The Nürburgring (Germany), 4th September 2010: today’s Superpole took place in relatively warm conditions (air temperature 16°C, track 28°C) but for the Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio it was not an easy afternoon; at the end of the three hard-fought phases, Haga took sixth position and Fabrizio, having registered some almost identical lap times, ninth.
The morning’s second qualifying turned out to be fairly positive for both Ducati Xerox factory riders. Noriyuki immediately improved on his best time set yesterday, by recording an impressive 1m55.4. He made a string of laps with similar times and closed the session in second position, which meant an overall qualifying position of third for this afternoon’s Superpole. Michel was able to improve by a tenth of a second which left him with the fifth fastest time ahead of the Superpole.
Superpole 1: the two factory riders chose different strategies for phase 1, Norikyuki taking to the track on race rubber, Michel opting for the first of two qualifiers. Both strategies worked, in that neither rider needed to make a second exit and at the end of the first mini-session, Michel was in fifth and Noriyuki tenth, results that allowed both riders to progress to the next stage.
Superpole 2: this time Haga went for a “Q” while Fabrizio used a race tyre. The Japanese rider recorded a very fast lap which put him well within the top eight but nevertheless decided to make a second exit, as did his Italian team-mate. By the end of the session, both riders had recorded almost identical best times (Nori – 1m55.233s, Michel – 1m55.264s) but it was Haga who obtained eighth position and a place in the final phase, Michel pushed out by a fraction of a second, to close today’s Superpole in ninth position.
Superpole 3: taking advantage of the second qualifying tyre, Haga made two strong laps to ensure himself of a spot on the second row of the grid, in sixth, for tomorrow’s races.
Noriyuki Haga
“I had a better feeling with the bike this morning compared to this afternoon’s session, so tomorrow I think we’ll make some changes that take us back in that direction regarding set-up. I was a bit disappointed with the Superpole result because I did my two laps in the final phase but maybe I should have stayed out there and done one more because the situation changed dramatically in the last two minutes and I dropped from fourth to sixth. Having said that, a place on the second row isn’t bad and after two positive days we’ll be aiming to make two equally positive races tomorrow.”
Michel Fabrizio
“After all the team’s hard work and the positive results so far this weekend, I of course hoped to take part in the third part of the Superpole but unfortunately a couple of mistakes proved costly and I finished ninth, outside of the top eight for just a fraction of a second. Tomorrow will be very difficult because this is one of those tracks where it’s not easy to pass, added to the fact that there are more than a few strong riders…”
TIMES (Superpole): 1. Biaggi (Aprilia) 1m54.5s; 2. Checa (Ducati) 1m54.6s; 3. Guintoli (Suzuki) 1m54.9s; 4. Rea (Honda) 1m55.1s; 5. Haslam (Suzuki) 1m55.1s; 6. Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1m55.2s; 7. Sykes (Kawasaki) 1m55.3s; 8. Toseland (Yamaha) 1m54.9s; 9. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m55.2s
