SBK Rider Quotes
Rookie Cal Crutchlow goes from last to first in the Valencia Superpole! The World Superbike rider had some serious challenges on Yamaha R1 SBK in yesterday’s qualifying. Today, he laid down the fastest lap of the third heat and claim his second consecutive Superpole of the 2010 season.
Crutchlow employed an interesting tactic to obtain this goal. He used his race tires to deliver fast enough laps to make it through the first heat. And he saved his Qualifier tires for the second and third sessions to lay down the fastest lap.
Cal’s Yamaha-Sterilgarda was in front of Carlos Checa who will start from the front row for the third round of the World Superbike Championship.
Checa had been a protagonist in every session and this trend continued in the Superpole, where he was the fastest rider in the second phase. In the final phase, the Spaniard made what looked to be the fastest time, but Crutchlow finished just ahead.
Carlos Checa says: "To start in second is great of course. We’ve worked well all weekend and have resolved some small problems while others remain. On this track it is not easy, and what’s important is your rhythm, keeping good pace on used tyres. With our set-up and my riding style we should be able to maintain pace. Tomorrow I think the race will be between Haslam, Crutchlow and a few others and we will be there with them."
Shane Byrne says: "It was a very difficult Superpole", said Shane. "With the first qualifier I went well while with the second I had problems. Tomorrow morning we’ll make more changes to be ready for the race."
Max Biaggi says: "I feel good on the bike and Portimao was a good race for us last time out. I was happier for the team than myself. Back in Valencia we have not such good memories of last year but in the winter test we were pretty good, and now we are quite consistent with out lap times. Front row was the real goal because at this track it is very difficult to overtake. I think we have not such a bad pace and we will try our best. Our target is to put many heavy points on the table."
Leon Haslam says: "Our main objective was to get on the front row, and at Valencia there are such tight times, from front four to tenth place. We messed up a little bit in Superpole two, I used my qualifying tyre but got balked on my lap and had to use a second qualifier, which meant In the last part I was using a two or three lap old qualifier. I am feeling pretty good for tomorrow."Â
Leon Haslam later said: "I’m pretty happy how today went, though there’s still work to do. The biggest problem for us at the moment is the temperature, because that is affecting how the bike works. Generally, I’m happy with the bike on race rubber and I’m also happy with the balance and set-up of the bike. Normally twins go well here, but when the four cylinder bikes have good grip, then they are a match for the twins and that’s what we’ve seen today. We’ll make a few minor tweaks to the bike in the warm-up tomorrow morning and see if we can improve the bike further. I’m feeling pretty confident that we’re going to get some good results tomorrow and hopefully leave here still leading the championship."
Sylvain Guintoli says: "I think I’ve got back into my rhythm this weekend – perhaps even better than Australia – and I’m feeling good. I am a little disappointed with my last qualifying tyre but that’s because I made some small mistakes and even the tiniest of errors can cost you dearly because the lap times are so close together. This track is not an easy one for overtaking so it’s important to get good starts and be with the leaders if you want good results. If the weather stays like today, it’s going to be two long, hard races tomorrow for all of us."
Michel Fabrizio says: "It feels like we’re on the limit and today I found it very hard to make fast lap times. The important thing I guess is that we have a good race pace, this morning I was able to make quite a few laps with consistently fast times. Of course this is not the result I hoped for from Superpole, also because starting from the third row at this particular track will be far from easy. We’re all so close this weekend, separated by just a couple of tenths of a second, so tomorrow I know it’ll be hard but I’ll try my best."
Noriyuki Haga says: "In today’s Superpole the first qualifier didn’t help me too much. The second was much better but while making a fast lap with that tire, I had a problem with my seat which was moving around so it was hard to concentrate and I finished the second Superpole session one tenth of a second too slow. Anyway, we have a good race pace so tomorrow we just have to see how the races go. I’m fairly confident as we have a good race package, having also made a nice long run yesterday. Of course I need to make a strong start but I’m fairly sure I can do that."
Cal Crutchlow says: "It was good last year in Supersport, we had ten poles in total and we’ve now started the tally with two for this season which is great. The team has worked really hard this weekend, as it’s been difficult for us, quite like Australia, the grip level is not so good which is where we struggle. We went to Portugal and we had a lot of grip and the bike was fantastic, we’ve come here and it’s hard work again but we’re getting there."
"We’ll have another late night tonight and then I’ll look forward to the race tomorrow, it’s alright doing one fast lap but 23 is a different story. I think we surprised a few people today; I used the same tires in the first qualification session today as I used yesterday, finishing in 15th but I wasn’t so worried. I knew if we could work through the stages we would be ok for the pole."
