eni FIM Superbike World Championship
Magny-Cours, France
October 4, 2014
Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires):
From Superpole Session One (top two advance to Superpole Session Two):
1. Loris BAZ, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:37.371
2. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Germany (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:38.085
3. Sylvain BARRIER, France (BMW S1000RR), EVO, 1:38.415
4. Toni ELIAS, Spain (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:38.621
5. Lorenzo LANZI, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:38.883
6. Niccolo CANEPA, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), EVO, 1:39.367
7. David SALOM, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:39.452
8. Claudio CORTI, Italy (MV Agusta F4 RR), 1:39.518
9. Sheridan MORAIS, South Africa (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:39.701
10. Fabien FORET, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:39.850
From Superpole Session Two:
1. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:36.366
2. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:36.593
3. Jonathan REA , UK (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:36.906
4. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:37.021
5. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:37.184
6. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:37.190
7. Loris BAZ, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:37.215
8. Alex LOWES, UK (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:37.270
9. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:37.407
10. Leon HASLAM, UK (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:37.575
11. Xavi FORES, Spain (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:37.673
12. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Germany (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:37.877
Final Combined Qualifying Results:
1. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:36.366
2. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:36.593
3. Jonathan REA , UK (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:36.906
4. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:37.021
5. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:37.184
6. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:37.190
7. Loris BAZ, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:37.215
8. Alex LOWES, UK (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:37.270
9. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:37.407
10. Leon HASLAM, UK (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:37.575
11. Xavi FORES, Spain (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:37.673
12. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Germany (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:37.877
13. Sylvain BARRIER, France (BMW S1000RR), EVO, 1:38.415
14. Toni ELIAS, Spain (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:38.621
15. Lorenzo LANZI, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:38.883
16. Niccolo CANEPA, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), EVO, 1:39.367
17. David SALOM, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:39.452
18. Claudio CORTI, Italy (MV Agusta F4 RR), 1:39.518
19. Sheridan MORAIS, South Africa (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:39.701
20. Fabien FORET, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:39.850
21. Jeremy GUARNONI, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:40.427
22. Alessandro ANDREOZZI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:40.926
23. Bryan STARING, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), EVO, 1:41.181
24. Geoff MAY, USA (EBR 1190 RX), 1:42.051
25. Aaron YATES, USA (EBR 1190 RX), 1:42.406
26. Imre TOTH, Hungary (BMW S1000RR), 1:42.470
27. Gabor RIZMAYER, Hungary (BMW S1000RR), EVO, 1:43.023
28. N. SALCHAUD, France (MV Agusta F4 RR), 1:44.559
More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:
Twenty-fourth career Tissot-Superpole for Tom Sykes
Magny-Cours (France), Saturday 4 October 2014 – The penultimate Tissot-Superpole of the season has gone to Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), courtesy of a circuit best lap of 1.36.366 after a fast and furious session saw the top spot change repeatedly in the final minutes. The Briton added one more Pole Position, his 5th this year, to the impressive tally of 24 so far in his WSBK career and he is now looking to make the most of the two races,scheduled for tomorrow at Magny-Cours.
Alongside Sykes on the front row tomorrow will be Davide Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team) and Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) who kept his title hopes alive by making it onto the front row for the first time since the Portuguese Round.
The top three riders were awarded with their trophies by former WSBK regular rider, 2003 runner-up and two time race winner Ruben Xaus.
Row two comprises the second Ducati Superbike Team entry of Chaz Davies, and the Aprilia Racing duo of Sylvain Guintoli and Marco Melandri. Given the points situation, Guintoli will need two good starts in order not to lose too much ground from championship Sykes in the early stages of the two races.
The best classified EVO rider was Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia) who will start both 21 lap races from 13th on the grid. The Frenchman narrowly missing out on moving into Superpole 2.
EVO championship leader David Salom (Kawasaki Racing Team) rode through the pain barrier after an FP4 tumble to salvage 7th in Superpole 1 meaning a 17th position grid slot for both races tomorrow.
Fabien Foret (Team Pedercini) will begin his final WSBK races from 20thon the grid.
In Superpole 1 it was Frenchman Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team), 7th,who set the fastest time during the session, moving into the final 15 minute shoot-out along with Max Neukirchner (3C Racing Team) who also progressed joining the already seeded top ten riders after FP1, FP2 and FP3.
