Submitted by David Emmett on
Marco Melandri's form continues, the factory Yamaha rider taking provisional pole in the World Superbike class on Friday, after topping free practice in the morning session at Motorland Aragon. Althea Ducati's Carlos Checa is once again 2nd, this time with more of a gap to Melandri, and unable to break the two minute barrier as he did this morning. Pata Aprilia's Noriyuki Haga is in 3rd, just ahead of the factory Alitalia Aprilia of Leon Camier, while Kawasaki's Tom Sykes is sandwiched between Camier and his teammate Max Biaggi.
After Checa, the gaps are close: a tenth of a second separates 3rd from 7th, and just under a second covers 2nd to 14th. Qualifying continues tomorrow, and the final grid positions will be determined during Superpole on Saturday afternoon.
Results:
| Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff |
| 1 | 33 | M. MELANDRI | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'59.726 | |
| 2 | 7 | C. CHECA | Ducati 1098R | 2'00.073 | 0.347 |
| 3 | 41 | N. HAGA | Aprilia RSV4 Factory | 2'00.214 | 0.488 |
| 4 | 2 | L. CAMIER | Aprilia RSV4 Factory | 2'00.253 | 0.527 |
| 5 | 66 | T. SYKES | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 2'00.267 | 0.541 |
| 6 | 1 | M. BIAGGI | Aprilia RSV4 Factory | 2'00.309 | 0.583 |
| 7 | 84 | M. FABRIZIO | Suzuki GSX-R1000 | 2'00.324 | 0.598 |
| 8 | 86 | A. BADOVINI | BMW S1000 RR | 2'00.377 | 0.651 |
| 9 | 58 | E. LAVERTY | Yamaha YZF R1 | 2'00.503 | 0.777 |
| 10 | 121 | M. BERGER | Ducati 1098R | 2'00.509 | 0.783 |
| 11 | 17 | J. LASCORZ | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 2'00.727 | 1.001 |
| 12 | 11 | T. CORSER | BMW S1000 RR | 2'00.798 | 1.072 |
| 13 | 111 | R. XAUS | Honda CBR1000RR | 2'00.853 | 1.127 |
| 14 | 91 | L. HASLAM | BMW S1000 RR | 2'01.047 | 1.321 |
| 15 | 8 | M. AITCHISON | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 2'01.428 | 1.702 |
| 16 | 57 | L. LANZI | BMW S1000 RR | 2'01.475 | 1.749 |
| 17 | 50 | S. GUINTOLI | Ducati 1098R | 2'01.484 | 1.758 |
| 18 | 44 | R. ROLFO | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 2'01.527 | 1.801 |
| 19 | 77 | C. VERMEULEN | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 2'01.567 | 1.841 |
| 20 | 96 | J. SMRZ | Ducati 1098R | 2'01.829 | 2.103 |
Comments
Hrmm..
You spread shows Haga in 3rd, but your words list him as 4th.
Either way, nice ride Nori!
Badovini...
does anyone know if his team is using Magneti Marelli electronics?
Would BMW Allow it?
I imagine that a big clause in BMW's satellite contract is that they'd control the electronics, perhaps even with a factory-electronics worker in their pits as well (ala motogp). One thing's for sure, Haslam probably has smoke coming out of his ears. Badovini has been damn exciting to watch though, I love that dark-red livery, too.