2011 Silverstone World Superbike Saturday Press Release Round Up

Press releases after qualifying from the World Superbike and World Supersport teams from Silverstone:

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Wild-card Hopkins powers to Tissot-Superpole win!

Silverstone (Great Britain), Saturday 30 July 2011 – John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) rocked the WSBK establishment with the Tissot-Superpole win at Silverstone. The American rider, a regular in BSB this season, took a new track best of 2'04.041 in the last of the three superpole contests.

Hopkins held off the challenge of Irish rider Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike), Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) and championship leader Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati). The front row featured machines from four different manufacturers – Suzuki, Yamaha, Aprilia and Ducati.

John Hopkins: "I'm over the moon right now. I know it's just qualifying and Superpole, but I'm so grateful to be here and racing a wild-card in the World Superbike series, and just to be racing a motorcycle at all because last year I was told by many doctors that I had to retire because of my wrist. A big thanks also to the Samsung Crescent team, they've been working their butts off to build an amazing bike. But now the real work starts tomorrow and I'll be giving it my best!"

Eugene Laverty: "It was a close lap time to Hopkins, in the last session it was pretty much a perfect lap, I thought I had it but John did an even better one and deserved it. I'm happy with the second place, in the race it looks like we can be strong. The four guys in the front row will be strongest so if I can get a good getaway it'll be a good fight."

Leon Camier: "It's pretty good, but I was a little bit less confident in the whole package for the qualifying session and am a bit frustrated about that, but happy to be on the front row, it makes a change for me! Tomorrow's going to be difficult for sure, for race pace it's going to be hard with everyone doing a good couple of laps today and then struggling a bit."

Sylvain Guintoli (Effenbert Liberty Ducati) was fifth and Laverty's team-mate Marco Melandri sixth. Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki Alstare) finished up seventh for a second row start, with Noriyuki Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia) eighth after a tough first day. Hometown rider Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) was in the leading mix early on but missed out on a second row start by one place. Championship challenger Max Biaggi had his worst qualifying of the year, taking his Aprilia Alitalia machine to eleventh on the grid, having crashed in Superpole 1.

Top British talent Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) missed Superpole after crashing hard and spraining his right ankle, and suffering cuts and bruises. He is ranked sixteenth on the grid as he qualified for Superpole but was not fit to ride. Comeback rider James Toseland ended up fourteenth on his BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike) machine.

Tissot-Superpole Times: 1. Hopkins J. (USA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2'04.041; 2. Laverty E. (IRL) Yamaha YZF R1 2'04.068; 3. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2'04.303; 4. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 2'04.362; 5. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 2'05.456; 6. Melandri M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 2'05.639; 7. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2'05.997; 8 Haga N. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory; 9. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 2'05.091; 10. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 2'05.115; 11. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2'05.184; 12. Aitchison M. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R 2'06.238; 13. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 2'05.400; 14.Toseland J. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 2'05.403; 15. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 2'05.709; 16. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R; etc.

World Supersport

David Salom of the Spanish Kawasaki Motocard.com team took his second pole position of the year on his ZX-6R machine. The young Spaniard got the better of British charger Sam Lowes (Parkalgar Honda) by three-tenths of a second. The front row of the grid will be completed by the promising French talent Florian Marino (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Brno winner Gino Rea (Step Racing Team Honda).

Championship leader Chaz Davies (Yamaha ParkinGO) could only manage eighth quickest time, right behind two of his closest rivals Fabien Foret (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Australian Broc Parkes (Kawasaki Motocard.com). The best of the Italians are Roberto Tamburini (Bike Service R.T. Yamaha) and erstwhile points leader Luca Scassa (Yamaha ParkinGO).

Times: 1. Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2'08.527; 2. Lowes S. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 2'08.823; 3. Marino F. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 2'08.964; 4. Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 2'09.105; 5. Harms R. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR 2'09.141; 6. Foret F. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 2'09.161; 7. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2'09.345; 8. Davies C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 2'09.405; etc.

Superstock 1000

Some terrific form in qualifying saw Danilo Petrucci take his fourth Superstock 1000 pole position in a row for the Barni Racing Ducati Team. The youngster from central Italy will head an all-Italian front row, with FIM Cup points leader Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Ducati), Niccolò Canepa (Lazio MotorSport Ducati) and Lorenzo Zanetti (BMW Motorrad Italia Superstock team) taking the next three slots.

