
8 2 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′38.148
9 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′37.756
10 50 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′37.875
11 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′37.953
12 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′38.206
13 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′38.210
14 32 Morais S. (RSA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′38.404
15 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1′38.471
16 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1′38.496
17 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 1′38.917
18 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1′39.037
19 77 Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′39.317
20 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 1′40.713
21 95 Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′40.981
22 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′41.526

www.worldsbk.com

Tags: 2010, Cal Crutchlow, Kyalami, qualifying, South Africa, Superbike World Championship, WSB

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 16th, 2010 at 10:33 am and is filed under Racing, WSB. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.