Monza WSB: Haslam storms to the front in Monza qualifying

Leon Haslam stormed to the top of the timesheets onboard his BMW Motorrad S1000RR in qualifying at Monza today. The 27 year old Brit held first position for the majority of the session until Max Biaggi stole the top spot with four minutes to go. But with his final lap of the session, Haslam responded to Biaggi’s time to take provisional pole position by just 0.019s.

Max Biaggi’s impressive second fastest time was helped by the fact that he set the fastest ever top speed in WSB history during his best lap. The 39 year old Italian blasted down the long front straight at 332.5KPH or 206.6mph.

Third place went to Eugene Laverty onboard the factory Yamaha who impressed once again with his raw speed since switching to WSB.

BMW Motorrad Italia rider Ayrton Badovini was the surprise of the day qualifying his privateer bike in fourth place ahead of established stars Jonathan Rea, Noriyuki Haga and Marco Melandri.

James Toseland posted 14 laps to finish in 19th place just two seconds off the pace, despite riding with a badly swollen and painful hand having only had the four pins removed from it less than one week ago.

Monza – SUPERBIKE – Qualifying 1

1.  Leon Haslam BMW S1000RR (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1’42.934
2.  Max Biaggi Aprilia RSV4 Factory (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) 1’42.953
3.  Eugene Laverty Yamaha YZF R1 (Yamaha World Superbike Team) 1’43.265
4.  Ayrton Badovini BMW S1000RR (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) 1’43.276 
5.  Jonathan Rea Honda CBR1000RR (Castrol Honda) 1’43.321
6.  Noriyuki Haga Aprilia RSV4 Factory (PATA Racing Team Aprilia) 1’43.531
7.  Marco Melandri Yamaha YZF R1 (Yamaha World Superbike Team) 1’43.588
8.  Troy Corser BMW S1000RR (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1’43.640
9.  Maxime Berger Ducati 1098R (Supersonic Racing Team) 1’43.679
10.  Leon Camier Aprilia RSV4 Factory (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) 1’43.730
11.  Michel Fabrizio Suzuki GSX-R1000 (Team Suzuki Alstare) 1’43.762 
12.  Tom Sykes Kawasaki ZX-10R (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) 1’43.850
13.  Sylvain Guintoli Ducati 1098R (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) 1’43.861
14.  Carlos Checa Ducati 1098R (Althea Racing) 1’44.071
15.  Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ZX-10R (Kawasaki Racing Team) 1’44.095
16.  Ruben Xaus Honda CBR1000RR (Castrol Honda) 1’44.232
17.  Jakub Smrz Ducati 1098R (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) 1’44.401
18.  Roberto Rolfo Kawasaki ZX-10R (Team Pedercini) 1’44.922
19.  James Toseland BMW S1000RR (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) 1’44.989 
20.  Mark Aitchison Kawasaki ZX-10R (Team Pedercini) 1’45.356
21.  Fabrizio Lai Honda CBR1000RR (Echo Sport Racing Company) 1’46.964