Brno winner Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia Superstock team) heads up row 2, with Argentina's Leandro Denis Marcado putting together a good run to sixth for the Pedercini Kawasaki team. The second row was completed by Lorenzo Baroni (Althea Racing Ducati) and Eddi La Marra (Lorini Honda) in seventh and eighth. Britain's Danny Buchan (Goeleven Kawasaki) was the first home-bred rider on the grid in 15th place.

Times: 1. Petrucci D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2'08.582; 2. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2'08.779; 3. Canepa N. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2'09.168; 4. Zanetti L. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 2'09.215; 5. Barrier S. (FRA) BMW S1000 RR 2'09.576; 6. Mercado L. (ARG) Kawasaki ZX-10R 2'10.005; 7. Baroni L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2'10.254; 8. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 2'10.268; etc.

Superstock 600

Michael van der Mark (Ten Kate Junior Team Honda) soared back to the top of the timesheets with pole position for the European Superstock 600 Championship race which will be held tomorrow instead of in its usual Saturday evening slot. The Dutchman will be flanked by Spain's Nacho Calero Perez (Orelac Racing Yamaha), Joshua Elliott (WMT Yamaha) from Britain and Frenchman Stéphane Egea (ASPI Yamaha).

Romain Lanusse (MRS Yamaha Racing France), the current points leader, will start from the second row with seventh quickest time, with Aragon winner Jed Metcher (MTM-RT Motorsports Yamaha) in fifth and Brno winner Dino Lombardi (Martini Corse Yamaha) down in tenth.

Times: 1. Vd Mark M. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 2'13.344; 2. Calero Perez N. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 2'13.649; 3. Elliott J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 2'13.688; 4. Egea S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 2'13.702; 5. Metcher J. (AUS) Yamaha YZF R6 2'13.742; 6. Duwelz G. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 2'14.033; 7. Lanusse R. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 2'14.188; 8. Russo R. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 2'14.216; etc.

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Ellison targeting top six at Silverstone

BOGDANKA PTR HONDA's James Ellison will start from 16th for tomorrow's eighth round of the World Supersport Championship at Silverstone in the UK confident he can score highly at the front of the race after a difficult final qualification.

Silverstone rookie, Pawel Szkopek, onboard the other Bogdanka PTR Honda will start the race from 19th position and he too is looking for a strong finish in front of the British crowd, with David Salom on pole when the lights go green for World Supersport round eight tomorrow at 1:30 PM local time.

James Ellison: "We had a technical problem in the second qualifying session. I only did one lap and couldn't improve on my yesterday's time. It's disappointing for the whole team but it's nobody's fault and it's just unfortunate. We were inside the top four most of the time on Friday and felt really comfortable so our starting position doesn't show what we're capable of - the race starts tomorrow and we'll give it our best."

Pawel Szkopek: "Yesterday I knew I could go faster today and that was the case. I've improved my lap time by more than a second and still could've went a bit quicker but I took it steady after this morning. I collided with James in the second practice after a silly move on my side so I'm very sorry for that. We've both lost some time today but I'm sure we can have a good race on Sunday."

Simon Buckmaster: "It is Pawel's first time here but he has improved every session and 19th is a good qualification. With a good start and if he remains calm he has a realistic chance to get a points scoring finish.

"James only got one lap in qualifying because of a technical problem. It did not allow him the chance to improve but overall he is happy with his set-up and has strong race pace so we will be looking for a good start and see if he can challenge for the top six."

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Silverstone – Qualifying Practice 2 & Superpole.

Saturday, 30 July 2011.

BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders, Leon Haslam (GBR and Troy Corser (AUS), will start tomorrow's World Superbike races in Silverstone (GBR) from the third and fifth rows respectively. While Troy was not able to qualify for Superpole Qualifying, and so will go into Sunday's races from position 17, Leon missed the third and final Superpole session by only 21 thousandths of a second. He will start from ninth.

Ayrton Badovini (ITA) from the BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team will start on his BMW S 1000 RR from tenth. His team mate, James Toseland (GBR), qualified 14th.

