World Superbikes 2009

In 2009 the introduction of the new Superpole format took place aimed at cost cutting to help the financial crisis but for 2010 further changes have now been scheduled.

For the Superbike series there is to be a 14-minute session for Superpole 1, 12-minutes for Superpole 2 and 10-minutes for Superpole 3 but the 7-minute break between each session will continue as before, although the break between the end of free practice and the start of the Superpole sessions has been extended from 15-minutes to 25-minutes.

In Supersport the riders have been given an extra qualifying session to take place on the Friday afternoon at 5pm with the actual race now taking place 5-minutes later than it’s previous slot, starting at 1.30pm.

In the Superstock 1000 series an extra qualifying session has also been added to the Friday afternoon schedule which will take place at 3pm.

The Superstock 600 race will now take place on the Saturday afternoon at 6pm, following the two qualifying sessions and one free practice session.

Gregorio Lavilla

The former British Superbike rider Gregorio Lavilla, has been released from his Pro-Ride Honda contract before he’s even started a race.

The Pro-Ride Honda team were left with problems after a major sponsor withdrew their backing at the last-minute and with no further sponsorship in the pipe line they were forced to withdraw from the first two races of the season due to a lack of finances.

The Honda team have now decided to to enter just the three Italian rounds of the championship at Monza, Misano and Imola and some of the European rounds with the riders David Checa and Roland Resch.

This had left Lavilla without a ride for this season but now that the contract has ended he is free to seek a ride with other teams and if rumours are to be true, he could be riding for the Sterilgarda Ducati team alongside Shane Byrne.

Gregorio Lavilla returns to the World Superbike series after five years, four of which were in the British Superbikes, where he claimed the title in 2005.  All Lavilla needs to do is to secure some sponsorship to take with him to the team and the ride is likely to be his.

Noriyuki Haga 2009

This weekend the World Superbike Championship goes to the Losail circuit in Qatar for it’s second of the fourteen rounds scheduled for the 2009 season.

Stiggy Honda rider Leon Haslam has raised concerns about tyres in the blistering desert heat but is confident he and the team will select the right front tyre and set-up for the race.

Troy Corser, BMW rider, thinks that he and team-mate Ruben Xaus will struggle at the Losail circuit as the team have no data on the track.  The high temperatures in the desert are a concern for all the teams but the BMW are ready to give it 100% .

Jonathan Rea, the Ten Kate Honda rider, likes the Qatar track and admits to knowing the circuit pretty well.  The Irish rider suffered with tyre wear problems at Phillip Island and is well aware of the need to keep his eye on the rubber as the weekend progresses.

With a win and a second place, Noriyuki Haga is going for the top spot this weekend on the Xerox Ducati and has said that his aim is now to win every race.  The Japanese rider is thought to be the favourite to win the World Superbike Championship this year.

Althea Honda rider Tommy Hill, also suffered with tyre problems in the opening round of the championship and is this weekend hoping for a couple of top ten places.

Kawasaki riders Broc Parkes and Makoto Tamada, had a disappointing outing in Australia after suffering from a severe chatter problem on their machines.

Both riders feel that the team has a lot of development issues that still need to be overcome before they can get on the pace of rival teams.

A total of 41 riders were fined for breaking the pit lane speed limit at Phillip Island last month after a new system was put in place which each rider had his times and speed calculated in each of five set-up sections.  Each rider was fined £140 and all were over the limit in the final of the five sections as they accelerated onto the track.

Ben Spies - Phillip Island Qualifying

Rookie World Superbike rider Ben Spies, on the YXF R1, claimed the first Superpole of the season today, while smashing the lap record held by Troy Bayliss at the opening round at Phillip Island in Australia for the Yamaha team.

Spies set a time of 1:31.069 in the new style knock-out Superpole followed by Max Biaggi on the Aprilia, his best ever result ahead of the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda rider Jonathan Rea in third and Jakub Smrz for the Ducati Guandalini team completing the front row of the grid.

