Pirelli Report from Kyalami
It is a new track for most, as it was last used by WSBK in 2002, although many of the top Superbike teams and one World Supersport Team tested at the circuit in the Gauteng region of South Africa last December, during tyre and machine development session. Since then the removal of the final chicane, replaced with a righthander over the crest of a hill, has changed the track length to 4.246km, and made it naturally faster, but the sheer pace of the qualifying sessions at Kyalami was impressive all the same.
Ben Spies, who has been making headlines and history since he first arrived in WSB this year, wrote his name into granite in the record books again in qualifying, and he now shares the record for six consecutive pole position wins with his fellow Texan, Doug Polen. He set a new track best of 1'37.288 in Superpole three to head up a front row qualifying order of Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) and championship leader, Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox). Spies was only one thousandth of a second ahead of Fabrizio in Superpole three.
After the feedback received from the tests in December, Pirelli shipped 4,365 tyres from Europe in February, to suit the needs of Kyalami racetrack. The old, scarred and bumpy asphalt at Kyalami means the riders need a lot of grip to recover their ideal racing lines. The track temperature during the current South African winter has been less warm than the extremes of over 50°C experienced in testing. That has allowed the use of softer tyres than a normal WSB weekend.
Haga and his teammate Fabrizio disputed the race one win at Kyalami with Spies and his Yamaha, until the later stages of the race, when Haga asserted his authority and Spies dropped off to finish 3.391 seconds from the win. Fabrizio leaves the new Kyalami layout with the new lap record, which also survived race two, a 1'38.548, set on lap three. The DucatiYamaha battle was joined by a Honda and an Aprilia in fourth and fifth places, with Jonathan Rea ahead of Max Biaggi. The pace of the various leaders was high throughout, as the Kyalami circuit proved quite suitable for the leading twin cylinder riders than those on fours.
Haga scored his second double win of the 2009 season when he won a last lap battle with his teammate Fabrizio, even although the Italian rider seeming determined to take another race win to add to his recent Monza success. Haga took an early lead, only to be passed by Spies, but on lap three the American rider was forced out of contention, with a broken gear linkage. That left Haga free at the front but he was pressurised from behind by Fabrizio and on the last lap Haga had to repass Fabrizio to exit the final corner ahead, and take a win by only 0.322 seconds. Rea held off Haslam for third place, his first podium of the 2009 season, Max Biaggi went fifth on the top Aprilia, as he had in race one. The top riders were once more able to race to competitiveness with a different set of tyre solutions, with Haga opting for a soft ‘A' front and a medium ‘B' rear. His teammate started with medium front and back in race one, before swapping to a softer front to almost win race two. Spies and Biaggi each went for a ‘B' front and rear solution, while Rea was even able to use a ‘C' front and a ‘B' rear to take his podium.
