2012 Nurburgring World Superbike Superpole Results
For the first time in 2012 World Superbike, Max Biaggi topped Superpole, the Aprilia Racing Team rider piloting his RSV4 to the pole position for Sunday’s doubleheader at Nurburgring, Germany.
En route to the pole position, which was the fifth in Biaggi’s World SBK career, the Italian also set a new track record at Nurburgring, the “Roman Emperor” posting a best lap of 1:53.855.
Joining Biaggi on the front row will be the man who had seven poles this season, Kawasaki Racing Tom Sykes, BMW Motorrad’s Marco Melandri and the other Aprilia Racing Team rider, Eugene Laverty, respectively.
Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team RSV4 Superbike) says: “Pole position is the result of a weekend where we have worked well, focusing a lot on the set-up and taking maximum advantage of the practice sessions.
“I managed to avoid any mistakes on the fast lap and I’m also satisfied with our race pace. This doesn’t mean that the races tomorrow will be easy – on the contrary – there are a lot of riders within a few tenths of a second, so I expect a truly heated Sunday where we will definitely be able to have our say.”
Sykes trailed Biaggi by a mere 0.049 of a second.
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-10R Superbike) says: “It was interesting in Superpole because towards the end I thought I may as well give it one last go, even on a used qualifying tire. I was disappointed with my first lap when the tires were fresh and the last lap shows what maybe I could have done. I had one last go on lap four but the tire ran out – which is normal because four laps on a qualifying tire is not possible.
“We are in third place in the championship and the Kawasaki ZX-10R is working great and I am able to do a little bit more of what I want with the package, so we have proved that we can run at the front. Overall the season has gone well, but we are here now for another race and always improving. I am looking forward to the racing on Sunday. Not starting on pole position is very good because so far nobody has been able to convert it to a win yet. Starting in second place in Monza and Moscow was good and we can see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully the Kawasaki will be strong yet again.”
As for Melandri, who has an 18.5-point lead over Biaggi in the 2012 World SBK Championship after 11 of 14 rounds, he finished 0.057 of a second behind Biaggi.
Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad S1000RR Superbike) says: “I am very happy to be on the front row here at Nürburgring, which is my second home race. I was always struggling in the qualifying but today I had a good feeling with the qualifying tire.
“My BMW was working very well. The two races tomorrow will be very long. It will not be easy for the tire and the riders so we will see. But it is a good point to start from the front row. It was nice to bring the BMW to the first row at the home round today but my goal is to be successful tomorrow.”
With a fourth-place start, Laverty has a great shot at posting some good results at Nurburgring.
Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team RSV4 Superbike) says: “We made excellent progress yesterday and today. I knew I had a shot at the front row with the pace we had been building session after session. The top three riders in the championship standings are ahead of me, so that makes the result even more impressive. Tomorrow I expect to be competitive. Starting from the front row is always a good calling card”.
Heading up the second row will be Honda World Superbike’s Jonathan Rea, followed by the final rider to post within a second of Biaggi, the reigning WSBK Champion, Althea Racing Ducati’s Carlos Checa. Taking the final two positions on the second row will be FIXI Crescent Suzuki’s Leon Camier and Kawasaki Racing Team’s Loris Baz.
The riders will be back on the Nurburgring circuit Sunday for the doubleheader. SPEED TV will broadcast race 1 at 2 p.m. EDT, and race 2 at 3 p.m. EDT.
2012 Nurburgring World Superbike Qualifying Results:
1. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’53.855
2. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’53.904
3. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’53.912
4. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’54.148
5. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’54.300
6. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1198R 1’54.322
7. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’55.165
8. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’55.734
9. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1198R 1’54.540
10. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’54.800
11. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1198R 1’55.671
12. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’55.082
13. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’56.290
14. John Hopkins (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’56.530
15. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1198R
16. David Salom (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R
17. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’56.246
18. Sylvain Guintoli (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1198R 1’56.465
19. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’57.101
20. Lorenzo Lanzi (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1198R 1’57.504
21. Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1198R 1’57.729
22. Brett McCormick (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1198R 1’58.177
23. Alexander Lundh (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’58.567
24. Norino Brignola (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 1’59.385
