Smrz takes Superpole at Misano - breaking
Spies' consecutive streak
Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) brought Ben Spies' seven-race Superpole record to an end with a new circuit best lap in the decisive qualifying session at Misano. The 26 year-old from the Czech Republic was in terrific form, powering his customer Guandalini Ducati 1098 around the Misano circuit in a time of 1 minute 35.435 seconds. Second place in an exciting session, which was held under the constant threat of rain, went to Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who has been fast all weekend. Spies was also on the pace on his team Yamaha World Superbike machine, but the Texan this time had to settle for the third slot, just ahead of one of his championship rivals, Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) in fourth.
The Misano Superpole was also the first time Pirelli did not use their one-lap qualifying tyre, which has now been abandoned in favour of a new soft compound that can last up to five or more laps. The results were extraordinary because all four riders on the front row of the grid went quicker than last year's mark set by Troy Corser in 1:35.993.
The second row of the grid sees Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) holding down fifth place, with points leader Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) and the Ten Kate Honda duo of Carlos Checa and Ryuichi Kiyonari seventh and eighth. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) was heading for a front row slot but failed to make the final run due to a technical problem and the Italian had to settle for ninth, ahead of Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda) and Fonsi Nieto, the leading Suzuki Alstare runner. The first BMW, that of Troy Corser, qualified on row 4, while after their encouraging form shown on Friday, the two Kawasakis of Broc Parkes and Jamie Hacking slipped down to the fifth row.
Jakub Smrz - Guandalini Ducati
I am really pleased with my first-ever Superpole, it's a great feeling to be there. But not just my Superpole time was good, I also have a good race pace as well, and I hope to be able to fight against the other guys up at the front and get a podium in the races. Last year I went well at Misano, but I hope for a better result this time around.
Jonathan Rea - Hanspree Ten Kate Honda
I can't thank the crew enough for working so hard this week. We got some new hardware to try at Magny-Cours and it's been a bit of a rush to get everything together. In the last couple of sessions we managed to find some times and that's given us a good starting position, which is what we needed and were aiming for. I want to thank the Ten Kate team for the belief they've had in me over the last few races - we're really moving forward now and it's a real buzz. We're not anywhere near the limit with the new suspension yet and there's still a lot more we can do. So I'm really looking forward to tomorrow and just hope it's dry to give all the fans some really good races.
Ben Spies - Sterilgrada Yamaha
A front row start is good anyway and congratulations to Jakub. We missed out today because we just didn't have it when it counted. I'm happy with the bike and the race set-up is good, but to be honest we're a little bit quicker than the guys we're racing against for the championship and that's a good thing. However I'm sure they'll all be up there in the race tomorrow.
Michel Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox
It's a shame that I made an error in the first split, losing a few tenths, because otherwise it would have been a much better time, putting me in second or third I think. Anyway I must say well done to Smrz who put together an extremely fast lap and I am very happy to have made it on to the front row. We can't predict what the weather will be like tomorrow but we've tried both the race tyres that we have available and I'm happy with both of them so we're feeling confident that we'll be competitive regardless of the conditions. I have a feeling that tomorrow I'll be fighting against Ben because today I've seen that we have more or less the same pace.
Misano SBK - Superpole
1. Smrz Duc 1098R 1:35.435
2. Rea Hon CBR1000RR 1:35.609
3. Spies Yam YZF-R1 1:35.631
4. Fabrizio Duc 1098 F09 1:35.811
5. Byrne Duc 1098R 1:36.224
6. Haga Duc 1098 F09 1:36.277
7. Checa Hon CBR1000RR 1:36.537
8. Kiyonari Hon CBR1000RR 1:36.884
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