Assen Superpole - WorldSBK - Spies destroys

Superbikes comes again to Assen this year and with it a lot of crashes. Most notable and out for this weekend is John Hopkins, who, after landing on his feet after a highside dislocated his hip, cracked his femur and has torn all the ligaments in his legs. He'll be out likely until Salt Lake City, a few rounds from now. Back is Shinya Nakano on the RSV4 after breaking his collarbone, it's one in one out in WSBK at the moment, it seems. All the big names have been down in practice throughout the weekend, Spies once, Haga ones, Sykes twice- but as the qualifying session came around everyone was fine, except, of course, Hopkins.

Early dropouts were Hill, Roberts, Nakano and Ruben Zaus, the latter two being comprehensively outpaced by their teammates. Hill was unlucky to stay 16th but is getting more and more out of the bike with each race, and it was Roberts' first time in Superpole. Neukirchner set the fastest time here, and was notable for being the first Superbike to ever lap Assen in under 1:38, but unfortunately, he used both his qualifiers in the first two sessions, and so lines up 6th, infront of Checa, the second best Honda.

The second session saw Corser, Biaggi, Kiyonari, Kagyama, Laconi, Byrne, Rea and Muggeridge drop out, Muggeridge managing a fantastic 13th aboard a much improved Suzuki. Laconi landed himself 12th spot on the grid, which will surely disappoint following the podium in Race 2 a fortnight ago.

The final session came and sorted the men from the boys, or rather, the guys who had a qualifier left from those that didn't. Haslam got two laps out of his qualifier just to miss out on the 1.37 bracket, a 1.38 flat good for third on the grid, in front of Haga, who is in touch. He's improving with every race, and perhaps notably, his eyebrows are shrinking- it won't be long before the gap in the middle appears fully, I think. Definitely a connection there. Smrz maintained his reputation for being a great qualifier, dipping under the 1.38 bracket twice, in Q2 and Q3, good enough easily for second.

But it could only have been Spies on pole from the very start, a 1.37:626 only a few tenths clear of second, but in a field like this it means destruction. Another warning shot for tomorrow from the Texan- but the Ducati's were fastest in QP2, and Spies can't rest on his laurels yet. Should be a great race tomorrow.

Full Times

1. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Italia YZF R1 1min 37.626s
2. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 1min 37.765s
3. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 1min 38.072s
4. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1098R 1min 38.202s
5. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098R 1min 38.215s
6. Max Neukirchner GER Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 1min 38.363s
7. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 38.640s
8. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha Italia YZF R1 1min 38.770s

9. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 1min 38.288s
10. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1min 38.441s
11. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 38.510s
12. Regis Laconi FRA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 1min 38.521s
13. Karl Muggeridge AUS Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000 1min 38.802s
14. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 1min 38.881s
15. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 38.906s
16. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 39.079s

17. Tommy Hill GBR HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR 1min 39.387s
18. Brendan Roberts AUS Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 1min 39.390s
19. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1min 39.569s
20. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 39.643s

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21. David Checa ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 1min 40.496s
22. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 40.572s
23. Stuart Easton GBR Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R 1min 40.608s
24. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR 1mins 41.014s
25. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 1min 41.057s
26. Matteo Baiocco ITA PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 41.062s
27. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 41.085s
28. Roland Resch AUT TKR Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R1000 1min 41.978s
source: http://www.crash.net/wsbk/Results/145869/1/assen_-_superpole_qualifying_times.html