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Sykes Scores Superpole Five Of The Season
Superpole qualifying at Magny Cours delivered Tom Sykes (KRT) his fifth Superpole of the year and the 24th of his career. He will now lead the field off the line in Sunday’s two 21-lap races. Loris Baz (KRT) was seventh and KRT SBK Evo rider David Salom 17th after Superpole One.
Sykes overcame a slow speed fall in the final free qualifying session to go out in the second Superpole session and take a convincing pre-race win, and at new track best pace on his Ninja ZX-10R. The English rider set a 1’36.366 to beat his own previous record set in 2012. He secured his fifth pole of the year in confident fashion, with the next best rider 0.227 seconds back.
Already the third best rider in pre-race qualifying over the history of the SBK championship Sykes took a 24th career Superpole win today, which means he is now only two away from equalling the tally of SBK legend Troy Bayliss. Tom has also taken pole at four of the last five races this year.
Tom now has a clear track ahead of him for Sunday’s races, which may be important if there is changeable weather conditions after the first two days proved dry and relatively warm.
Baz had to compete in Superpole one after finishing outside the top ten in regulation qualifying. He posted the fastest time in Superpole One and therefore moved straight into Superpole Two, to join Sykes. Loris found some pace in that final session to go seventh overall and earn a starting position at the front of the third row.
David Salom hurt his recently injured right hand and wrist after a violent weave exiting the final chicane in free practice this afternoon. Despite the pain he batted hard to get out of Superpole One and he ended up seventh. He will therefore start the races on Sunday from 17th place on the grid, on the sixth row.
Tom Sykes: “I always ride a little bit reserved with a race tyre in Superpole, especially with the one bike rule in place. My target today was very clear, however. It is always to get onto the front row at every race, but today I wanted to go for full glory. As soon as I put the qualifying tyre in the Ninja ZX-10R was working brilliantly. All of a sudden we were able to put the bike where we wanted on the track a bit more easily and the new best lap time came relatively nicely. I was pushing, of course, and the bike was moving, but at the same time it was working well. Because of that I am very happy.”
Loris Baz: “We improved a lot from the early part of practice and for Superpole Two we could have had a good performance. It could have maybe been P3 or P4, but I seemed to be losing everything in one corner. We have to see if we can make something with the electronics because we are just missing power in that one point. It is not too bad and for the race it should be OK if we can find something for this corner. With this improvement we could fight for the podium at my home race.”
David Salom: “I tried to advance from Superpole One using some painkillers but it was too much for my hand and it was not possible push more than one or two laps. Tomorrow may be very difficult but I will have more checks later and we will see how things are in the morning.”
More, from a press release issued by Team Hero EBR:
Team HERO EBR Ready To Race In France
Despite the slightly cooler conditions, both Team Hero EBR riders were able to improve further their times from yesterday ensuring their place on tomorrow’s grid for the penultimate round of the World Superbike Championship in France.
Geoff May and Aaron Yates will start both 21 lap races at the Magny-Cours circuit from 24th and 25th places respectively after finding over a second compared to yesterday.
With both riders happy with the progress made during the official practice sessions, the whole team is looking forward to what should be two exciting races around the 4.411km circuit near Nevers in France tomorrow.
Geoff May – “I’m pleased with the sessions today. There are three more riders competing this weekend so position wise we are a little further on paper from Superpole but for sure the bike is improving. Magny-Cours is a technically tough circuit but we are improving session by session which is all we can ask for at the point.”
Aaron Yates – “We made a big step forward from yesterday but I am still not 100% happy. We need to keep working to make the bike easier to turn. The bike is better than yesterday but we still have some things to work on before the races tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda:
French front row for Rea
Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea will start tomorrow’s two eleventh-round World Superbike championship races from the front row of the grid after setting the third fastest time in this afternoon’s Superpole at Magny-Cours in France.
On the second lap with his Pirelli qualifying tyre, the 27-year-old Northern Irishman fired his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP around the 4.411km Magny-Cours circuit in a time of 1m36.906s, just 0.3s off the pole position time of Tom Sykes.
Rea will line up on the inside of the front row, next to Italian Davide Giugliano, who was second fastest today, as the World Superbike field embarks on two 21-lap races at the French circuit.