Leon Haslam:

Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: 2:05.640 min (P8) / Fastest lap FP: 2:06.053 min (P5) /

Fastest lap Superpole 2: 2:05.091 min (P9)

"I was able to post good lap times on race tyres, but sadly when we changed to the qualifying tyre the extra grip caused a few issues. We should be in good shape come the races tomorrow, as we are happy with the times we are able to set on race tyres. It's a shame because if I had remained on these tyres, I think I could have made it through to Superpole 3. But we will line up in ninth tomorrow, which isn't bad considering my recent starting positions. I am feeling pretty confident, so let's see what happens. The BMW is good off the line so let's hope for a good start."

Troy Corser:

Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: 2:06.304 min (P17) / Fastest lap FP: 2:06.473 min (P9)

"Today's result is disappointing. We have definitely fixed a few things we struggled with yesterday. Still, chattering was our biggest issue today. We think the reasons were a combination from engine brake and set up. We changed the engine brake and it helped a bit, but the chattering came back with a grippy tyre. I was not too bad on my long runs, as the bike was quite stable. We know what we have to do for tomorrow's warm up."

Rainer Bäumel (Head of Race Operations):

"Leon unfortunately struggled with the qualifying tyre. Although starting from the third row, I am confident he will show a good performance tomorrow. His lap times on race tyres were consistently good. On Troy's side we were not able to find a good chassis set-up, but we keep working hard on this. I hope we will have a good solution for tomorrow's warm-up and races."

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Sam leads the Brits at home round

PARKALGAR HONDA'S Sam Lowes will start from second place and is the leading British rider after qualification for the eighth round of the World Supersport Championship at Silverstone in the UK.

Portuguese racer Miguel Praia improved his lap times and position from yesterday and will start from 13th. The race starts at 1330GMT tomorrow, Sunday, July 31st.

Sam: "That was a good qualifying session. We worked a lot on our race pace and only used one tyre at the end, - even then I mucked up the first lap, hit traffic on the second lap and then took second on the third lap when the tyre was well past its best. We have made a massive step forward for race distance - we are very confident for tomorrow. It's been a mega job by the whole Parkalgar Honda team, I can't wait to get racing."

Miguel: "In the end we went for the softer tyre a little bit too soon and ended up with similar lap times the whole session. My time was not perfect and maybe if we had changed the tyre I could have been half a second faster. Anyway, I am confident that we have good race pace and with a good start we will be there, it will be a close race."

Simon Buckmaster, Parkalgar Honda Team Manager: "Sam has race winning potential, he spent most of the session concentrating on set-up for race distance. He only used one soft tyre in the session and hit a bit of traffic on his first two fast laps but still recorded a 2m 08 on this third lap to take second on the grid - very impressive.

"Miguel would like to be higher but he has gone faster again this session. It will be hard for him to be top five but with a good start he always races well and let's see what he can do."

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FRONT ROW START FOR CHECA AND ALTHEA RACING IN TOMORROW'S SBK RACES AT SILVERSTONE

Silverstone (UK), Saturday 30th July: at the end of an extremely closely fought Superpole at the Silverstone track, Althea Racing and rider Carlos Checa are very satisfied to have reserved a place on the front tow of tomorrow's SBK grid; Checa will line up in fourth place for the two 18-lap races.

Carlos recorded some consistently fast times during this morning's second qualifying session which took place in temperate conditions, with a track temperature of 22C. His best time set yesterday remained the overall fastest time until five minutes from the end of today's session, when he himself beat it by registering a lap time of 2m05.1. Unfortunately a fast lap by Hopkins just two minutes from the session's end prevented the Spaniard from closing in first, but he nevertheless qualified a close second for this afternoon's Superpole, with the team aware of it's impressive pace around the British circuit.

On a warmer track (34C), Althea Racing's rider dominated the final practie session in the early afternoon, concluding in first position with a best time of 2m05.4.

Superpole 1: after a first exit on race rubber, Checa made a second attempt in the final minutes of the session. The fast lap that he achieved placed him third and assured him of safe passage to the second Superpole phase.

Superpole 2: taking advantage of the first of two available qualifying tyres, Carlos immediately put in a 2m04.4 lap time, projecting himself to the top of the timesheets where he remained until the session's end; no further laps were required and he passed to phase three in first position.

Superpole 3: on track with the second qualifier, the Spanish rider witnessed Haga's unfortunate crash but, despite this momentary distraction, was able to record a time of 2m04.3 that was enough to guarantee him a place on the front row of tomorrow's grid – Carlos will line up in fourth position.

