Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri were on flying form today on the sunny Algarve circuit at Portimao to secure two front row starts on tomorrow’s grid for the final two races of the 2011 season.
Both riders got straight down to business in this morning’s second qualifying session making several minor adjustments to their R1 set-ups in search of better grip and stability on the machine. Having made significant improvements, both riders concentrated on race set up in the afternoon’s free practice, completing a longer run before wrapping up the successful session at the top of the time sheets, with Melandri in first place and his team-mate just 0.031 of a second behind him in second position.
In the first Superpole knockout session this afternoon, Melandri set the fastest time to claim the top slot, while his team-mate, just behind in third place went comfortably through to the second heat of the day, having both saved their qualifiers for the remaining two sessions. Laverty dominated the second heat using a qualifier to clock in an impressive 1’42.097, just 0.005 off the best lap time recorded on the R1 in 2010. While several riders switched to the last qualifying tyre to complete a further two laps and secure a place in the third heat, Melandri was bumped to eighth place. The final Superpole session of the season saw both Yamaha riders claim front row positions on tomorrow’s race grid, with Laverty in third place and his Italian team-mate beside him in fourth, setting them up nicely for the grand finale.
Eugene Laverty
Yamaha World Superbike Team – 3rd, 1’42.173
“It was a pretty good day overall. Another front row start is important, I was hoping to get pole but Johnny Rea was very strong and third on the grid is pretty good. This morning we tried a few things that didn’t quite work out but in the final free practice session we made a big step in the right direction, getting some more rear grip on the bike, which is really important ahead of tomorrow’s race day. We have some more work to do in the morning but we are almost there and I am confident enough that I can be fighting for a podium in the last two races of the season.”
Marco Melandri
Yamaha World Superbike Team – 4th, 1’42.259
“It was a great day today, we made good progress in qualifying and free practice, making steps in the right direction. The team worked hard and did a great job yet again, helping me gain more confidence and feeling on the bike and I was lapping quite fast. I concentrated on trying to get faster laps times in the Superpole qualifying session which has been my weakest point recently but I needed a few tenths of a second more. The important thing is to be on the front row and to have a good set up for tomorrow’s two races, which I am confident we have and that we can be strong and fighting for a win.”
Andrea Dosoli – Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“We were aiming for a front row start for the last races of the season, so that mission was accomplished today with both riders, confirming our strong total team performance. Eugene has been fast all weekend and yet again in today’s Superpole, which is very important as tomorrow he will be doing his best to hold on to the third place in the championship. He and his team worked hard to improve consistency on the race tyres and rear grip, areas where he was struggling a little yesterday. Marco gradually improved the set up on his machine throughout the day, gaining the confidence he requires to be 100 per cent competitive tomorrow. He put in some fast laps with the race tyres but was unable to improve much on the qualifier. Most important is that both riders will be starting from the front row and fighting to take home two more race wins before ending the season.”
2011 World Superbike Portugal
Portimão 15/10/2011
1 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 1’41.712
2 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 1’41.951
3 Eugene Laverty Yamaha GBR 1’42.173
4 Marco Melandri Yamaha ITA 1’42.259
5 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati FRA 1’42.627
6 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1’42.710
7 Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ESP 1’43.282
8 Noriyuki Haga Aprilia JPN 1’43.307
9 Ayrton Badovini BMW ITA 1’42.645
10 Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 1’42.740
11 Leon Haslam BMW GBR 1’42.879
12 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 1’43.012
13 Maxime Berger Ducati FRA 1’43.306
14 Michel Fabrizio Suzuki ITA 1’43.661
15 Davide Giugliano Ducati ITA 1’43.683
Circuit Length:
4692
Weather:
Sunny
Fastest Lap Ever:
1’41.712
(Jonathan Rea, 10/16/2011)
Last Years Winner:
Max Biaggi
Qualifying 1 & Qualifying 2
I II
1 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 1’43.895 1’42.569
2 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 1’43.579 1’42.721
3 Marco Melandri Yamaha ITA 1’44.112 1’43.080
4 Leon Haslam BMW GBR 1’44.426 1’43.090
5 Davide Giugliano Ducati ITA 1’45.454 1’43.096
6 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati FRA 1’43.860 1’43.128
7 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1’44.201 1’43.194
8 Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 1’44.111 1’43.281
9 Eugene Laverty Yamaha GBR 1’43.666 1’43.381
10 Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ESP 1’44.030 1’43.408
11 Mark Aitchison Kawasaki AUS 1’44.410 1’43.508
12 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 1’44.598 1’43.605
13 Ayrton Badovini BMW ITA 1’44.278 1’43.610
14 Noriyuki Haga Aprilia JPN 1’44.144 1’43.674
15 Maxime Berger Ducati FRA 1’44.715 1’43.754
Yamaha ParkinGO riders to start the final race of the season from first and second rows
Yamaha ParkinGO riders Chaz Davies and Luca Scassa will start tomorrow’s season finale race at Portimao from first and second rows on the Portuguese grid. Chaz Davies has already snatched the WSS championship title since the last round in Magny Cours but the Yamaha ParkinGO team is determined to claim the Manufacturer’s title tomorrow with Yamaha currently holding a significant 12 point lead in the standings.
