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WORLD SUPERBIKES - MONZA QUALIFYING

06/05/2011

Weather conditions: Sunny, with scattered clouds in the afternoon.

Temperature: Air: 24 – 26 °C, Track: 38 – 44 °C

Number of riders participating: 22 from 13 teams

Fastest lap Free Practice: Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) 1:43.712 min

Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1:42.934 min

Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport holds provisional pole position for the fourth round of the 2011 FIM Superbike World Championship at Monza (ITA). Works rider, Leon Haslam (GBR), set the fastest lap time in the first Qualifying Session, after being on top for most of the time. His team-mate, Troy Corser (AUS), qualified for the second row, finishing eighth, while he was second quickest in the morning.

The BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team also had a good start to this weekend, which marks their first home round of the FIM Superbike World Championship. Italian rider Ayrton Badovini provisionally put his BMW S 1000 RR on the first row, occupying fourth after the first Qualifying Session. 

Leon Haslam:

Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:44.303 min (P10)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:42.934 min (P1)

“It was a very good day, and, of course, you are always happy when you are on top. I feel we have made a big step forward from Assen. Obviously we were always looking forward to Monza as Troy had a good result here last year. The biggest thing I am happy with is that I feel overall we have made a step forward with the bike with the way it is working. Now I am looking forward to tomorrow. We have a few areas where we need to progress, but we are a lot more consistent and I am really happy.”

Troy Corser:

Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:43.765 min (P2)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice: 1:43.640 min (P8)

“I am not completely satisfied with today’s result. Although I am provisionally on the second row of the grid, I have the feeling the bike does not a hundred percent do what I want it to. Engine braking is still a little bit of an issue. This morning’s Free Practice session was pretty good, but the track temperature was a lot higher in the afternoon session. This affected the tyre and the way the bike works. We now have to analyse the data. Still, I am optimistic for tomorrow’s second Qualifying Session and Superpole Qualifying.”

Rainer Bäumel (Head of Race Operations):

“Today was even better than expected. We brought some new improvements, especially with regard to the mapping where we made quite a few changes. To be honest, I expected it to take longer to set up the bike for these improvements. Therefore I am very happy it works so well straight away. With Leon we obviously found the right direction. With Troy in the end we may have chosen a wrong set-up direction, so that is the reason he was not at the very front.”