Carlos Checa:

"I think it has been a positive day, after a solid weekend's work. It's actually going better than we expected and I'm satisfied with the progress we've made, with our rhythm and with the tyre performance. Superpole was going well but I lost a couple of tenths when Haga crashed ahead of me, I lost concentration there for a minute. I knew it would be difficult to make a 2m4 flat today but I'm nevertheless happy to be on the front row for tomorrow's races. I believe we have strong race pace and can fight for the podium. I think we'll be seeing some different frontrunners tomorrow, as we've seen for example that Laverty and Camier are really strong here, so I'm looking forward to two great, but tough races."

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Pole For Salom At Silverstone

WSS, Silverstone, Great Britain, 30 July 2011

David Salom secured pole at Silverstone on his Kawasaki Motocard.com Ninja ZX-6R, with his lap time of 2'08.527 proving to be a new track best. His team-mate Broc Parkes was seventh in qualifying.

Salom was on top form in the second timed session, pushing hard to gain a 0.296 second advantage over the next closest qualifier, Sam Lowes. This is David's second pole position of the season, having also taken the pre-race initiative in Australia during the first round of the championship.

Parkes worked hard to try and cure a chatter issue with his set-up around the fast curves and many changes of direction at Silverstone. He ended up in a second row starting spot and with the vast majority of the field behind him.

David Salom: "I am happy to set that lap time but I had to push really hard, very strongly. I was at the limit. I need to find a little bit more grip on the rear for tomorrow to keep chatter away and the job now is to check the telemetry and finalise the set-up choices. I am happy our qualifying lap time was very good and we start from pole again."

Broc Parkes: "I have been struggling to get up to full speed and we have a bit of a chatter problem which we are trying to iron out and fix before the race tomorrow. Seventh on the grid is not perfect but we still have time to improve. It is a start on the second row so I still have a good chance to get away in the leading group."

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Qualifying Provides Challenges For Sykes And Lascorz

WSBK, Silverstone, Great Britain, 30 July 2011

The 5.9km long Silverstone circuit has not brought the qualifying outcomes that Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz had hoped for, with Sykes starting 16th on the grid, while Lascorz was 19th.

Sykes had been in the mix until he crashed at turn six during the pre-Superpole free practice session. He had been 11th after regulation qualifying, but was unable to set even a single lap in Superpole as he received treatment for a swollen right ankle and various other bangs and bruises. He will undergo a fitness test on Sunday morning to determine whether he will race or not.

Lascorz could not get his machine set-up to work the way he hoped it would when exiting corners and now starts 19th on the grid, from the fifth row. He too missed out on Superpole, but found some pace in his set-up to go eighth in the final free practice session this afternoon.

Pedercini Team rider Mark Aitchison was top Kawasaki qualifier, putting his Ninja ZX-10R 12th after getting into Superpole 2. His team-mate Roberto Rolfo was 20th in qualifying.

Tom Sykes: "We are not sure if I have chipped a bone on my ankle but it has swollen up a lot. There is no one who wants me to ride tomorrow more than I do, but we will see how things are in the morning after a good night's sleep. We really have to wait until I get checked out again on Sunday. It was a very big crash and I hit the ground pretty hard. There is some kind of damage to my ankle but I would like to ride if I can and put some points on the board. It is a shame to have fallen because in Superpole I think we could have gone into the top seven or eight places on the grid."

Joan Lascorz: "It has been difficult to get the chassis set up to work the way we want in the exit of the corners and I cannot find good lines around the circuit because of that. It has been difficult in some ways but the entry to corners is good. I was not happy earlier in the weekend but we have found improvements in the afternoon session today and we have some ideas to improve things for the races tomorrow."

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Laverty Secures 2nd Place for Home Races at Silverstone

Yamaha World Superbike Team riders Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri impressed on the British track at Silverstone today, completing the afternoon's Superpole qualifying heats in second and sixth places respectively. Northern Irishman Laverty, was flawless, being one of the fastest riders in the pack throughout the three sessions, earning himself a front row position on the grid for Sunday's two home races. Melandri was enjoying a much better day than yesterday having clearly improved his set up, resulting in better grip. The Italian managed to knock over a second off his lap times from yesterday's first qualifying session which led him to qualify for today's Superpole in fifth place.

