Yamaha YZF-R1 sets a blistering pace with pole position in Australia

Yamaha World Superbike Team rider Ben Spies, a World Superbike rookie and three-time AMA champion, has secured the first Superpole of the 2009 season in an incredible display of speed and skill on the new Yamaha YZF-R1 superbike at the Phillip Island circuit with a time of 1.31"069. Team-mate Tom Sykes put in an impressive display in the new format Superpole, a mere 0.8 of a second behind Spies with a time of 1.31"881, he will start the race tomorrow on 12th position on the grid. Equally impressive as the riders performance was that of the all new 2009 YZF-R1, the M1 GP inspired bike has proved to be incredibly quick and stable straight out of the box, the crossplane crank shaft and uneven firing order giving both Spies and Sykes the right tools to get the power down fast and hard through the corners and take the fight to the top of the table. Spies ended the first day of qualifying in 9th position, before moving up to 8th on the second session, improving his time by nearly half a second while he focused on consistent lapping. His final Superpole time was nearly a second and a half faster than his first qualifying session. Sykes also improved from the first session, taking nearly half a second off his first qualifying session. Both riders go into tomorrow's races confident in their speed and consistency. Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team "For the first two qualifying sessions, we were taking it very steady, we only used one set of tires each session, looking to be consistent and doing some more laps. We turned up the heat in Superpole and found some more time and in the final lap we pulled the pin and went for it. It was tricky as the track was pretty windy so maybe we could have got a bit faster. It's the first pole position for the new Yamaha and for me too. Now the focus is totally on having a good race package and good race pace, I think it's going to be great racing tomorrow. The bike is incredible, I'm feeling really confident in its abilities, I can't wait to race tomorrow!" Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team "For me things have been good out here. We've been making steady progress all weekend and we've found the direction we need to be going in. I don't feel we've got where we need to be yet, perhaps where we should be but we're getting there. Overall it's looking pretty good, we seem to be able to do the times, unfortunately in Superpole we got caught out with a tire which wasn't as consistent as it should have been forcing a switch and costing time. So we've had a bit of bad luck, on the plus side I'm confident of getting on the pace and fighting for the podium in the race tomorrow." Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team manager "I think we have done a good job so far and the test last weekend helped us. The bike set up is good, and the tire life is as well. If everything stays the same I think we are in a good position. Ben did a perfect lap in Superpole and has been very consistent through all the sessions, I'm very happy. Tom was also really good, good in practice and qualifying, he's on the third row but he has good pace and with a good start he can fight with the pack and make it in the race. We're all ready for tomorrow and really excited about the potential of our riders to go out and race." Superbike Qualifying - First session 1 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'32.312 2 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'32.569 3 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.623 4 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'32.673 5 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'32.704 6 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 1'32.928 7 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.932 8 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'32.939 9 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'32.971 109 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.991 113 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1'32.995 12 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098 RS 09 1'33.202 13 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'33.206 147 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'33.224 15 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'33.317 16 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'33.377 17 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'33.418 18 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'33.709 19 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'33.911 20 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'34.080 21 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'34.123 22 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'34.487 23 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 1'35.123 24 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'35.716 25 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'35.759 26 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'36.103 27 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'36.514 Superbike qualifying - Second session 1 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.161 2 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1'32.306 3 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'32.312 4 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'32.377 5 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.397 6 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.491 7 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'32.500 8 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098 RS 09 1'32.508 9 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'32.509 10 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'32.525 11 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.602 12 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.623 13 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'32.704 14 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'32.708 15 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.884 16 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 1'32.928 17 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.947 18 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.992 19 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'33.055 20 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'33.104 21 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 1'33.588 22 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'33.709 23 86 Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'34.174 24 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'34.194 25 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'34.341 26 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'34.390 27 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.767 28 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'36.363 Superbike - Superpole 1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'31.069 2 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1'31.402 3 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'31.596 4 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'31.600 5 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'31.837 6 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.112 7 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.537 8 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098 RS 09 1'32.649 9 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 1'31.843 10 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'31.860 11 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'31.867 12 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'31.881 13 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'31.907 14 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'31.916 15 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'32.119 16 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'32.719 17 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.873 18 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.997 19 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'33.152 20 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'33.363 21 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 1'33.588 22 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'33.709 23 86 Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'34.174 24 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'34.194 25 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'34.341 26 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'34.390 27 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.767 28 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'36.363