Results and summary of Superpole at Aragon:
Superpole 1
Carlos Checa was the early leader in Superpole, taking the lead on his second lap out of the pits and getting into the 1'58 bracket. He was joined there by the Aprilias of Leon Camier and Max Biaggi, Biaggi having been the first man to post a 1'58 during FP2, which preceded Superpole. Sylvain Guintoli, Michel Fabrizio and Tom Sykes levered themselves ahead of Biaggi, before Eugene Laverty put in a blistering lap to take over provisional pole, deposing Checa from the top spot. Biggest surprise were the factory BMWs, both Leon Haslam and Troy Corser being eliminated after just the first Superpole.
Out after Superpole 1: Jakub Smrz, Leon Haslam, Troy Corser, Maxime Berger
Results:
Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff |
1 | 58 | E. LAVERTY | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'58.621 | |
2 | 7 | C. CHECA | Ducati 1098R | 1'58.714 | 0.093 |
3 | 2 | L. CAMIER | Aprilia RSV4 Factory | 1'58.738 | 0.117 |
4 | 50 | S. GUINTOLI | Ducati 1098R | 1'58.807 | 0.186 |
5 | 84 | M. FABRIZIO | Suzuki GSX-R1000 | 1'58.817 | 0.196 |
6 | 66 | T. SYKES | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1'58.825 | 0.204 |
7 | 1 | M. BIAGGI | Aprilia RSV4 Factory | 1'58.831 | 0.210 |
8 | 86 | A. BADOVINI | BMW S1000 RR | 1'58.897 | 0.276 |
9 | 17 | J. LASCORZ | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1'58.976 | 0.355 |
10 | 8 | M. AITCHISON | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1'59.015 | 0.394 |
11 | 41 | N. HAGA | Aprilia RSV4 Factory | 1'59.128 | 0.507 |
12 | 33 | M. MELANDRI | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'59.158 | 0.537 |
Out after Superpole 1: | |||||
13 | 96 | J. SMRZ | Ducati 1098R | 1'59.355 | 0.734 |
14 | 91 | L. HASLAM | BMW S1000 RR | 1'59.367 | 0.746 |
15 | 121 | M. BERGER | Ducati 1098R | 1'59.507 | 0.886 |
16 | 11 | T. CORSER | BMW S1000 RR | 1'59.565 | 0.944 |
Superpole 2
Max Biaggi was the first man to grab top spot, and the first man into the 1'57s, a truly scorching pace, with Carlos Checa sitting just behind the Italian but outside the 1'57s. The top 8 spent most of the session in the pits, more or less satisfied that they'd posted a fast enough time, while the riders in the drop zone tried to find a little more to get through into Superpole 3. That worked for Tom Sykes, the Kawasaki rider leaping up into 5th with just seconds left in the session, leaving Haga, Guintoli, Fabrizio and Aitchison stuck on the 3rd row of the grid.
Out after Superpole 2: Nori Haga, Sylvain Guintoli, Michel Fabrizio, Mark Aitchison
Results:
Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff |
1 | 1 | M. BIAGGI | Aprilia RSV4 Factory | 1'57.841 | |
2 | 7 | C. CHECA | Ducati 1098R | 1'58.043 | 0.202 |
3 | 58 | E. LAVERTY | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'58.094 | 0.253 |
4 | 86 | A. BADOVINI | BMW S1000 RR | 1'58.234 | 0.393 |
5 | 66 | T. SYKES | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1'58.330 | 0.489 |
6 | 2 | L. CAMIER | Aprilia RSV4 Factory | 1'58.426 | 0.585 |
7 | 33 | M. MELANDRI | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'58.427 | 0.586 |
8 | 17 | J. LASCORZ | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1'58.456 | 0.615 |
Out after Superpole 2: | |||||
9 | 41 | N. HAGA | Aprilia RSV4 Factory | 1'58.566 | 0.725 |
10 | 50 | S. GUINTOLI | Ducati 1098R | 1'58.640 | 0.799 |
11 | 84 | M. FABRIZIO | Suzuki GSX-R1000 | 1'58.950 | 1.109 |
12 | 8 | M. AITCHISON | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1'59.680 | 1.839 |
Out after Superpole 1: | |||||
13 | 96 | J. SMRZ | Ducati 1098R | 1'59.355 | 0.734 |
14 | 91 | L. HASLAM | BMW S1000 RR | 1'59.367 | 0.746 |
15 | 121 | M. BERGER | Ducati 1098R | 1'59.507 | 0.886 |
16 | 11 | T. CORSER | BMW S1000 RR | 1'59.565 | 0.944 |
Superpole 3
Marco Melandri was the first rider to take provisional pole, trailing Max Biaggi around the circuit to take top spot from Biaggi just seconds after the Aprilia rider crossed the line. Biaggi pushed again on the next lap, but could not get fast enough to best Melandri, the Yamaha rider very close to beating his own time. Carlos Checa's attack faltered when he outbraked himself into the final hairpin, losing all of the time he had gained elsewhere and ending up 4th, behind Biaggi's teammate Leon Camier. Despite his relatively poor qualifying position, fortune smiled on Carlos Checa, ironically in the shape of some help from his main rival for the title Max Biaggi, who blocked Tom Sykes in the final section just as the Kawasaki rider was on a hot lap and in with a chance for the front row of the grid. Instead, Sykes heads up the second row of the grid, ahead of Eugene Laverty and Joan Lascorz, while Ayrton Badovini will start from 8th.