Leon Haslam, Rea’s Pata Honda team-mate, was unable to extract the best performance from his qualifying tyre and will start from the fourth row for tomorrow’s races, which go at 10.30 and 13.10 CET.
Jonathan Rea – P3, 1m36.906s
I’m really satisfied with our work because the team has given me a great package here that I can ride really hard. I feel that in the race we’re more prepared because the CBR is quite easy to ride and changing direction here is really good. We’ve been working on acceleration and maximising the power where we need it and also taking some away where it’s maybe too much. In Superpole I made a small mistake on my first lap with the qualifier and ran into the first turn too quickly which ruined the lap. I tried to give it a good go on the second lap and was able to finish on the front row. It gives me an opportunity for a good start and my starts have been really good this year. It’s very important to be on the front row because the hairpin is a big bottleneck for the riders on the first lap. Hop efully I can be at the front of that and set myself up for a good rhythm in the races.
Leon Haslam – P10, 1m37.575s
It’s not been an ideal afternoon, although we went a little bit quicker on the qualifying tyre. But I came across a few issues when we added a bit of grip to the bike. I’m feeling quite confident for the race though, because I feel we’ve got a good direction. It’s looking like it might rain, too, which could put another spanner in the works! I’m feeling good for tomorrow and we’ll see what it brings.
Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator
We’ve been changing a few settings with Leon and not quite getting it right and, as a result, he hasn’t really been able to get a feeling or a rhythm with the set-up of the bike, how it is and what it can do. I think in the end this has caught him out a little bit and left him in tenth place. It’s all close, though, and a few tenths here and there could put you seventh or sixth. We’ll see what we can do in warm-up and give him the best bike possible for the races. Jonathan had a good day with third and a front row start. That’s perfect for us and his race setting is really good. It might even be wet in race one but we’ll see what happens. Either way, we’re ready to race.
More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:
GUINTOLI AND MELANDRI WILL START FROM THE SECOND ROW IN THE RACES TOMORROW
Magny-Cours (France), 4 October 2014 – Marco Melandri and Sylvain Guintoli went into the session that decides the starting grid order with high expectations, encouraged by their excellent performance in all the free practice sessions where the two Aprilia Racing standard bearers were consistently in the top part of the standings.
In Superpole neither of them were able to fully capitalise on their qualifying tyres but the placement (fifth for Guintoli and sixth for Melandri) will have them starting tomorrow from the second row. This is a situation that leaves them among the protagonists for the races on French soil, especially considering the excellent race pace they have demonstrated throughout the weekend.
Sylvain Guintoli: “I couldn’t find the right feeling with the qualifying tyre which is odd because usually that is a situation where I feel quite comfortable. Today the bike was performing better in race conditions. But it isn’t a problem. The important thing will be staying out front right from the first few metres of the race”.
Marco Melandri: “I was expecting a bit more from Superpole but we are in good shape for the race. We’ll have to get off to a good start and not let anybody run away at the front. And let’s hope the weather doesn’t mess up our plans”.
More, from a press release issued by Voltcom Crescent Suzuki:
Lowes and Voltcom Crescent Suzuki make big steps in France
Voltcom Crescent Suzuki’s Alex Lowes leads the team’s charge for tomorrow’s two eni FIM Superbike World Championship races after seizing eighth position in Saturday’s Superpole shootout at Magny-Cours.
Consistently improving across the weekend, a determined Lowes consolidated his third row grid position with a 1’37.270 – less than four tenths from the front row – and is confident he can deliver in tomorrow’s two races at the Circuit de Nevers.
Eugene Laverty completes the third row, setting a 1’37.407 to claim ninth place beside his teammate. Struggling to fully realise the promise shown throughout the weekend’s free practices, the Irish rider is assured of his Suzuki GSX-R’s potential come race day and is looking forward to Sunday’s battles.
A misty start delayed the morning’s proceedings at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, with the opening session seeing a 24°C cooler track than the afternoon’s Superpole. Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes recorded the circuit’s best lap to claim the pole position with a time of 1’36.366, BMW’s Sylvain Barrier qualifying top of the EVO Class.
With considerably cooler conditions forecast for tomorrow, Sunday’s race action gets underway at 10:30hrs local time (09:30BST) with the second outing scheduled for 13:10hrs (12:10BST).
