Today’s last Superpole of the 2011 season at Portimao went to Jonathan Rea, but the main topic of the session was silly season.
And more specifically why is Ducati refusing to support Althea Racing next season, after Bevilacqua’s team brought them two World Championship titles with Carlos Checa and Davide Giugliano and the manufacturers title after a two year drought.
Less than 24 hours before the season officially end,s 2011 World Champion Checa has still to sign with a team as Ducati will not help Althea Racing keep him, so he is pondering over two offers, one from Effenbert-Liberty and one from BMW who is offering him a big contract by Superbike standards, along with complete factory backing.
The Spaniard isn’t the only rider who has signed yet, including Eugene Laverty who is expected to be in Aprilia Alitalia, but there is a strew of other riders who have yet to find a ride for 2012.
Hopefully by the end of tomorrow or Monday at the latest, we’ll have more definite news of who is going where.
Here’s what some of the riders had to say after the Superpole.
Jonathan Rea – 1stTo be honest, I’d much rather swap this pole position and the one at Magny-Cours for two good results tomorrow, but I’m still very happy with today.
I’m enjoying riding the bike so much right now and go out with a smile on my face in every session.
We had quite a different strategy with tyres today but it looks like being quite a difficult race with the temperatures here and we think the race will probably start around lap ten.
For now though, we’ll just savour the moment and I’ll try my best tomorrow, which is another day after all.
Carlos Checa – 2nd“It’s a special weekend for many reasons and we are of course extremely satisfied to be on the front row.
I was able to make a great lap and go under 1m42 which is a very good result but Johnny was stronger here today.
We’re here to fight and tomorrow I want to be as competitive as ever.
We will stay focused on tomorrow’s races and try to do our best.
”Eugene Laverty – 3rd“It was a pretty good day overall.
Another front row start is important, I was hoping to get pole but Johnny Rea was very strong and third on the grid is pretty good.
This morning we tried a few things that didn’t quite work out but in the final free practice session we made a big step in the right direction, getting some more rear grip on the bike, which is really important ahead of tomorrow’s race day.
We have some more work to do in the morning but we are almost there and I am confident enough that I can be fighting for a podium in the last two races of the season.
”Marco Melandri – 4th“It was a great day today, we made good progress in qualifying and free practice, making steps in the right direction.
The team worked hard and did a great job yet again, helping me gain more confidence and feeling on the bike and I was lapping quite fast.
I concentrated on trying to get faster laps times in the Superpole qualifying session which has been my weakest point recently but I needed a few tenths of a second more.
The important thing is to be on the front row and to have a good set up for tomorrow’s two races, which I am confident we have and that we can be strong and fighting for a win.
”Joan Lascorz – 7th“We made good improvements in braking and turning-in and I am happy with the bike so I made some good lap times.
We did a lot of work with the engine braking and it has paid off.
We have had some good pace in races this year but started too far from the front, so now I am going to start from the second row hopefully more things will be possible.
I think we will have to concentrate our efforts around one tyre choice for tomorrow.
The circuit is a bit bumpier than I remember, but that is the same for everyone.
”Noriyuki Haga – 8th”Everything worked perfectly with the qualifying tyre, but we have some grip issues with the race tires.
I’m going to star off from a good place, so I need to do my best in the first half of the race and then then defend myself during the second part.
Hopefully I’ll close this season with a good result!”.
Ayrton Badovini – 9th“I am happy with qualifying as putting together a good lap is not my specialty.
It’s a pity that I couldn’t find the those two tenths to get to the final stage.
We are, however, happy with the race pace which gives me confidence for tomorrow.
”Tom Sykes – 10th“We used a race tyre in superpole one and made it through to superpole two, but obviously I am not happy where we are with the bike settings this weekend.
We started off strongly in the first session but I do not feel we have made massive progress since then.
We need to make a plan for tomorrow because I feel we can be at the sharp end but we are not quite there at the moment.
I am struggling with turning the bike off the brakes, which at this track you need to do a few times.
