WSB Kyalami: Smrz fastest in second qualifying

B&G Ducati rider Jacob Smrz maintained his reputation as an exceptional qualifier by overhauling factory Ducati man Michel Fabrizio to claim provisional pole position. The 27 year old Czech rider illustrated just how well the 1198 Ducati works around the bumpy circuit with a lap time well under last years lap record.

Michel Fabrizio and third place man Cal Crutchlow failed to improve on their day one lap time, but both men showed impressive consistency on worn rubber throughout the 45 minute session.
Crutchlow said: “I did the whole session on the same tyre and that was three laps old to start with. I lost a bit of time after we had an electrical problem on my number one bike. I was on the other side of the track so it took some time to get back. I’m looking forward to putting a new tyre on because I think we can go a lot quicker. I’m not sure how the qualifier is going to work here and Pirelli have said that we may be better off on a soft race tyre. We’ll see.”

Jonathan Rea, Leon Haslam and Carlos Checa all improved their lap time to secure fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

One of the big improvers was Aprilia rider Leon Camier who jumped up to tenth. Shane Byrne failed to improve but again showed good race pace during the session. Tom Sykes ended the session in 14th and like Toseland in 18th didn’t go any quicker this morning.

1 96 J. SMRZ CZE Team PATA B&G Racing Ducati 1098R 1’39.027 1’38.292 1’38.292 155,512 36
2 84 M. FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 1’38.477 1’38.765 1’38.477 0.185 0.185 155,220 42
3 35 C. CRUTCHLOW GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda Team Yamaha YZF R1 1’38.529 1’39.031 1’38.529 0.237 0.052 155,138 40
4 65 J. REA GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1’38.687 1’38.665 1’38.665 0.373 0.136 154,924 44
5 91 L. HASLAM GBR Team Suzuki Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’38.951 1’38.856 1’38.856 0.564 0.191 154,625 47
6 7 C. CHECA ESP Althea Racing Ducati 1098R 1’38.954 1’38.878 1’38.878 0.586 0.022 154,591 45
7 11 T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 1’38.896 1’39.147 1’38.896 0.604 0.018 154,562 42
8 3 M. BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’39.094 1’38.904 1’38.904 0.612 0.008 154,550 48
9 50 S. GUINTOLI FRA Team Suzuki Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’39.834 1’39.156 1’39.156 0.864 0.252 154,157 43
10 2 L. CAMIER GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’39.621 1’39.228 1’39.228 0.936 0.072 154,045 48
11 99 L. SCASSA ITA Supersonic Racing Team Ducati 1098R 1’39.288 1’39.249 1’39.249 0.957 0.021 154,013 38
12 67 S. BYRNE GBR Althea Racing Ducati 1098R 1’39.281 1’39.351 1’39.281 0.989 0.032 153,963 44
13 41 N. HAGA JPN Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 1’39.630 1’39.306 1’39.306 1.014 0.025 153,924 39
14 66 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’39.336 1’39.467 1’39.336 1.044 0.030 153,878 41
15 32 S. MORAIS RSA EmTek Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’39.798 1’39.399 1’39.399 1.107 0.063 153,780 40
16 111 R. XAUS ESP BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 1’39.642 1’39.494 1’39.494 1.202 0.095 153,633 39
17 52 J. TOSELAND GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda Team Yamaha YZF R1 1’39.656 1’39.939 1’39.656 1.364 0.162 153,384 39
18 76 M. NEUKIRCHNER GER HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1’40.024 1’39.680 1’39.680 1.388 0.024 153,347 45
19 77 C. VERMEULEN AUS Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’40.646 1’40.006 1’40.006 1.714 0.326 152,847 37
20 23 B. PARKES AUS ECHO CRS Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1’41.216 1’40.555 1’40.555 2.263 0.549 152,012 39
21 95 R. HAYDEN USA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’41.054 1’40.981 1’40.981 2.689 0.426 151,371 42
22 15 M. BAIOCCO ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’42.172 1’41.526 1’41.526 3.234 0.545 150,558 47