Parkes Competitive In Qatar Superpole
WSBK, Losail, Qatar, 13 March 2009
Broc Parkes and his Kawasaki World Superbike Racing team made changes to his machine set-up that allowed him to qualify well in Superpole today, finishing 13th on the grid for Saturday’s two races. Broc had been as high as third in the first of the three new style Superpole qualifying sessions, and even dropped his best lap time to 1’58.856 after a truly competitive outing on his Ninja ZX-10R machine.
Makoto Tamada also found significantly improved settings today, albeit too late to qualify for Superpole, but he feels that he has real opportunities to make improvements from his 22nd place on the grid.
Parkes and his technicians opted for stiffening the rear of his machine today and that allowed him to keep in contention through the final regular qualifying session, in which he finished 11th, before ending his day 13th in Superpole.
Tamada’s squad concentrated most of their efforts on optimising the clutch and back-torque-limiting system, which should also help his ultimate charge in tomorrow’s 18-lap Superbike races.
Broc Parkes: “We made a big change today and straight away we were right on the pace. We changed the suspension linkage to give less movement and stiffen up the rear, which allowed the bike to follow the line the corners and not run wide. We tweaked a few things from then on and had a few more good ideas. The main thing is that we found a good direction to follow. We changed things a bit again to use a qualifying tyre in Superpole and those changes also seemed to work well. I was a little bit surprised to see the 1’58.8 I did in the first Superpole, but happy to see it all the same. In the second Superpole leg I had a couple of ‘moments’ and that lost me time, so I missed out on Superpole three. I am just happy to be where we are today and I think that tomorrow may be the first time this year we can really have a bit of a fight.”
Makoto Tamada: “We have found a good setting now and because of that I have much more confidence for the races tomorrow. The chatter problem we had been having is now much reduced, and the engine-braking and clutch settings we found today improved things a lot. The bike doesn’t push me wide in the corners now. I think we have a good tyre for race distance, and the race set-up in general seems OK.”
Superbike - Superpole
Update: March 13, 2009, 14:14 PM ET Comment Email Print
1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'57.280
2 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'57.384
3 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1'57.694
4 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'57.850
5 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'57.878
6 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 1'58.755
7 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'59.090
8 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 2'00.021
9 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'58.734
10 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'58.919
11 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'59.044
12 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'59.055
13 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'59.074
14 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'59.134
15 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'59.435
16 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'59.454
17 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'59.713
18 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'59.882
19 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'59.926
20 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2'00.108
21 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2'00.738
22 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'00.839
23 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'01.047
24 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 2'01.165
25 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 2'01.560
26 86 Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'01.561
27 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'01.607
28 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'02.663
Supersport - Qualifying 2nd Session
Update: March 13, 2009, 12.00 PM ET Comment Email Print
1 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 2'01.586
2 50 Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 2'01.629
3 54 Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 2'01.810
4 1 Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2'02.266
5 99 Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 2'02.282
6 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 2'02.450
7 69 Nannelli G. (ITA) Triumph Daytona 675 2'02.497
8 127 Harms R. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR 2'02.592
9 24 McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 2'02.634
10 8 Aitchison M. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2'02.656
11 51 Pirro M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 2'02.664
12 13 West A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2'02.808
13 21 Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2'02.844
14 117 Praia M. (POR) Honda CBR600RR 2'03.098
15 26 Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 2'03.111
16 19 Szkopek P. (POL) Triumph Daytona 675 2'03.163
17 55 Roccoli M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 2'03.178
18 77 Veneman B. (NED) Suzuki GSX-R600 2'03.215
19 105 Vizziello G. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 2'03.507
20 30 Günther J. (GER) Honda CBR600RR 2'03.703
21 9 Dell'Omo D. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 2'03.829
22 7 Vostárek P. (CZE) Honda CBR600RR 2'03.942
23 28 Vos A. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 2'03.951
24 83 Holland R. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 2'04.333
25 96 Smrz M. (CZE) Triumph Daytona 675 2'04.504
26 71 Morillas J. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 2'04.710
27 32 Lai F. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 2'04.988
28 5 Pradita T. (INA) Yamaha YZF R6 2'05.234
29 88 Guerra Y. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R6 2'05.565
30 78 Geronimi S. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R600 2'06.803
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