2009 World Superbikes Monza QP1 Result - Fabrizio Makes An Impression At Home

Submitted by Kropotkin on Fri, 2009-05-08 15:19
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Michel Fabrizio was once again fastest during the first official qualifying practice at Monza this afternoon. But unlike in free practice earlier today, Fabrizio's hegemony went completely unchallenged. Fabrizio was up to half a second faster than his nearest rivals for most of the session, only surrendering a couple of tenths towards the end. Fabrizio is in sparkling form at Monza, and with an advantage of over 0.3 seconds over the 2nd place man, is very much the rider to beat at Monza.

Xerox Ducati team mate Noriyuki Haga was the nearest rider until the final few minutes, when British Yamaha rider Tom Sykes jumped in to take second place. Sykes has been in the shadow of his team mate so far this season, but the cheery Brit took a big step out forward at Monza, consistently near the top of the timesheets. Sykes' fast lap pushed Haga down into 3rd, just 3/100ths off Sykes' time.

The Hondas had been mostly invisible throughout qualifying, until Johnny Rea put in a fast lap in the dying seconds of the session to take 4th place. Rea's position was at the expense of the two Suzukis, Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama forced down to 5th and 6th, though both the German and the Japanese rider had been fast earlier in the session.

Ben Spies finished uncharacteristically far down the field, only managing to set the 7th fastest time on his Yamaha Motor Italia YZF-R1. But given the tiny difference between 4th and 9th, Spies could have been further forward or further back if he had been just a couple of hundredths faster or slower. Spies did finish ahead of Max Biaggi, which will have disappointed the Italian veteran. Leon Haslam, the man who has been the fastest Honda rider so far this year, could only manage the 12th quickest time, while the privateer Ducatis are pretty far down the field, Shane Byrne the first of them in 10th, and Jakub Smrz just managing 13th.

Qualifying and practice continues tomorrow, with pole to be settled in the Superpole sessions tomorrow afternoon.

Full result of the first session of qualifying for World Superbikes at Monza:

Pos No. Rider Bike Time Diff
1 84 M. Fabrizio Ducati 1098R 1'45.447  
2 66 T. Sykes Yamaha YZF R1 1'45.758 0.311
3 41 N. Haga Ducati 1098R 1'45.790 0.343
4 65 J. Rea Honda CBR1000RR 1'45.919 0.472
5 76 M. Neukirchner Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'45.962 0.515
6 71 Y. Kagayama Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'45.985 0.538
7 19 B. Spies Yamaha YZF R1 1'46.013 0.566
8 3 M. Biaggi Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'46.054 0.607
9 7 C. Checa Honda CBR1000RR 1'46.140 0.693
10 67 S. Byrne Ducati 1098R 1'46.164 0.717
11 9 R. Kiyonari Honda CBR1000RR 1'46.171 0.724
12 91 L. Haslam Honda CBR1000RR 1'46.208 0.761
13 96 J. Smrz Ducati 1098R 1'46.363 0.916
14 111 R. Xaus BMW S1000 RR 1'46.545 1.098
15 11 T. Corser BMW S1000 RR 1'46.565 1.118
16 99 L. Scassa Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'46.566 1.119
17 31 K. Muggeridge Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'46.690 1.243
18 55 R. Laconi Ducati 1098R 1'47.078 1.631
19 15 M. Baiocco Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'47.220 1.773
20 100 M. Tamada Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'47.317 1.870
21 33 T. Hill Honda CBR1000RR 1'47.362 1.915
22 98 J. Zemke Honda CBR1000RR 1'47.751 2.304
23 23 B. Parkes Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'47.955 2.508
24 25 D. Salom Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'47.963 2.516
25 56 S. Nakano Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'48.284 2.837
26 24 B. Roberts Ducati 1098R 1'48.667 3.220
27 94 D. Checa Yamaha YZF R1 1'48.920 3.473
28 77 V. Iannuzzo Honda CBR1000RR 1'48.981 3.534
29 88 R. Resch Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'49.119 3.672

 

Round Number: 
5
2009

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