Haga takes the reins of the championship !

Noriyuki Haga brilliantly took over from Troy Bayliss on Sunday at Phillip Island and if Ben Spies was surprised in the first round, he largely caught up in the second … In Supersport, Sofuoglu won ahead of two Australians !

Pole for Spies

On Saturday, the World Superbike kicked off its new qualification procedure: a three-stage Superpole event, during which the slower riders are successively eliminated to leave room, in the last phase, only to the best eight (read).

To make matters worse, Pirelli only awarded the 20 drivers selected for the Superpole two sets of qualifying tires. The temptation to keep them for the last two sessions is therefore great, but requires qualifying for the second round with race tires….

Among the first four heads to fall, there are those of the two BMW riders: Xaus and Corser – yet extremely fast during practice – will therefore start from the 5th row, in the company of private Honda riders Rolfo and Hill…

The second session saw other big customers stumble, in particular Haga and Neukirchner who respectively inherited distant 13th and 14th places on the grid! On the third row will leave three Japanese – Nakano followed by Kiyonari and Kagayama – and the English Sykes.

Regis Laconi created a sensation by leading this second session with a brilliant time of 1’31.050 (and at the same time pocketing the new track record!).

In the third and last qualifying session, the French unfortunately could not repeat the feat – he used his two qualifying trains’ – and had to be content with 8th position. In front of our national n ° 55 and his 1098 RS prepared by DFX Corse are Carlos Checa on his Honda Ten Kate, Leon Haslam on his Honda Stiggy Racing and Michel Fabrizio on his 1098 F09 (thus saving the honor of the Ducati factory) , while for his first participation, Ben Spies took pole position by completing the lap of "Arthur Phillip’s Island" in 1’31.069, a third of a second faster than Max Biaggi and his Aprilia RSV4. Jonathan Rea and Jakub Smrz complete this "first" front row of the year. And cocorico, it is Laconi who keeps the new track record !

In Supersport, Kenan Sofuoglu signs the 7th pole of his career in World Supersport at the controls of a CBR600RR which he had found during the last race of 2008. A reunion that the Turkish driver had celebrated with a victory after a very disappointing season in Superbike.

Behind the Honda n ° 54 is Joan Lascorz, revelation of the 2008 championship, on his new mount, the very last Kawasaki ZX-6R. 2008 champion Andrew Pitt (Honda Ten Kate) and Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) complete the front row.

Eugene Laverty on his Honda Parkalgar leads second in front of our first representative Fabien Foret, who will have a hard time defending his chances: victim of a highside during qualifying, the n ° 99 will have to ride with a sore shoulder…

We note the presence on this second row of McCoy on his Daytona 675, just behind Michele Pirro on his R6 prepared by the Lorenzini team. Aitchison, Veneman, Harms and West form the 3rd row while Matthieu Lagrive is in 15th position on his Honda Althea n ° 14.

Related articles

• WSBK – Spies draws and holds up in World Superbike! – The pole for Spies

  Spies draws and holds up in World Superbike ! On Saturday in the Qatari desert, the Texan Ben Spies imposed his law: Superpole, fastest lap in the race…

• WSBK – Ben Spies reacts in Salt Lake City! – The pole for Spies

  Ben Spies reacts in Salt Lake City ! The Salt Lake City event closes the first half of the 2009 SBK World Cup season … After Haga and Fabrizio…

• WSBK – On the track, the duel Haga – Spies continues … – Pole for Spies

  On the track, the Haga – Spies duel continues… The Mondial Superbike took place this weekend on the legendary Assen track. Faithful to its tradition,…

• WSBK – Haslam confirms, Haga is back! – The pole for Crutchlow

  Haslam confirms , Haga is back ! Third round of the World Superbike this weekend in Valence: for the first time this season, the two Superbike rounds…

• WSBK – Change of leader in World Superbike! – The pole for Haga

  Change of leader in World Superbike ! The 2009 World Superbike season keeps all its promises: rookies take control in the race as well as in the…

• WSBK – 11th pole for Spies and 3rd row for Haga … –

  11th pole for Spies and 3rd row for Haga… This afternoon in Portimao, Ben Spies and his official R1 won their 11th pole – out of 14! – in the World…

• WSBK – Haga takes the reins of the championship! – Second Superbike race

  Haga takes the reins of the championship ! Noriyuki Haga brilliantly took over from Troy Bayliss on Sunday at Phillip Island and if Ben Spies was…

• WSBK – On the track, the Haga – Spies duel continues … – First Superbike race

  On the track, the Haga – Spies duel continues… The Mondial Superbike took place this weekend on the legendary Assen track. Faithful to its tradition,…

• WSBK – Fate hits the leaders at Monza – Pole for Spies

  Fate hits the leaders at Monza Sunday at Monza, Spies should have won both races while Haga and Neukirchner could have accompanied him on both podiums….

• WSBK – Haga retains advantage at Magny-Cours – Pole for Spies

  Haga retains the advantage at Magny-Cours The Haga – Spies duel took place yesterday for the French WSBK event at Magny-Cours, but it will be necessary…