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 demonstrated at Kyalami, Spies took advantage of his time in the USA to score big points. And the Supersports are also part of the trip !

Pole for Spies

Seven out of seven: Ben Spies signs his seventh pole position in the World Superbike at Miller Motorsports Park on Saturday, riding his official Yamaha! On a track that he knows like the back of his hand (although last year in AMA SBK, Ben rode on a longer route, read), the two-time American champion largely dominates the debates and promises to be hard to beat on Sunday…

Half a second away from the "Texan Terror", Carlos Checa hoists his Honda Ten Kate to 2nd position. The winner of the two rounds 2008 finally finds the outposts and hopes that the track will stay dry: "the end of the session was a little scary with dark clouds and lightning", notes the Spanish pilot !

Ryuichi Kiyonari (Ten Kate) confirms the speed of the CBRs on the American track: the Japanese joined his teammate on the 1st row, ahead of Michel Fabrizio and his official Ducati. The fastest driver in the second session of the Superpole, the Italian is relegated to more than a second from Spies !

The following two motorcycles are also Ducati: they are those of the private teams Sterilgarda and Guandalini, driven respectively by Jakub Smrz and Shayne Byrne. Noriyuki Haga meanwhile is in third row (9th place): the championship leader suffered a violent fall in the 2nd Superpole session and will have to grit his teeth in the race, just like his friend Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare), who broke two bones in his foot on Friday but still rolls…

On the other hand, there was a good surprise for the official Kawasaki Broc Parkes, who placed his Ninja in 7th place on the grid just in front of that of Tamada, replaced – due to injury at Monza – by the local of the stage, Jamie Hacking. His No. 2 Kawa stood out by leading the first session of the Superpole and could spice up both races on Sunday !

Behind Haga in 10th position is his compatriot Shinya Nakano: it is the first time that the n ° 56 has overtaken Max Biaggi on the grid. Will the Japanese be able to do it in the race as well? ?

The third row is completed by two Honda riders: the British Jonathan Rea (Ten Kate) and Leon Haslam (Stiggy). The two BMWs seem ill-suited to the American layout: Corser is 21st and Ruben Xaus 24th. As for the R1 of the French team GMT94, this weekend it wears the n ° 64 in the hands of Erwan Nigon, who ranks 26th and last, just under 4 seconds behind Spies..

Unlike last year, the Supersports also made the trip to the United States: Joan Lascorz pocketed his first pole of the season riding his official ZX-6R ahead of the two aces in the category, Eugene Laverty (Honda Parkalgar) and Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha WSS).

For the first time this year, a Triumph climbs to the first row on the grid thanks to Gianluca Nannelli: four brands are therefore in the first four places … Let’s hope that this diversity translates into a good fight in the race. !

In 2nd row, Massimo Roccoli (Honda Intermoto Czech), Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda Ten Kate), Garry McCoy (Triumph Parkingo BE1) and Fabien Foret (Yamaha WSS) are all in the same tenth of a second! Matthieu Lagrive, the second French entered in Mondial Supersport, will start from 13th place.

Finally, note the presence this weekend of the charming Melissa Paris: after taking part in April in her first AMA Pro Race – the 200 Miles of Daytona event, which she finished 21st, best result for a woman -, this 26-year-old Californian launches into the big leagues and ranks 27th on the starting grid.

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