With Ben Spies taking his 7th Superpole at Millersports Park at Tooele, Utah here’s what a few riders had to say about yesterday’s Superpole session:Ben Spies – 1st“It was a good session for us, the last few minutes there were some drops coming down and we were pretty nervous, but we’d worked well since this morning and I stuck to the plan in Superpole.
I think we have a good race pace, there are a few guys that have good pace as well so the race should be interesting.
Twelve months ago I didn’t think I’d be here on pole at Miller in Superbike but it’s great.
I’m having a blast!”Carlos Checa – 2nd“It’s been a difficult first half of the season but we have been steadily improving and the team is now working really well together, so I am very happy to start from the front row here.
I don’t know what it is about this place that makes me feel so comfortable on the bike but there is certainly more grip on the side of the tyre and the bike has been steadily improving for the last few rounds.
It certainly won’t be easy in the races tomorrow – Ben (Spies) and three or four other riders are very fast, so we’ll have to see what happens in the races.
But, for sure, it feels very good to be at the front again and I hope to turn it into good results in the races tomorrow.
”Ryuichi Kiyonari – 3rd“That was much better than Kyalami qualifying and the feeling with my Honda is much better than the recent races.
As for my race pace for tomorrow I think it is a little bit not fast enough but if I can do a good start maybe I can follow the group and hope to get a podium.
”Michel Fabrizio – 4th“In the qualifying this morning I was losing time in the first split, the part of the track I like least and on which we’ve been working since yesterday, but I put this to rights with a fast time in the second phase of the Superpole.
It’s just a shame that I then made a small mistake exiting a corner on a fast lap in the third phase which cost me a higher position on the grid, as I’m sure I could have finished second had I not made that error.
Anyway starting from the front row is of course not bad and I hope to be able to make two good races as I did here last year.
”Shane Byrne – 6th“We’re ready for tomorrow when we hope to do well.
I got a good feeling with both bike and track and I was fast with practice and race setup.
The starting position is very good and I’m confident I have my shot at getting in the leading pack.
I just hope to perform at my best and do well in both races”Broc Parkes – 7th“That’s the best qualifying this year.
This is my first time here and straight out of the box we were quite fast.
The bike works well, but we haven’t got a perfect race set-up yet.
I think we can work around that for tomorrow.
I’m really happy for the team because we are going forward.
I’m also starting to get my fitness back again because it’s been two weeks since Kyalami.
Jamie has a lot of local knowledge and that has brought quite a lot into the team.
That’s been really good.
The track is lots of fun, big, open and flowing, and that’s what I like.
It reminds me a lot of Qatar.
”Jamie Hacking – 8th “To have gone all the way through every Superpole session, with a total of just over three hours on this bike, I’m pleased.
We have a good, really good, race set-up on the bike, got the race tyres picked and I am real happy with it.
Obviously I would have liked to have improved more but with the conditions we had out there, it wasn’t worth risking crashing a bike and having to start all over.
None of the corners were wet, but you could see the water on the visor and feel it on your neck, you knew it was not truly dry.
We had a very good shot at the front two rows there, and it should be a good race.
I’m really looking forward to it.
”Noriyuki Haga -9th“Well I’m not a great fan of Saturday mornings at Miller! Last year I broke my collarbone and today I crashed again, perhaps my fault for pushing a little too hard while doing a long-run but fortunately the only consequence is a very sore back, that I hope doesn’t cause me too many problems tomorrow.
Anyway, I did my best in Superpole this afternoon; I could have been on the second row but I found traffic on track in the first two sessions and when I was about to go out again at the end of the second phase it started to rain.
Tomorrow’s races will be really hard and if Ben, as I’m sure he will, takes off, then I don’t know whether I’ll be able to stick with him but I’ll try my best to take as many points as possible.
”Jonathan Rea – 11th“I had a pretty big crash right at the end of the free practice session and that kind of upset my rhythm for Superpole.
It’s a shame because I was running in about sixth at the time after we found something in that first sector, where I was suffering yesterday.
I made a mistake on my first qualifier in Superpole 2 and then I was distracted by the threat of rain and I ended up missing the cut by about three hundredths of a second.
I’m pretty confident that we’ve got a good race set-up though, so I’ll try to get a couple of really good starts tomorrow and see what happens.
”Leon Haslam – 12th“The first Superpole session went pretty well and I ended up in ninth position.
I hoped to further improve it in the second session and went out on a qualifier.
As I set out on my flying lap to place myself in the top eight, I made a mistake in the last sector as I ran wide, and finished the session in 12th place.
I returned to the garage to pick up a new tyre and set out to improve my lap, but it had already started to rain so I had to return to the garage again.
Overall, I am pleased with the progression we have been able to make so far.
We need to make some more improvements for the race, but we have been making progression with the set-up and the lap times are coming.
If we can keep them consistent we should be able to ride a good race tomorrow.
”Yukio Kagayama – 13th“I am a racer and I want to race, so for me, I had to get on my bike today.
My right foot has to be be very strongly strapped and getting my boot on and off is not so easy! I cannot put any weight on my foot, because of the broken bone in my right heel, so I have to use crutches to walk around.
On the bike, it’s not so bad and I can ride without too much of a problem.
I had some injections this morning, but not this afternoon.
I am lucky that it is my left foot that was not injured, because that one is used more on the bike and I don’t think I would’ve been able to ride today or this weekend.
Some people say that I am crazy, but this is just me.
I want to race and if I think I can do it, then I will do it.
For sure tomorrow will be hard because of two races in hot conditions, but I will do the best I can and hopefully I can make some good results.
”Fonsi Nieto – 14th “My feeling with the bike was much better today because it was smoother to ride and we found a good direction.
In the afternoon, I tried to do consistent fast laps on race tyres in preparation for the races tomorrow.
My bike was not so different to yesterday, but the small changes have helped quite a bit and so I am more happy.
The grip was better in the morning qualifying when the temperature was a bit cooler, but not so good in the afternoon when the temperatures went up.
Considering that this is my second race weekend with this bike, I think my qualifying position is not so bad and now I hope we can make good results tomorrow.
”Tom Sykes – 22nd“In qualifying we really missed out, we didn’t find the right direction fast enough and unfortunately didn’t get to Superpole which was a big shame.
For the final free practice we found an area of real improvement, the time was good enough for Superpole.
So hopefully we can forget today and although we’ve got a bad starting position we can come out tomorrow focused and make the most of what we’ve got.
”Jake Zemke – 23rd“It is definitely not the day we had hoped it would be.
I set out to improve at least half a second, but instead have only lost seconds today.
The changes we had in mind to improve from yesterday did not seem to work out.
I am looking for some improvement to get the bike to turn a little better and get the bike to work a little better for the race tomorrow.
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