Fabrizio claims provisional pole in QP2
Michel Fabrizio has once again finished fastest during qualifying practice at Phillip Island ahead of this weekends season opener.
The Italian appears to be a man on a mission aboard his Red Devil Roma Aprilia, as he posted a unbeatable lap time of 1.30.387, half a second quicker than the qualifying lap record, despite sitting out 45 minutes due to a technical issue with his bike.
Despite the new asphalt assisting Fabrizio deliver that record breaking time it is still a remarkable lap time, a time which he if can replicate this afternoon will surely see him starting from first position come tomorrows races.
Behind Fabrizio was Leon Camier. The Brit has been in scintillating form since taking to track last week at the island, and he posted a time of 1′30.727, which is no mean feet with his GSXR1000 approximately 10kph slower down the Gardener Straight than a BMW or Aprilia.
Last years runner up Tom Sykes was third fastest on his Kawasaki, and just 0.013s behind his compatriot. Despite broken bones in his hand Sykes appears to be cranking it up ready for this afternoons superpole session as he moved closer towards the top of the timing screens in every session.
Aprilia factory rider Eugene Laverty was fourth and is impressing all the while, but won’t like being beaten by a private Aprilia, Marco Melandri and his BMW was fifth proving to be a bit of German meat in an Factory Aprilia sandwich, as Laverty’s team mate, Sylvain Guintoli, was sixth fastest.
Leon Haslam was the lead Honda and he finished the session in an impressive 7th position, just under 0.6 behind Fabrizio. Right behind Haslam was 2011 champion, Carlos Checa, who will still be sore after a big crash this morning, although his Alstare team managed to rebuild his Panigale, and he finished the session in 8th position, just ahead of Haslam’s team mate Jonathan Rea who is still coming to grips with the new electronics that Pata Honda gave him yesterday, although he was still less than a second behind the leader.
Davide Giugliano rounded out the top ten on his with the Althea Aprilia, and he was closely followed by BMW’s Chaz Davies, Kawasaki’s Loris Baz, and Max Neukirchner.
One rider we wont see for the rest of this weekend is Alstare Ducati’s Ayrton Badovini. His crash during Friday morning’s free practice has been diagnosed as fractured which has ruled him out of this weekends opener.
WSBK Phillip Island QP2 results:
1. Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′30.387
2. Leon Camier (Fixi Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′30.727
3. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′30.740
4. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′30.826
5. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK) BMW S1000 RR 1′30.931
6. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′30.961
7. Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike) Honda CBR1000RR 1′31.020
8. Carlos Checa (Team Ducati Alstare) Ducati Panigale 1199 1′31.146
9. Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) Honda CBR1000RR 1′31.353
10. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′31.470
11. Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK) BMW S1000 RR 1′31.526
12. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′31.537
13. Max Neukirchner (MR-Racing) Ducati Panigale 1199 1′31.871
14. Jamie Stauffer (Team Honda Racing) Honda CBR1000RR 1′31.874
15. Ivan Clementi (HTM Racing) BMW S1000 RR 1′31.963
16. Glen Allerton (Next Gen Motorsports) BMW S1000 RR 1′32.352
17. Jules Cluzel (Fixi Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′32.402
18. Alexander Lundh (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′32.487
19. Ayrton Badovini (Team Ducati Alstare) Ducati Panigale 1199 1′32.540
20. Federico Sandi (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′32.898
21. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Grillini Dentalmatic SBK) BMW S1000 RR 1′33.082