Written by:
SPEED Staff
SPEEDtv.com
06/27/2009
Donington (GBR)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Superbike World Championship races at Donington, UK will air back-to-back on SPEED on Sunday, June 28 at 3:00 and 4:00pm ET.
Ben Spies won his eighth Superpole in nine events Saturday aboard his factory WSBK Yamaha R1 at the venerable Donington Park. Spies clocked a one-minute, 29.846-second lap on the challenging 2.5-mile, 15-turn circuit to secure the top starting position for both of Sunday’s World Superbike races.
Donington’s Superpole marks a return to the number one qualifying spot for Spies after having his record-setting Superpole streak of seven straight ended last week in Misano, Italy.
Coming into Donington second-ranked Spies is making every effort to close in on Ducati’s Nori Haga, who leads the championship by 48 points.
Spies was near the front in all three segments of Donington’s Superpole. After the first session he was second to Aprilia’s Max Biaggi, just 5-100ths back. In session two Michel Fabrizio topped the charts on his Ducati over Spies. In the final session, whittled down to the top eight riders, Spies came on strong and was the only rider to dip into the one minute, 29-second bracket. Spies’ 1:29.846 was two-tenths better than second-place qualifier Biaggi. Shane Byrne and Shinya Nakano round out the front-row starters.