Xerox Ducati rider Michel Fabrizio starts the second row alongside British rider Leon Haslam on the Stiggy Honda, Carlos Checa on the second Hanspree Ten Kate Honda and Regis Laconi on the Ducati.

The new Superpole formula saw four of the top riders eliminated early in the session.  Troy Corser for the new BMW team was knocked out in the first round alongside Roberto Rolfo on the Stiggy Honda, Ruben Xaus on the second BMW and Tommy Hill for the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda team.

The second elimination session, saw Shinya Nakano on the brand new Aprilia, Ryuichi Kiyonari on the Ten Kate Honda, Yukio Kagayama on the Alstare Suzuki, Tom Sykes on the Yamaha, Noriyuki Haga on the Ducati Xerox, Max Neukirchner for Suzuki Alstare, Shane Byrne on the Sterilgarda Ducati, Broc Parkes on the Kawasaki and Noriyuki Haga on the Ducati Xerox all excluded.

Here are the results;

1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′31.069
2 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1′31.402
3 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′31.596
4 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1′31.600
5 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′31.837
6 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′32.112
7 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1′32.537
8 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098 RS 09 1′32.649
9 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 1′31.843
10 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1′31.860
11 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′31.867
12 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′31.881
13 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1′31.907
14 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′31.916
15 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1′32.119
16 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′32.719
17 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′32.873
18 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′32.997
19 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1′33.152
20 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′33.363
21 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 1′33.588
22 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′33.709
23 86 Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′34.174
24 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′34.194
25 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′34.341
26 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′34.390
27 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′35.767
28 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′36.363

Michel Fabrizio 2009

The World Superbike news this week is all about the riders who have been at the Phillip Island circuit for their final two day test session in Australia ahead of the opening round of the World Superbike Championship this weekend.

On the opening day, Max Neukirchner was the fastest man on the track aboard the Alstare Suzuki’s brand new GSXR-1000, while his team-mate Yukio Kagayama finished in fourth.  On the second day however, the Suzuki’s seemed to struggle with grip on their rapidly wearing tyres and concentrated on set-up.

Michel Fabrizio on the Xerox Ducati followed in second place impressing his team and looking like a serious contender for the championship title.  On day two, the 24-year-old rode the Ducati 1098R to the top of the time sheets, just three-tenths of a second slower than the circuits record.  Noriyuki Haga on the second Xerox Ducati was in fifth despite an earlier crash at the fast turn two.  Haga did exactly the same thing on day two and at the same spot and confessed to not being happy with the front end of his 1198R

The new Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies, showed impressive form on a track he had never ridden on before, while team-mate Tom Sykes took a tumble on the second day of testing, however, he was unhurt and eager for the start of the 2009 season.

Carlos Checa on the  Ten Kate Honda ended his first day of testing early after high-siding his bike and was admitted to hospital with concussion. Checa was unable to take part in the second day of testing but is expected to be fully fit for the first race.  On the second day his team-mate Britain’s Jonathan Rea had an off but fortunately was unhurt.

Not great World Superbike news for Troy Corser on the BMW, he had to cut his second day of testing short after hitting a bird on the track at 144mph.  Corser’s arm was knocked off the handle bar as the bird flew into his path as he tried desperately to avoid it and to stay on his bike.  He suffered an arm injury and was forced to sit-out of the rest of the session.  Team-mate Ruben Xaus was getting to grips with the new BMW, the first time he has competed on anything other than a Ducati since a year with Yamaha in the MotoGP series in 2005.

The 2009 season begins this weekend with the new Superpole and Flag to Flag rules.  No more of the one-lap sprint Superpole but instead a new knock-out zone for the top 20 riders.  These 20 are then reduced to 16, and then the 16 are reduced to just the 8 who will fill the front two rows of the grid.  The championship also consists of the ‘flag to flag’ procedure, with each rider having a change of bike ready in case of a wet race.

Shane Byrne

The World Superbike teams ended their first three-day test session of the season on Sunday at the Parkalgar circuit in Portugal.

