Haslam and Biaggi remain at the top
Saturday, 7 May 2011 10:45 GMT
Haslam and Biaggi remain at the top
Despite a technical problem in Q2 on his S 1000 RR, Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) stayed at the top of the timesheets to head the field in the final pre-Superpole qualifying session. Second-placed Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) also failed to improve on his yesterday's time and remained a fraction behind. A major leap forward into third was made by Troy Corser on the second BMW Motorrad Motorsport machine, the Australian finishing ahead of an increasingly competitive Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) and another weekend surprise, Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike Team).
Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) was seventh, a whisker behind his team-mate Eugene Laverty, while Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) moved up four places in to finish in tenth.
The second session was characterized by numerous surprises, including a crash for Noriyuki Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia) and a blown engine for wild-card Fabrizio Lai (Echo Sport Racing Company Honda), an incident that caused the red flags to come out and the session to be stopped for track cleaning.
Eliminated from Superpole were Ruben Xaus (Castrol Honda), Roberto Rolfo and Mark Aitchison (Pedercini Kawasaki), James Toseland (BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike Team) and Lai.
