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Nurburbring Qualifying 2, September 03 2011, Sunny conditions today at the Nurburgring for the second day of Superbike and Superstock 1000 qualifying.
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September 03 2011 - Nurburbring Qualifying 2
Sunny conditions today at the Nurburgring for the second day of Superbike and Superstock 1000 qualifying. In the morning’s second qualifying session, Mark Aitchison (1’56”273) was able to improve on his best lap time of yesterday to reach fourteenth position and gain entry to the Superpole. Aitchison was satisfied because he was able to improve his confidence and pace to take another step forward into the top ten. Roberto Rolfo (1’56”996) was unable to challenge for optimum grid positions in qualifying at the Nurburgring today. The Italian rider reached the nineteenth position in the second qualifying session. Rolfo improved on his best lap time but not enough to enter the Superpole. In afternoon free practice both riders worked hard with their technicians in order to find the best possible setting for their Kawasaki bikes. Aitchison (1’56”858) obtained the twelfth position while Rolfo (1’58”340) consolidated nineteenth place. In the Superpole an excellent performance for Aitchison today. In the first phase Mark closed in tenth (1’55”541), gaining safe passage to the second phase. In phase two Aitchison reached eleventh place, unfortunately missing out on the third and final phase. Tomorrow he’ll start from the third row of the grid, Rolfo from the fifth.
Superbike – qualifying 2: 1) Checa (Ducati) - 2) Laverty (Yamaha) – 3) Haga (Aprilia) – 4) Biaggi (Aprilia) – 5) Sykes (Kawasaki)…..14) Aitchison (Kawasaki)……..19) Rolfo (Kawasaki)
Superbike – free practice 2: 1) Checa (Ducati) – 2) Laverty (Yamaha) - 3) Biaggi (Aprilia) - 4) Haslam (BMW) – 5) Fabrizio (Suzuki)……12) Aitchison (Kawasaki)... 19) Rolfo (Kawasaki)
Superbike – Superpole : 1) Checa (Ducati) – 2) Laverty (Yamaha) – 3) Biaggi (Aprilia) – 4) Melandri (Yamaha) – 5) Haga (Aprilia) ….. 11) Aitchison (Kawasaki)
Roberto Rolfo: “I’m really disappointed with today’s qualifying practice. We still have some set up problems to solve that are evident on this track. I was able to improve my performance but I wasn’t able to push hard enough to improve my lap time in order to enter the Superpole. This afternoon we worked a lot on suspension to find a solution for our setting problems ahead of tomorrow’s races. We will try to find a better race setting tomorrow in warm-up, to give me better feedback. Anyway I will be trying my absolute best for the races although I expect it to be very tough tomorrow.”
Mark Aitchison: “I'm pretty happy how things went in the free practice session and in Superpole phases 1 and 2. We had a good practice session meaning I believe that we can confirm which tyres we will use tomorrow in the race, depending on the weather of course. Superpole phase one was good enough because I immediately managed to get through to the second stage. In phase two I wanted to push very hard and I managed to do a very good first lap. Unfortunately I made a mistake in the middle section of the track and had to slow down as it was a bit of a scary moment. I tried to do a second good lap but the tyres were no longer in top condition. Anyway I'm happy enough, we're starting eleventh and I'm looking forward to the two long races in Nurburgring because I think we can be competitive. I want to improve our bike in some points of the track so we will analyse where we can improve tonight and go from there".
sssddddddd A dry track and sunny conditions today at the Nurburgring for the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup free practice and qualifying sessions. During morning free practice, Bryan Staring (2’01”516) consistently improved on his best lap time of yesterday, reaching ninth position. Marco Bussolotti (2’01”579) backed up yesterday’s good performance while Tati Mercado (2’02”092) continued to work on various settings to find the best one for his Kawasaki on the German circuit, obtaining the sixteenth position. In the afternoon’s qualifying session both Bussolotti and Staring suffered from some front chattering and a lot of sliding on the rear tyre. Staring (2’01’123) obtained the twelfth position while Bussolotti (2’01”335) followed him in thirteenth place. Tomorrow Staring will start from the third row and Bussolotti from the fourth. An unlucky session for Mercado. Tati crashed near the end of the qualifying, ending the session in the gravel and obtaining the fifteenth position. The Argentinian rider will start from the fourth row of the grid in tomorrow 11-lap race.
Superstock 1000 – free practice: 1) Giugliano (Ducati) – 2) Petrucci (Ducati) – 3) Barrier (BMW) – 4) Canepa (BMW) ……. 9) Staring (Kawasaki) – 10) Bussolotti (Kawasaki) …… 16) Mercado (Kawasaki)
Superstock 1000 – qualifying 2 : 1) Giugliano (Ducati) – 2) Barrier (BMW) – 3) Petrucci (Ducati) – 4) Zanetti (BM) …... 12) Staring (Kawasaki) – 13) Bussolotti (Kawasaki) ….... 15) Mercado (Kawasaki)
Marco Bussolotti: “This afternoon it was really very difficult to ride my bike. My race pace was not so bad but as soon as I tried to force my rhythm the rear tyres start to slide a ,lot and for this reason I was not able to reach a better position on tomorrow starting grid. Tomorrow I will try to ride aggressively from the fourth row and go for the best result possible”.
Brian Staring: “I basically didn’t get the advantage that I needed from the tyre. I did my best and the lap time was a little better but I’m disappointed considering that I was able to lap only about three of four tenths slower on a well worn tyre. I don’t understand why but I felt that the new tyre didn’t help me at all really. Anyway I made the best lap that I could and I’m thankfully that I’m at least on the third row. I hoped for the second row but I still think we can do ok in the race. I would say that, so far, this weekend has been better than the previous ones so that’s something. I’ll try my best in tomorrow’s race and see where I finish up.”
Leandro “Tati” Mercado: “Compare with this morning free practice the afternoon qualifying was going much better. I was riding hard and improving my time lap after lap. I was searching for the limit when I crashed losing the front wheel. I am disappointed but I will have chance to make up for it tomorrow.”
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