Spies makes it five in a row in Monza

To the delight of The Yamaha World Superbike Team's home crowd rider Ben Spies effortlessly rode his R1 to take an incredible fifth consecutive Superpole of the year, again breaking the lap record in the process. Having spent the two qualifying sessions fine tuning his set up for race day, Spies took it relatively easy for the first two Superpole heats, ensuring he made it through to the final eight without using a qualifier tyre. As the final heat started, out came the new Pirelli qualifier tyre with its distinctive yellow stripe, and the lap time tumbled as Spies displayed what is now becoming almost expected, a scorching Superpole lap and a new lap record. Team-mate Tom Spies had a more frustrating Superpole experience, having started well on a qualifier in the first session he made it through safely to the second. The young British rider's flying lap saw him quick enough through the first two splits to go through to the final session, however he came up against another rider on a slow down lap halfway round the infamous Parabolica corner, losing nearly half a second in the process and sealing his fate outside the top ten for the final heat. Sykes will now start tomorrow's races from the third row of the grid. Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1st, 1'44.073) "It's been really good here at Monza this weekend. The approach has been a bit different, we've kind of tried to sneak up on everyone and been working really hard on the race setup through the sessions. We've been working quietly away in the garage and I think the bike is going to be really good in the race. I really wanted to get this one for Yamaha on their home track so it was great to be able to take the Superpole for the team. It looks like it could be a bit of a dogfight tomorrow, hopefully we'll have some guys up there to mix it up and shake up the points a little bit." Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (10th 1'45.383) "Qualifying was a fairly steady session, we tried a couple more things to cross some boxes, so it was constructive. We got some more information out of it which helped towards the Superpole. We did the first Superpole heat ok, the aim of the game was to get into the top sixteen and we did that. I was fairly confident for the second one, I knew I was on a good lap and everything felt really nice and smooth but coming into the last corner, Kiyonari was in front of me. He was going pretty slowly and then sat up and we nearly came together. I lost half a second there and didn't have time to get back and change tyres for another go. I'm very disappointed as I feel that our race pace for tomorrow is quite strong and we are having to start from row three. Hopefully we can get a good clean start and get through the first chicane and try and go with the leading bunch as I know we can stay with them." Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager "After the pole position we are quite confident that tomorrow we can run a good race. Here in Monza the two races will be really close at the start with a lot of riders in a tight pack for the first half but I think after that just a few riders will fight for the win. I think tomorrow we will see two very good races." Circuit Length: 5792 Lap Record: 1'47.434 (Troy Bayliss, 01/01/2002) Fastest Lap Ever: 1'44.073 (Ben Spies, 10/05/2009) Last Years Winner: Noriyuki Haga 2009 WSB Italy - Monza 09/05/2009 Superpole Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Ben Spies     Yamaha     USA     1'44.073 2     Michel Fabrizio     Ducati     ITA     1'44.270 3     Ryuichi Kiyonari     Honda     JPN     1'44.642 4     Max Neukirchner     Suzuki     GER     1'44.900 5     Noriyuki Haga     Ducati     JPN     1'45.096 6     Jonathan Rea     Honda     GBR     1'45.170 7     Max Biaggi     Aprilia     ITA     1'45.605 8     Yukio Kagayama     Suzuki     JPN     1'45.861 9     Carlos Checa     Honda     ESP     1'45.166 10     Tom Sykes     Yamaha     GBR     1'45.383 11     Troy Corser     BMW     AUS     1'45.543 12     Regis Laconi     Ducati     FRA     1'45.663 13     Broc Parkes     Kawasaki     AUS     1'46.638 14     Ruben Xaus     BMW     ESP     1'46.571 15     Shane Byrne     Ducati     GBR     1'46.593 Qualifying 2 Pos.     Rider     Nat.     