Haslam takes 2nd in day 1 at Donington – Qualifying | World SBK
- From: 'the Wire' | Published: June 26th, 2009 - 3:41 pm
Superbike World Championship – Stiggy Racing Honda – Round 09, Donington – Friday, June 26th – Superbike QP1
In the first day of qualifying at Donington, the Stiggy Racing Honda pairing of Leon Haslam and John Hopkins opened the Superbike free practice in a great way, by setting the third and seventh fastest time respectively.
Leon Haslam was found in the top regions of the sheets throughout the session and closed the first practice in a third fastest time of 1’31.209s. John Hopkins made his re-appearance with the team after sitting out the last race at Misano and set the seventh fastest time of the free practice session in 1’31.894s.
Haslam and Hopkins both managed to keep their lap times fast and consistent in the afternoon’s first qualifying practice. Haslam squeezed out the day’s second fastest time of 131.191s in the last minutes of the session and finds himself just 0.4s off the pace set by provisional pole sitter Michel Fabrizio, while Hopkins is found in 14th position with a best time of 1’32.007s.
Leon Haslam, 1’31.191s:
“ I am pretty happy with my qualifying results today. It started off wet which was good to get a couple of wet laps in. It wasn’t a full wet session so we didn’t quite get the wet set-up sorted yet, but the dry set-up is good. We were doing well on an old tyre and able to go into the top three. Then we put a new tyre in towards the end and put the bike at second position. I am feeling really confident with what we have achieved so far. We still have a bit more to go and we’ll have to concentrate on doing some race runs tomorrow.”
John Hopkins, 1’32.007s:
“This morning it was all about losing up my hip and getting a good feeling with the bike again. I really enjoy riding the Donington track. The most important thing for me today was getting the feeling with the tyres and the bike again. I took it easy in the wet, but the lap times were still pretty good and pretty consistent. As soon as the track dried out, I stayed out and did over half a race distance. My last lap was my fastest lap, but I got hold up by Rea, otherwise I would have been even faster. But we are in the top 20 today and that’s the most important thing. We know that we can run a consistent pace on used tyres, that is one step forward for us. We’ll just have to see what the weather holds tomorrow.
Johan Stigefelt, Team Manager:
“It was a very good day here. Leon has gone as fast as we expected. He has found his way quickly and is not far off his ideal race setting. We still have a few things to improve and to test, but I am confident we can work on that tomorrow. I am very pleased with John’s results. He has shown he is capable of being up there and is felling much better. The whole team is happy with this, John can finally show what he is capable of and push himself forward. We still have some things we will have to work on tomorrow, but right now it looks quite promising.”
WSS:
West confident after first day of qualifying at Donington
Stiggy Racing Honda Supersport squad started the opening day of the ninth round at Donington with a messy Supersport session.?
Just three minutes into the session the red flag was raised following a crash by series leader Cal Crutchlow. The rain halted the restarted session halfway, and the remaining part of the 60-minute session was finished in wet conditions. Both riders continued to make progress with the set-up of their machines, with Anthony West setting his day in the ninth fastest time of 1’35.015s, followed by Gianluca Vizziello in 17th, with a best time of 1’35.507s.?
West still finds himself 1.6s off the pace run by fastest man Cal Crutchlow, but is confident of further improvement this weekend.?
Anthony West, 1’35.015s:
?The session went fine. We have made a big step forward with the set up, and might have found what the problem has been all year. I am happy with that, even though the position I am in at the moment is still not good. I feel like I can still go a lot faster now with what we just found, instead of feeling I am already at the limit. I hope our solution will work tomorrow, will either see if it does or not, we’ll have to put it into practice. I am confident we can make a step forward.”
Gianluca Vizziello, 1’35.507s:
?It went reasonably well today, but we will have to change some things for tomorrow. I am expecting more progression tomorrow, and hope I can keep my pace consistent. My 17th place is not satisfying and I will push myself further forward tomorrow. Hopefully I will be feeling fit again, as I have not been feeling well at all today.”?
Johan Stigefelt, Team Manager:
“The conditions in the Supersport session were not very good. It started to rain and we stayed in the garage for the last ten minutes of the session. The guys just need to find their confidence with the bikes here at this track. We are not there yet, but it is getting there step by step, even though I think it is a little too slow. But we are working on it and will try to push further in tomorrow’s sessions.”