On Thursday, the Formula One testing session had to cancelled when extreme weather conditions deemed the track too dangerous with standing water and poor visibility.

The riders faced full wet conditions for the Friday morning slot but the track did begin to dry out for the afternoon, seeing Shane Byrne set the fastest times in both wet and dry sessions on the Sterilgarda Ducati.

Byrne was passed later in the session by Michel Fabrizio on the Ducati Xerox and Ben Spies on the Yamaha World superbike, but held the upper hand by the end of the day.

Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus, were on track to swing their legs over the new BMW S1000 RR for the first time, testing alongside a total of 25 other riders at the circuit, all of who went quicker in the drying conditions in the afternoon.

Byrne’s led the timesheets again on the second day of testing, beating the previous track record of Troy Bayliss, and not even on qualifying tyres.  Quite impressive for a privateer in his first full season in World Superbikes.

For the third and final day of testing the dismal weather conditions returned and only two of the riders improved on their times, Troy Corser and Max Biaggi.

All the riders became familiar with the new Superpole qualifying rules on the final day as each of them was given a trial run.

There will now be 20 riders in the qualifying group, which will then be brought down to 16, and then finally to just 8, to determine the pole setter.

The only other main rule changes for this season include a switch to ‘flag-to-flag’, this is where a change of bike is allowed if it rains during the race.

Most of the teams and riders will now move-on to Phillip Island to prepare for the opening round of the World Superbike Championship which starts on 1st March in Australia.

Here are the overall best times for the third day of practice;

Pos – Rider – Team – Best Time

1 – Shane Byrne – Sterilgarda – 1′43.294
2 – Ben Spies – Yamaha World Superbike – 1′43.484
3 – Noriyuki Haga – Ducati Xerox Team – 1′43.487
4 – Tom Sykes – Yamaha World Superbike – 1′43.546
5 – Carlos Checa – HANNspree Ten Kate Honda – 1′43.657
6 – Max Neukirchner – Suzuki Alstare – 1′43.674
7 – Jakub Smrz – Guandalini Racing – 1′43.767
8 – Michel Fabrizio – Ducati Xerox Team – 1′43.951
9 – Jonathan Rea – HANNspree Ten Kate Honda – 1′44.115
10 – Leon Haslam – Stiggy Racing Honda – 1′44.170
11 – Troy Corser – BMW Motorrad Team Alpha R. – 1′44.261
12 – Yukio Kagayama – Suzuki Alstare – 1′44.425
13 – Régis Laconi – DFX Corse – 1′44.546
14 – Ryuichi Kiyonari – Ten Kate Honda Racing – 1′44.610
15 – Broc Parkes – Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. – 1′44.704
16 – Alessandro Polita – Sterilgarda – 1′45.108
17 – Shinya Nakano – Aprilia Racing – 1′45.179
18 – Max Biaggi – Aprilia Racing – 1′45.199
19 – Brendan Roberts – Guandalini Racing – 1′45.278
20 – David Salom – Team Pedercini – 1′45.393
21 – Makoto Tamada – Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. – 1′45.446
22 – Gregorio Lavilla – Pro Ride World Superbike – 1′45.672
23 – Tommy Hill – HANNspree Honda Althea – 1′45.679
24 – Luca Scassa – Team Pedercini – 1′45.820
25 – Ruben Xaus – BMW Motorrad Team Alpha R – 1′46.128
26 – Roberto Rolfo – Stiggy Racing Honda – 1′46.916
27 – Vittorio Iannuzzo – Squadra Corse Italia – 1′46.971

Tom Sykes & Troy Bayliss

For the 2009 World Superbike Championship, there is to be a shoot-out qualifying session rather than the one-lap sprint currently in place.

The new Superpole will be for the top twenty riders following the two qualifying sessions instead of the current sixteen.

There is to be three elimination sessions consisting of twelve minutes each with two seven minute breaks in between making up the fifty minute session.  The session will now also take place an hour earlier from 2009.