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World Superbike
WSBK: Rea Claims Phillip Island Provisional Pole
Honda ace Jonathan Rea topped the first timed session of the 2012 Superbike World Championship season on Friday at Phillip Island.
Honda Racing's Jonathan Rea (Photo: Infront Motor Sports)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The 2012 Superbike World Championship season opener from Phillip Island, Australia will air back-to-back on SPEED Sunday, February 26 at 2:30pm and 3:30pm ET.
Jonathan Rea pulled off the surprise of the day in first qualifying at Phillip Island as the Honda World Superbike man put in the only sub-1m32s lap in the last couple of minutes to head the field.
Rea's time of 1 minute 31.959 seconds put him in front of three Ducati riders, who had dominated the session until then. Second place went to Jakub Smrz on the Liberty Racing machine, followed by Superstock 1000 champion Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) in third and his teammate, Carlos Checa, in fourth. The Italian rookie actually led at one point, before the others put in faster laps close to the end of the 45-minute session.
Jonathan Rea: “Going fastest was a pleasant surprise and also kind of our plan. We went out and got on a decent pace right away, sort of 1’32 lap times, but with old tires. Then we developed a problem with the bike and we lost a bit of time during the session. When we did go out again I went out with what I think the race tire is going to be fitted to the rear, but it did not have the pace of the tire I used at the end. I did about ten laps on that tire, all very consistent but it was not going to be the fastest lap of the day. I came in to the pits near the end and got a new tire then went out and we got a bit of a feel good factor; just to see that we were not that far away from the pace really.”
Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) was next up in fifth place ahead of the Red Devils Roma Ducati of another rookie Niccolò Canepa, while the final two places on the provisional second row went to the two Kawasaki Racing Team riders, Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz. Lascorz had a fall in the timed session, Sykes a tumble in the earlier free practice session.
Joshua Brookes (Crescent Suzuki), Checa and Maxime Berger (Effenbert Liberty) all went off during the official session, but without any consequences, while Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing) again crashed, picking up a head knock, but was declared fit after medical checks.
Italian stars Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) and Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) rounded out the top ten places. Top Suzuki rider was Leon Camier (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) with privateer Aprilia rider Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) 13th from 25 entrants.
Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) returned to the track today after his big testing crash and did three laps to see how his recovery from very recent surgery was holding up. He set a 1’33.5 lap time and has qualified to race if he is deemed fit enough to do so.
Times:
1. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'31.959
2. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'32.116
3. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.198
4. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'32.228
5. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'32.318
6. Canepa N. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.343
7. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'32.402
8. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'32.443
9. Melandri M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.553
10. Fabrizio M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.609
11. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.644
12. Camier L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'32.817
13. Davies C. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'32.874
14. Staring B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'32.884
15. Aoyama H. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'33.040
16. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'33.075; etc.
Superbike records at Phillip Island
Fastest Lap: Troy Corser (Yamaha) 1'31"826 (2007)
Best Lap: Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1'30"882 (2011)
Jonathan Rea pulled off the surprise of the day in first qualifying at Phillip Island as the Honda World Superbike man put in the only sub-1m32s lap in the last couple of minutes to head the field.
Rea's time of 1 minute 31.959 seconds put him in front of three Ducati riders, who had dominated the session until then. Second place went to Jakub Smrz on the Liberty Racing machine, followed by Superstock 1000 champion Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) in third and his teammate, Carlos Checa, in fourth. The Italian rookie actually led at one point, before the others put in faster laps close to the end of the 45-minute session.
Jonathan Rea: “Going fastest was a pleasant surprise and also kind of our plan. We went out and got on a decent pace right away, sort of 1’32 lap times, but with old tires. Then we developed a problem with the bike and we lost a bit of time during the session. When we did go out again I went out with what I think the race tire is going to be fitted to the rear, but it did not have the pace of the tire I used at the end. I did about ten laps on that tire, all very consistent but it was not going to be the fastest lap of the day. I came in to the pits near the end and got a new tire then went out and we got a bit of a feel good factor; just to see that we were not that far away from the pace really.”
Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) was next up in fifth place ahead of the Red Devils Roma Ducati of another rookie Niccolò Canepa, while the final two places on the provisional second row went to the two Kawasaki Racing Team riders, Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz. Lascorz had a fall in the timed session, Sykes a tumble in the earlier free practice session.
Joshua Brookes (Crescent Suzuki), Checa and Maxime Berger (Effenbert Liberty) all went off during the official session, but without any consequences, while Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing) again crashed, picking up a head knock, but was declared fit after medical checks.
Italian stars Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) and Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) rounded out the top ten places. Top Suzuki rider was Leon Camier (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) with privateer Aprilia rider Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) 13th from 25 entrants.
Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) returned to the track today after his big testing crash and did three laps to see how his recovery from very recent surgery was holding up. He set a 1’33.5 lap time and has qualified to race if he is deemed fit enough to do so.
Times:
1. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'31.959
2. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'32.116
3. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.198
4. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'32.228
5. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'32.318
6. Canepa N. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.343
7. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'32.402
8. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'32.443
9. Melandri M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.553
10. Fabrizio M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.609
11. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.644
12. Camier L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'32.817
13. Davies C. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'32.874
14. Staring B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'32.884
15. Aoyama H. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'33.040
16. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'33.075; etc.
Superbike records at Phillip Island
Fastest Lap: Troy Corser (Yamaha) 1'31"826 (2007)
Best Lap: Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1'30"882 (2011)
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