BMW Motorrad Motorsport - WSBK - Silverstone - Superpole
Silverstone – Qualifying Practice 2 & Superpole.
Saturday, 4th August 2012.
Weather conditions: Cloudy in the morning, rain showers and some sun in the afternoon.
Temperature: Air: 18 – 20 °C, Track: 24 – 32 °C
Number of riders participating: 22/23 from 13 teams
Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) 2:05.350 min
Fastest lap Superpole 2: Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) 2:20.810 min
The two factory riders from Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport bravely fought the tricky and dangerous conditions in today’s Superpole qualifying. Local hero Leon Haslam (GBR) will start his home races at Silverstone (GBR) from the front row. He qualified fourth for the tenth round of the 2012 FIM Superbike World Championship. His team-mate Marco Melandri (ITA) will start on his BMW S 1000 RR from sixth place on the second row. The weather was changing and unpredictable again with clouds, some sun and many rain showers. The Superpole was declared wet, meaning only two sessions of 20 minutes each took place.
In a nail-biting and closely fought Superpole 1, Leon and Marco qualified for the top eight who progressed into the deciding second part. In Superpole 2, another rain shower made the conditions very tricky with patches of water on the track and very slippery sections. Several riders crashed while fighting for the top positions on the grid. Michel Fabrizio and Ayrton Badovini (both ITA) of the BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team will start tomorrow’s races from 15th and 18th respectively.
Leon Haslam:
Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: 2:06.544 min (P13) / Fastest lap FP: 2:06.231 min (P9) / Fastest lap Superpole 2: 2:21.613 min (P4)
“I am really happy. It is always nice to start from the front row, especially at the home race. We just had two or three laps of wet weather testing on Friday and then I didn’t have a good feeling but the guys worked really hard and every lap we did and every time we changed the bike we made an improvement. The conditions were difficult. Some were pushing maybe a little bit too much too early so there were a lot of crashes. We built up and went faster with every lap. When I crossed the chequered flag I was P1, which was nice for a short while! To have a front row start tomorrow is important and I am looking forward to the races. The target is always to win. We still have some more work to do before the races but I am feeling very comfortable. I think the biggest decisions will be on the weather.”
Marco Melandri:
Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: 2:06.106 min (P3) / Fastest lap FP: 2:06.150 min (P7) / Fastest lap Superpole 2: 2:21.960 min (P6)
“This was another very tough day. The conditions were really difficult with rain showers and changing grip levels on different parts of the track. In the dry we could not have hoped for a start position like this as we were struggling again with chattering. In the wet conditions the Superpole was not too bad but it was not easy. Just before I went out on my last run it started raining very heavily in the second sector. I was really scared of aquaplaning so I chose to take it easy. Tomorrow will be difficult, as you never know what the weather will be like here. If it is dry tomorrow morning, we will make a small change to the set-up to be ready for all conditions.”
Andrea Dosoli (Head of Race Operations):
“Overall I am pleased with the job done by our riders and the crews. Both Leon and Marco will start tomorrow’s races from the front two rows. These are good grid positions considering where we started from yesterday. Both crews worked hard to improve the performance of the RR. In dry conditions the steps made were quite good, although there is still room for improvement, mainly for the race pace. Both Leon and Marco need to be a few tenths quicker to fight with Carlos Checa and Tom Sykes, and the crews will work hard to get there. I am very happy with Leon’s performance and result today. We will continue to work hard to get the best possible results tomorrow and I am sure we will be competitive with both riders.”