QUAL I     QUAL II 1     Michel Fabrizio     ITA     1'45.447     1'44.974 2     Max Neukirchner     GER     1'45.962     1'45.224 3     Jonathan Rea     GBR     1'45.919     1'45.373 4     Noriyuki Haga     JPN     1'45.790     1'45.448 5     Max Biaggi     ITA     1'46.054     1'45.748 6     Ben Spies     USA     1'46.013     1'45.755 7     Tom Sykes     GBR     1'45.758     1'45.941 8     Leon Haslam     GBR     1'46.208     1'45.919 9     Yukio Kagayama     JPN     1'45.985     1'46.069 10     Ryuichi Kiyonari     JPN     1'46.171     1'45.988 11     Regis Laconi     FRA     1'47.078     1'46.103 12     Carlos Checa     ESP     1'46.140     1'46.337 13     Shane Byrne     GBR     1'46.164     1'46.690 14     Jakub Smrz     CZE     1'46.363     1'46.264 15     Karl Muggeridge     AUS     1'46.690     1'46.319 25     David Checa     ESP     1'48.920     1'47.868 QUALIFYING 1 REPORT     09/05/2009 Crutchlow and Foret claim the front row Cal Crutchlow made it an incredible fourth consecutive pole position start in a row today. The Yamaha World Supersport rider and the R6 continue to be a devastating combination on any circuit. Crutchlow was on the pace from the word go and never ventured far from the top spot for the duration of the session. In taking pole position he also broke the lap record of 1'49.868 set here last year by Broc Parkes on the Yamaha R6. Team-mate Fabien Foret was also on top form, having won here at Monza last year, the French rider set out today to show he means business and wants the podium again on race day. A fast, consistent qualifying session ensured Foret starts on the front row with his team-mate tomorrow, in 3rd position. Foret also came in under last year's lap record set by his previous team-mate Parkes. Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team, (1st, 1'49.706) "It was a good enough session, I wasn't really happy with the time at the end because I could have gone a lot quicker. We had a few problems with the bike throughout the session. We did our fastest time on the 14th lap of the tyre and then went slower on a brand new tyre so it was a bit weird how that worked. Race pace is good though, I'm looking forward to the race, I think we can hopefully win it tomorrow and gain a bigger lead in the championship." Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (3rd, 1'49.803) "We have a few things we're trying to improve a little bit but I'm actually pretty happy with the package now and tyre wise it's also not too bad so it's looking good. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I've started in fifth a few times now with hardly any time between me and the front row so this time I wanted to make sure I could finish in the front. For me though what is important is to finish on the podium tomorrow." Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager "it was a good qualifying heat. Fabien had a good session, he was happy and fast which was great. Cal is pole again which is fantastic, he still had some difficulties to solve but nothing major. They are both capable of doing a good race tomorrow and it's brilliant to have them both on the front row, the first time this year." Circuit Length: 5792 Lap Record: 1'52.635 (Chris Vermeulen, 01/01/2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1'49.706 (Cal Crutchlow, 10/05/2009) Last Years Winner: Fabien Foret 2009 WSS Italy - Monza 09/05/2009 Qualifying 1 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Cal Crutchlow     Yamaha     GBR     1'49.706 2     Joan Lascorz     Kawasaki     ESP     1'49.739 3     Fabien Foret     Yamaha     FRA     1'49.803 4     Eugene Laverty     Honda     GBR     1'50.006 5     Mark Aitchison     Honda     AUS     1'50.407 6     Kenan Sofuoglu     Honda     TUR     1'50.636 7     Andrew Pitt     Honda     AUS     1'50.733 8     Gianluca Nannelli     Triumph     ITA     1'50.798 9     Garry McCoy     Triumph     AUS     1'50.828 10     Katsuaki Fujiwara     Kawasaki     JPN     1'50.861 11     Matthieu Lagrive     Honda     FRA     1'50.907 12     Michele Pirro     Yamaha     ITA     1'51.281 13     Franco Battaini     Yamaha     ITA     1'51.429 14     Massimo Roccoli     Honda     ITA     1'51.517 15     Miguel Praia     Honda     POR     1'51.682 23     Doni Tata Pradita     Yamaha     IDN     1'53.025 27     Yannick Guerra     Yamaha     ESP     1'53.351 28     Jose Morillas     Yamaha     ESP     1'56.328