Results and final grid:
Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff |
1 | 33 | M. MELANDRI | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'57.634 | |
2 | 1 | M. BIAGGI | Aprilia RSV4 Factory | 1'57.790 | 0.156 |
3 | 2 | L. CAMIER | Aprilia RSV4 Factory | 1'58.279 | 0.645 |
4 | 7 | C. CHECA | Ducati 1098R | 1'58.472 | 0.838 |
5 | 66 | T. SYKES | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1'58.641 | 1.007 |
6 | 58 | E. LAVERTY | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'58.756 | 1.122 |
7 | 17 | J. LASCORZ | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1'59.194 | 1.560 |
8 | 86 | A. BADOVINI | BMW S1000 RR | 1'59.591 | 1.957 |
Out after Superpole 2: | |||||
9 | 41 | N. HAGA | Aprilia RSV4 Factory | 1'58.566 | 0.725 |
10 | 50 | S. GUINTOLI | Ducati 1098R | 1'58.640 | 0.799 |
11 | 84 | M. FABRIZIO | Suzuki GSX-R1000 | 1'58.950 | 1.109 |
12 | 8 | M. AITCHISON | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1'59.680 | 1.839 |
Out after Superpole 1: | |||||
13 | 96 | J. SMRZ | Ducati 1098R | 1'59.355 | 0.734 |
14 | 91 | L. HASLAM | BMW S1000 RR | 1'59.367 | 0.746 |
15 | 121 | M. BERGER | Ducati 1098R | 1'59.507 | 0.886 |
16 | 11 | T. CORSER | BMW S1000 RR | 1'59.565 | 0.944 |
Did not qualify for Superpole: | |||||
17 | 111 | R. XAUS | Honda CBR1000RR | 2'00.432 | 1.249 |
18 | 77 | C. VERMEULEN | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 2'00.507 | 1.324 |
19 | 44 | R. ROLFO | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 2'00.678 | 1.495 |
20 | 57 | L. LANZI | BMW S1000 RR | 2'00.776 | 1.593 |
Comments
Track layout?
Are they using a different layout then Moto GP last year? I can't believe they would be 10 seconds slower
Track layout
Yes, the track layout is different. They use the hairpin at the end of the track which was put there for cars, instead of the long final sweeper.
Go Melandri
Yes, this is like the Melandri of old times, like 05 and 06 Moto GP
Reply to "track layout?"
Yes, they use a different track layout for superbikes
DC
Biaggi blocking riders during qualifying \ superpole again? His reputation for this sort of thing is getting a bit beyond notorious and into the realms of irresponsible. Did race direction have anything to say about this latest incident?
Badovini?
What is he doing different that the factory boys are not?
ECU?
Is the BMW Italia team using the BMW race ecu or a MM unit?
Chris
http://moto2-usa.blogspot.com/
I was curious about the same
I was curious about the same thing but part of me thinks that BMW wouldn't let a satellite team run different ECU but then again. I guess we will know after we see how quickly Badovini fades during the race.