The afternoon's Superpole sessions were held on a warm track and under pleasant sunshine. Laverty and Melandri, the two Yamaha World Superbike rookies used a set of race tyres to see them comfortably through the first heat in first and sixth places. Laverty was equally impressive in the second heat which he completed in third place. Teammate Melandri was sitting in eighth position before deciding to use a qualifier in the attempt of producing a flying lap. The Italian was unable to improve his time but still held position to qualify for the third and final heat of the day. Laverty was spectacular once again in the final heat immediately producing a fast lap, beating the previous fastest lap ever recorded by Crutchlow in 2010, also powered by a Yamaha R1. World Superbike wildcard, John Hopkins proceeded to better this lap time by just 0.027 seconds and set the new fastest lap record. Melandri, having used all his qualifiers in the first two sessions, couldn't improve on his time but held on for sixth place and a second row start on tomorrow's grid.

Eugene Laverty

Yamaha World Superbike Team - 2nd, 2'04.068

"It was a great qualifying day, it was very close between me and John Hopkins. I'm really happy with the last superpole session, I did a perfect lap and was sure I was in pole position but John was a little faster, so he deserved it. I'm happy with second and a front row start for tomorrow's races. I think it should be a good race day and the four of us on the front row will be very strong. Yamaha really suits this circuit, Cal won last year and I was also very strong, so it's looking pretty good. Hopefully I can repeat Monza. I'm really looking forward to the races."

Marco Melandri

Yamaha World Superbike Team - 6th, 2'05.639

"It was a very good day today, especially considering the difficulty we had yesterday. We improved the race pace quite significantly. Unfortunately I struggled a lot with the qualifiers having difficulty turning with the front of the bike and finished in sixth place. We have to improve a little, especially for the beginning of the race, but I'm confident that we can do this and I can get off to a strong start and be up there at the top, battling for victory."

Andrea Dosoli - Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager

"I'm very satisfied with both riders and their teams today. They improved on their performance since yesterday, not just on a fast lap but also with the race set up. Marco knocked over a second from yesterday's lap time in the second qualifying session. There is still some fine tuning to be done in order to be 100% for tomorrow's races. Unfortunately he had some difficulty with the qualifiers and didn't get to improve his lap time much and had to settle for sixth place. Second row start certainly won't prevent him from getting good results. Eugene was on top form in Superpole, delivering an impressive lap time, improving on Cal's fastest lap from last year. He demonstrated to be a very mature rider, coping well under pressure at his home round and deserves two good races in front of his numerous fans. His race pace is fast and consistent so I expect both riders to be in the top pack leading the races tomorrow."

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Yamaha ParkinGO Team Confident Ahead of Tomorrow's Race Day at Silverstone

The Yamaha ParkinGO team completed the second Qualifying day on the British track at Silverstone, content with having successfully improved the R6 race set ups ahead of tomorrow's race day.

Chaz Davies concluded the session in eighth place and faces his home race tomorrow determined to battle for victory in front of his British fans. The Welshman made the most of the second day at the British circuit to work through some chassis set ups and improve his race pace. Unfortunately Davies was unable to produce a fast lap towards the end of the session and settled for a second row position on tomorrow's grid, but is confident to have made the progress necessary to be strong and consistent for the 16 lap race. Teammate Luca Scassa closed the day in 11th place overall and with a third row position on the race grid. Despite the result, the Italian is confident that he has made solid improvements on his R6 race set up today and will be in a position to fight for a podium tomorrow and climb back up the championship standings.

Chaz Davies

Yamaha ParkinGO Team - 8th, 2'09.405

" We have worked hard and made progress. I have a better feeling with the front of my R6 than yesterday and I have improved the race pace also. I'll start from the second row tomorrow but I'm sure I can be strong and push through to the front of the pack. At Silverstone there are plenty of opportune places to overtake, so I'll do my best. It's my home race and in front of my fans I just want to do my best to deliver good results for them."

Luca Scassa

Yamaha ParkinGO Team - 11th, 2'09.700

" Unfortunately I didn't manage to get in a hot lap today and improve my qualifying times. I got caught up in traffic that slowed me down. We worked hard yesterday and were heading in the right direction. I could definitely see the results today and the track temperature was also hotter. The bike feels quite good and it adapts quite well to my riding style so I'm feeling quite confident. I'm not concerned that I'm on the third row, I'll be doing my best to fight for a podium anyway."

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Silverstone front row for Marino

Florian Marino will start tomorrow's eighth round World Supersport championship race at Silverstone from the front row of the grid after setting the third fastest time in this afternoon's final qualifying session.