In search of better grip ahead of tomorrow’s race, Chaz Davies – 2011 World Supersport Champion, made the most of the morning’s free practice session to make various changes to his R6 set up. Having found a better solution, the Welshman proceeded this afternoon to better his lap times and dominated the time sheets mid-session before wrapping up the day in third place just 0.158 off pole position. Team-mate Luca Scassa had a less successful second qualifying session this afternoon. A minor crash after just two laps in the second qualifying session caused the Italian to lose out on valuable track time while his machine was being repaired. Heading back out with just 4 minutes to go, Scassa managed to complete a further three laps and secure eighth place and second row on tomorrow’s grid. Despite the little track time this afternoon, the Yamaha ParkinGO rider is confident that he made important steps in the morning’s free practice sessions and will be strong enough to fight for a podium in tomorrow’s final race of the 2011 season. The Yamaha ParkinGO Team aim to add another race win to their spectacular list of achievements this year, having scored an astounding eight race victories from the 11 rounds already completed.
Chaz Davies
Yamaha ParkinGO Team – 3rd, 1’45.253
“We still have some fine tuning to do on the front of the bike in tomorrow’s warm up session but everything else seems to be quite good. We made great progress today and I’m confident ahead of tomorrow’s race. I’m aiming for a one final race win to add to my achievements this year and I’m sure we have the competitive package it takes. I’ll give it my best shot but it’s nice to know that I’ve nothing to lose.”
Luca Scassa
Yamaha ParkinGO Team – 8th, 1’45.968
“Unfortunately when I was on my way into the pit box, I came across another rider going quite slow, I widened my lines and tried to overtake on the inside but I bumped into him and crashed. It was disappointing and I lost out on a lot of track time as a consequence. The team worked in record time to repair the bike so I could get back out there and improve lap times just before the end of the session. I really want to race to win tomorrow and I’m pretty sure that I can be up there fighting at the top and I expect to be stronger in the second half of the race.”
2011 World Supersport Portugal
Portimão 15/10/2011
Circuit Length:
4692
Weather:
Sunny
Fastest Lap Ever:
1’44.683
(Kenan Sofuoglu, 10/25/2010)
Qualifying 1 & Qualifying 2
I II
1 David Salom Kawasaki ESP 1’46.195 1’45.090
2 Broc Parkes Kawasaki AUS 1’46.788 1’45.145
3 Chaz Davies Yamaha GBR 1’46.390 1’45.253
4 Florian Marino Honda FRA 1’46.772 1’45.590
5 Massimo Roccoli Kawasaki ITA 1’47.399 1’45.706
6 Sam Lowes Honda GBR 1’46.208 1’45.787
7 Fabien Foret Honda FRA 1’46.974 1’45.877
8 Luca Scassa Yamaha ITA 1’46.201 1’45.968
9 Gino Rea Honda GBR 1’46.830 1’45.988
10 James Ellison Honda GBR 1’47.218 1’46.167
11 Ronan Quarmby Triumph RSA 1’47.725 1’46.262
12 Roberto Tamburini Yamaha ITA 1’47.410 1’46.266
13 Miguel Praia Honda POR 1’46.987 1’46.646
14 Danilo Dell’omo Triumph ITA 1’47.788 1’46.729
15 Vittorio Iannuzzo Kawasaki ITA 1’47.595 1’46.747
21 Gunther Knobloch Yamaha AUT 1’48.841 1’47.435
22 Jesco Gunther Yamaha GER 1’48.674 1’47.557
25 Luca Marconi Yamaha ITA 1’49.233 1’48.558
29 David Linortner Yamaha AUT 1’49.014 1’49.391
32 Eduard Blokhin Yamaha RUS 1’52.213 1’52.886
33 Oleg Pozdneev Yamaha RUS 1’54.122 1’52.951