Ultimately we know what we want to do and we will try to achieve it for the races tomorrow.
”Leon Haslam – 11th“On Friday we had an issue which meant we missed out on a lot of valuable track time, but today we have worked well and made some positive adjustments to the chassis.
Obviously qualifying didn’t go according to plan, as we struggled to obtain the full potential from the qualifying tyres, but on race tyres we are looking good, so I am still confident.
The start tomorrow from the third row will be really important, but if we can run with the leaders in the early laps then we could be on for a good result.
We will have to wait and see.
”Michel Fabrizio – 14th“The team changed the whole braking system and the bike felt a bit better, but not enough for me to push really hard.
At the moment, I do not have enough confidence to be more aggressive and that is a bit frustrating; both for me and the team.
They also made other changes to the bike, but I didn’t feel comfortable on the bumps – and there are a lot of them here! The fourth row is obviously not a good place to start, but I am hopeful that I can make good starts and get good results – as long as the problems have been solved.
It’s going to be a long, hard day tomorrow, but whatever happens I will do my best.
”Davide Giugliano – 15th“We can’t be dissatisfied but, to tell the truth, I perhaps expected a little more from myself.
I think that at this track and with this bike we can do a great job.
We were doing that during some of the sessions but then it became more difficult in the Superpole with the qualifying tyre.
I had never ridden with that tyre before and it was pretty different from what I’m used to.
I hoped to reach the second phase, to please the team, but I think they’ll be equally pleased if I can make two strong races tomorrow.
I need to make a good start and then try to stick with the group in front of me.
Tomorrow’s another day and I’m confident.
”Max Biaggi – 17th“Being left out of Superpole was the most disappointing thing of the weekend, because even though I had some difficulties in all of the sessions, I would have had a decent chance at a good starting position.
Unfortunately an error in judgement means that I’m forced to start towards the back of the grid, just one more difficulty for the two races tomorrow.
Rather than a set-up problem, it is more a lack of feeling after being out for three rounds, while the others kept racing and improving over the past 40 days.
I’ve paid for my injury.
Now I’ll take this race as more practice, trying to bring home as much as possible.
” Troy Corser – 18th“Sadly we have struggled to combat the issues from yesterday.
The track’s bumpy and undulating nature has made a good set-up very hard to find.
We have been working overtime to try and pull everything together, but sadly we ran out of time and missed out on Superpole completely.
Now we have to do our utmost with the time available tomorrow to try and find a good setting for the races, and hopefully improve on what is an obviously disappointing starting position.
”Karl Muggeridge – 19thIt’s still a big job for me to get to grips with the bike and the tyres here.
We made some progress today but it’s going to be tough to muscle the bike around here tomorrow.
I don’t really have enough confidence yet in the bike so we’ll just have to work a little more tonight to bring that on.
It’s still difficult to accelerate out of the corners properly but the entry has improved a lot, which is where I struggled big-time yesterday.
I just need to work on getting off them now but it’s all right and we’ll keep chipping away tomorrow.
Josh Waters – 21st“This has been a very steep learning curve for me and the team.
This is my first time here and the track is very technical and quite difficult.
There are many ups-and-downs and blind approaches and so you need to know the track and have a good bike set up.
I haven’t ridden this bike since the World Superbike round in Miller Motorsports Park in America, and it’s very different to my GSX-R1000 that I race in Australia.
Also, I am having to learn how the bike behaves on Pirelli tyres as I race on other rubber at home.
The bike is more-or-less the same as the Suzuka 8 hour Endurance bike I raced in July and that also runs on another brand of tyres, so we have been trying to get it dialled-in for the Pirellis and that takes a lot of work and understanding.
I am a little frustrated – for myself and the team – because I want to do much better.
There’s just so much to do and not that much time to do it, but don’t forget we’re up against the best Superbike racers in the World and they all have so much more time and experience on their bikes than we do.
It’s a tough challenge, but we’re improving bit by bit and I hope I can have a couple of good races and get some good results.