Alex Lowes:
“Obviously my goal was to get on the first two rows of the grid, that didn’t quite happen but it was really close! If I had just gone one tenth faster we would have been in the top five, so we’re not too far away, now we are just trying to find that last little bit. I feel like my confidence is improving all the time, I’m enjoying riding my bike again and if I can have two solid races tomorrow I should be quite happy. We normally race a lot better than we qualify and I don’t want to be too greedy, a couple of top sixes would be nice! Thanks to everyone for working hard on the bike, we’ve made some good improvements, a difficult free practice fourth session but we’ve come back well in qualifying.”
Eugene Laverty:
“Superpole was really disappointing, to be on the third row. We’ve had better pace all through practice, on used tyres as always we are fast and then struggled for the outright lap in Superpole. It makes it difficult for us tomorrow but on race tyres as usual we are fast so we have got to try for a good start, but it’s going to be difficult from the third row.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“We’ve had a solid day today in general at Magny-Cours, with Eugene in particular very, very fast on used tyres in the final free practice session before qualifying but unfortunately for him Superpole was simply a disappointment. He couldn’t find the step in the soft tyre that he wanted, however, we still have to look at the positives in the race pace on used tyres and irrespective of the weather tomorrow I’m sure Eugene will be somewhere very close to the front. Qualifying was a very good step forward for Alex, and even though eighth position wasn’t the target, he is within less than a tenth of fifth position and both factory Aprilia’s so put in that context it really is a very good result. Alex has been working hard all weekend with virtually no experience of the track and has done a great job so far. The lap times are very close round here and I think there will be two very exciting races tomorrow irrespective of the weather.”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:
Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team) qualifies second for tomorrow’s races at Magny-Cours
Nevers (France), Saturday 4 October 2014 – a great result for the Ducati Superbike Team and its riders Davide Giugliano and Chaz Davies in this afternoon’s Superpole at Magny-Cours; Giugliano qualifies second for tomorrow’s races, Davies just behind him in fourth.
The third and final timed practice session took place early this morning on a cool but dry track (18°C, air temperature 13°C). Davide Giugliano, in first place after yesterday’s opening sessions, continued the positive trend this morning. Working hard to refine the set-up of his 1199 Panigale together with his technicians, he was able to find a further tenth of a second, thus qualifying for the Superpole in overall second position (1’37.776). Chaz Davies was also able to improve on his best time set yesterday, lowering his time by three tenths (1’38.404) to qualify directly for Superpole 2 in tenth position.
Superpole 2 – making a first exit on race rubber, Giugliano put in an extremely fast time of 1’37.011, the quickest lap of the weekend so far. Back on track with the qualifying tyre, the Italian rider pushed hard to lower his time by a further half a second, recording a fastest lap of 1’36.592. Only Sykes was able to do more, going two tenths quicker through the final section of the track, meaning that Giugliano thus qualifies second for tomorrow’s two 21-lap races. It is the seventh time this season that Davide will line up on the front row of the grid. Davies, having completed one lap with the race tyre, also returned to the track with the qualifier, with which he was able to record two fast laps. Chaz’s best time, a 1’37.021, placed him fourth at the session’s end, meaning a second row start for him in tomorrow’s races.
Quotes after the day’s sessions:
Davide Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team #34) – 2nd (1’36.593)
“Today’s gone very well. This morning we continued our work and everything went smoothly. Then, as far as this afternoon’s Superpole is concerned, I can say that it’s always nice to be on the front row, although today pole position was very much within our reach. I’m pleased with the time I recorded with the qualifier, but particularly happy with the lap I made with the race tyre, in 37.0. it bodes well for the races and I hope that tomorrow I’m able to make the most of all that I have available to me this weekend.”
Chaz Davies (Ducati Superbike Team #7) – 4th (1’37.021)
“We saw an improvement in Superpole and I was able to put together a fairly good lap, though it could have been better. A second row start is fairly positive but Superpole is only one lap in the end and overall I think we are missing a couple of tenths from where we need to be in terms of race pace. We took another step in the right direction this morning but there’s still more we could do. I think I’d prefer dry races tomorrow but, as ever, we’ll be doing our best whatever the track conditions.”