Pole position was taken by Spanish rider David Salom while Marino's Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Fabien Foret, set the sixth fastest time for a second row start.

Marino will be seeking his debut World Supersport podium in tomorrow's 16-lap race around the 5.902km Silverstone circuit, while Foret will also look for a rostrum finish to keep his title bid on track.

Florian Marino – P3 2m08.964s

Yes, I am quite happy because I had a good feeling with the bike today, even though we went back to a setting from yesterday. We tried to make a better change but it didn't work and I had a couple of quite big moments. But I learned a lot by myself today, which w as good. I'll try to make a good start and try to stay with the front group. Apart from that, I can't make any promises!

Fabien Foret – P6 2m09.161s

It wasn't very good today and I was not able to use the softer tyre as much as the other guys. The times are pretty close though and I'm like half a tenth off the front row. The race tyre feels like a better pace and we'll look for something tomorrow that will let us push from the start.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager

As usual, it all went off in the final few minutes of the session. Just before then we had both riders on the front row. I'm pleased for Florian because he's had a tough time recently and he's definitely feeling a lot better with the bike here. We hope he can round the weekend off with a good race. The changes we tried with Fabien did not work so we'll try something else for warm-up but I'm sure that with his race-craft and experience, he can ride with the leading group tomorrow.

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Tough qualifying day for Castrol Honda

Neither of Castrol Honda's two replacement riders was able to qualifying for today's Superpole sessions for tomorrow's two ninth-round World Superbike races at Silverstone in the UK.

Alex Lowes, who is riding in place of the injured Jonathan, finished regular qualifying 18th fastest, while his team-mate for the Silverstone weekend, Fabrizio Lai, was 21st. American John Hopkins secured pole position for Sunday's two 18-lap races.

Lai is replacing Ruben Xaus, who sustained leg and back injuries in a crash at Brno in the Czech Republic last time out. Today's qualifying and free practice sessions marked the Italian rider's second day on the CBR1000RR and riding the 5.902km Silverstone circuit.

Alex Lowes – 18th 2m06.524s

Today wasn't so good and I wasn't able to move forward as quickly as we made progress yesterday. We sort of hit a plateau and couldn't get any higher. The main problem I've got is in the slower corners where I'm just not getting any feeling from the front and the bike is wanting to push me wide. It's a little frustrating because in the faster sectors, two and three, I'm third or fourth quickest. I suppose that's a little glimmer of light for us but we need to find something in warm-up to be able to challenge for a couple of good results tomorrow.

Fabrizio Lai – 21st 2m07.482s

It was a little better today overall, but qualifying was a bad session for me and I could not make it to Superpole. I tried the second bike but it didn't have such a good feeling and in slower corners I had some problems. Also, I don't think I was using the right lines so my time is not good. I hope for two good races tomorrow and for a chance to pass some other riders.

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FABRIZIO ON SILVERSTONE WSB 2ND ROW

Team Suzuki Press Office - July 30.

Team Alstare Suzuki's Michel Fabrizio will start tomorrow's World Superbike Championship ninth round at Silverstone in the UK from the second row of the grid - after finally qualifying through to Superpole 1.

The Italian GSX-R1000-mounted rider finished with the seventh-quickest time in Superpole 3 and will start tomorrow's pair of 18-lap races in a good position.

Wild Card entry John Hopkins on the Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki won Superpole with a lap of 2:04.041, just two-10ths-of-a-second ahead of Eugene Laverty (Yamaha). Third was Leon Camier (Aprilia) with series leader Carlos Checa (Ducati) filling the final front-row grid position.

Michel Fabrizio - 7th, 2:05.997:

"I am a bit disappointed that I didn't get on to the front row of the grid. I used a qualifying tyre in Superpole 1 to make sure of getting into Superpole 2 and then my second and final Qualifier to get into Superpole 3. That meant that I had no qualifier to use in Superpole 3, so we decided to use one of the used-Qualifiers hoping that it would be good enough for a front-row place. We tried this idea in Superpole 1 and found that it was better than using race rubber, so that's what we did. But it wasn't anywhere as good as a fresh Qualifier and didn't have the same level of grip, so I couldn't lap fast enough to get that elusive front-row grid slot. Once again, it will be Row Two, but I know that my race-pace is good and if I can get a good start then I will be up with the leaders: That's my plan."

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