James Toseland says: "Lady luck doesn’t seem to be shining on me at the start of this season! To lose out by one thousandth is a frustrating blow, especially as I knew the time was there. I wanted to save my second qualifier for the last Superpole session; for sure we could have done a similar time to Cal. It was definitely possible."
"Congratulations to Cal for another pole position, putting the bike where it should be. I’m disappointed for the team because we’ve worked really well this weekend and improved the bike again. To lose out on the top eight by such a small time and then the confusion when the screens went down is very frustrating. We’ve come a long way with the package so we just need to get a good start tomorrow because we know we have the race pace."
Troy Corser says: "I am really happy we managed to make it up to the front two rows. The new software on the bike really seems to work better for me. The bike feels fast enough on the straight to battle nearly anybody. I am quite confident as we have been improving throughout each session with the race tyres. We now have to see how tomorrow’s temperatures are. The influence of the temperature on the tyre wear seems to be massive. Tomorrow, a good start is important. Here in Valencia you can lose a lot of ground on the leaders in the first lap because of the tight second corner and the slow section that follows. "
Ruben Xaus says: "Racing in this championship is so close. I only missed the second session of the Superpole by one thousand of a second, so I was a bit unlucky: When I was on my flying lap there was a rider crossing my line. As a result I lost a bit of time in this sector. However, I have to say it wasn’t possible to do a lot more today. I am really struggling a lot in the first sector, so we have to find solutions to be quicker there. We now will analyse the data and do our best for tomorrow. Congratulations to Troy for the good result."
Jonathan Rea says: "A bit of bad Superpole timing again as I think my Superpole 2 time would’ve put me on the front row. I was trying really hard in Superpole 3 and got really good drive out of the final corner, but I braked in the usual place and it was a bit late so I had to abort the lap. I’m actually a lot happier now because we were miles away yesterday and now we’re near the front and pretty quick on the race tire. I’m happier with the circuit, too, where I’ve never had good results. It was a confidence thing and I’ve attacked it in methodical steps this weekend so I’m really looking forward to racing tomorrow. I’d like to thank Ronald and the team for helping me as much off the bike as on it, and I’d like to reward them with a couple of really good results tomorrow."
Max Neukirchner says: "This morning was not so bad and we were able to make some good progress forward. This afternoon, even though the grip levels were down in free practice because of the higher track temperature, we were still finding a way forward and I am feeling a lot more comfortable pushing harder on the bike. The first Superpole went OK but then I had a mechanical problem and had to go out on my spare bike. The settings were a little bit different and I couldn’t go any faster. The weekend has been positive so far and we’ll try to make more progress in warm-up and in the races tomorrow."
Weather conditions: Sunny.
Temperature: Air: 20 – 25°C, Track: 21 – 37°C
Number of riders participating: 25 from 15 teams
Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing) 1:34.218 min
Fastest lap Superpole 3: Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda Team) 1:33.615 min
2010 WSB Spain – Valencia 10/04/2010 SBK Superpole
1 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 1’33.615
2 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 1’33.840
3 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 1’33.860
4 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 1’33.961
5 Troy Corser BMW AUS 1’34.059
6 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 1’34.073
7 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 1’34.235
8 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1’34.261
9 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 1’33.988
10 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 1’34.021
11 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 1’34.100
12 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 1’34.246
13 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 1’34.273
14 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1’34.280
15 Luca Scassa Ducati ITA 1’34.730
Valencia SBK Qualifying 2
1 Max Biaggi ITA 1’34.771 1’34.218
2 Carlos Checa ESP 1’34.220 1’34.433
3 Jakub Smrz CZE 1’34.502 1’34.239
4 Shane Byrne GBR 1’34.690 1’34.265
5 Leon Haslam GBR 1’34.780 1’34.286
6 Michel Fabrizio ITA 1’34.886 1’34.356
7 Noriyuki Haga JPN 1’34.935 1’34.427
8 Lorenzo Lanzi ITA 1’35.049 1’34.441
9 Sylvain Guintoli FRA 1’35.189 1’34.442
10 Jonathan Rea GBR 1’35.232 1’34.458
11 Troy Corser AUS 1’35.279 1’34.476
12 Max Neukirchner GER 1’35.555 1’34.836
13 James Toseland GBR 1’35.203 1’34.894
14 Luca Scassa ITA 1’35.467 1’34.933
15 Cal Crutchlow GBR 1’35.052 1’34.938
