RACE 1: BIAGGI CLIMBS THE PODIUM IN THIRD PLACE, NAKANO IN FOURTH

Race 1 of the SBK Qatar round was blessed by excellent weather conditions, even though it was hotter than previous days when practice rounds were held, and fortunately the threat of sandstorms was averted.?Max Biaggi started off extremely well from third position and immediately began to lead the race with his commanding pace. During the initial laps, only Haga, Nakano, Spies and Smrz managed to keep up with him, and by the fourth lap both his Japanese teammate and the Czech driver had lost ground. For more than half the race, the pace continued according to the following script: Biaggi setting the pace, Haga, struggling to pass him, even along the straightaways, and Spies in control. Nakano was left behind, alone in fourth place, in part due to Smrz’s fall during the sixth lap. Spies took the lead in the twelfth lap, taking advantage of a small error made by the two drivers that were ahead of him and he began to force the pace, allowing him to claim his second victory of the season. Then the Biaggi-Haga duel for second place began, with the two drivers trying to pass each other, breaking away and taking advantage of the wake on the straightaways. In the end, the Japanese driver won out, while Biaggi had to settle for the third step on the podium. Thanks to the Roman driver, Aprilia once again climbs atop the Superbike podium after more than six years, with the last win secured by Haga with the twin cylinder RSV Mille on 8 September, 2002 in Race 1 at Assen. ?During the final three laps, Nakano battled against Checa’s Honda and after a series of passes with the Spaniard, he managed to defend his fourth place position.

"I’m very happy not only to be climbing atop the podium,” stated Biaggi, “but also for the awareness that I am constantly fighting for the top positions. It was a difficult race, my adversaries were glued to me and it wasn’t easy to keep the right pace and the proper concentration with all of that pressure. I am very happy with this package because it is already very competitive, I have established a good feeling with the bike and it is for this reason that I must thank my team for the very hard and important work they are doing. I am happy to be on the podium not only for myself, but also for everyone who is involved with and believes in this project.” ??“I’m satisfied.” said Nakano, “This is only my second race and I’ve already managed to achieve a good result. I started off well and stayed with the lead group for half of the race, they broke away from me and I set my pace while trying to stay concentrated on defending my position. It was only during the final laps that Checa caught up with me and passed me, then he made a mistake and I managed to take back my fourth place position.”?
SUPERPOLE: BIAGGI FINISHES THIRD; NAKANO IN SIXTH PLACE
The track conditions at Losail have improved considerably resulting in an extraordinary Superpole, not only for the new formula that has met with much success, but also for the drivers who managed to repeatedly break the track records that were achieved last year at Bayliss. Ben Spies on his Yahama Factory, claimed the Superpole victory once again, with a time of 1:57:280.?Max Biaggi conquered the third place position, stopping the clock at 1:57:694, just 0.414 behind the Texan. Max closed out Superpole 1 in eleventh place with a time of 1:59:272, using competition tires and was the first place finisher in Superpole 2 with a time of 1:57:836, using the first available qualification tires. ?Shinya Nakano will start off from the sixth position in tomorrow’s first race, thanks to his time of 1:58:755. This time the Japanese driver managed to qualify for Superpole 3. He finished in sixteenth place during the first round with a time of 1:59:688 with competition tires. In Superpole 2 he finished fifth with a time of 1:58:534, using qualification tires.??"I’m happy,” stated Biaggi, “about the results as well has for having battled once again to conquer the pole position. We didn’t try anything new here compared to the last race and this shows that the package is improving, even though there is still much to do. I must thank my team for the fantastic job they’ve done, they’ve allowed me to compete with the best and they are truly special people. Being in the first row gives us courage, we’re all very fast and this will make tomorrow’s races even more interesting. They are still many unknown factors because we’ve never raced on this track before this round, but we’ll give it our best shot, like we always do.”??“This is my second Superbike race and I’m finishing this Superpole in sixth place, which makes me happy,” said Nakano, “even though I’m behind by more than one second in the final eight and this means that something is still missing. I’ve got to improve this aspect as well. Nevertheless, I’ve managed to set a good pace and the chattering has decreased compared to Phillip Island. Tomorrow’s race will be very difficult, I’ll have to start off well and try to stay with the group of leaders, which I can manage, and then we’ll see what happens.”?
FIRST ROUND OF OFFICIAL TRIALS AT LOSAIL
It’s back to the track in Qatar for the second round of the SBK 2009 season. Unlike the other GP cousins, the production-derived bikes will race on the Losail circuit by day. In fact, the races will be held on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. local time (Qatar is two hours ahead of Central Europe). The track, which is covered in dust and sand, created some difficulties for the drivers, especially during the free practice, but later the grip gradually improved resulting in more interesting race times. During the first round of the official trials, Ben Spies achieved the best time with 1:58:886 on his Yamaha Factory.?Max Biaggi held on to fourth position with a time of 1:59:826, just 0:940 behind the American driver. The Roman put a great deal of effort into collecting as much data as possible about this completely new track for the RSV4, concentrating mainly on the suspension. ?Instead, Nakano came in tenth, stopping the clock at 2:00:238, finishing 1:352 behind Spies. Shinya is continuing his apprenticeship in this new category with his RSV4. ??"These practices were not easy,” declared Biaggi. “We started off without any data or parameters from previous years with which to work and this put us at a disadvantage with respect to the others since we debuted in this category with the RSV4. There was some improvement in the official afternoon trials and the bike became more manageable, but we’re still losing a few tenths of a second per lap with respect to the others because we’re missing stability, especially in the fast curves. Now, with help from the technicians, we’re trying to find some solutions to become more efficient, but there’s not much time to work with and so we’re mostly concentrating on the suspension.” ??“It’s not easy to arrange the work we have to do here because we don’t have any data to analyse,” said Nakano, “but it didn’t go too badly today, in any case. Compared to Phillip Island, we managed to resolve a few problems. We have less chattering and this has allowed me to concentrate more on my driving. The track was quite slippery this morning, but the grip improved during the afternoon and we were able to work much better on the suspension. The engine is fine but the erogation is still far too aggressive.”