Smrz, rea trump spies

[Dave]

looks like the new superpole record stops at seven,

Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) brought Ben Spies' seven-race Superpole record to an end with a new circuit best lap in the decisive qualifying session at Misano. The 26 year-old from the Czech Republic was in terrific form, powering his private Guandalini Ducati 1098 around the 4.226 km Misano World Circuit in a time of 1 minute 35.435 seconds. Second place in an exciting session, which was held under the constant threat of rain, went to Britain's Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who has been fast all weekend. Spies was also on the pace on his team Yamaha World Superbike machine, but the Texan this time had to settle for the third slot, just ahead of one of his championship rivals, Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) in fourth.


Jakub Smrz: "I am really pleased with my first-ever Superpole, it's a great feeling to be there. But not just my Superpole time was good, I also have a good race pace as well, and I hope to be able to fight against the other guys up at the front and get a podium in the races. Last year I went well at Misano, but I hope for a better result this time around."


Jonathan Rea: "It's been pretty good for us, we found a good time for the second place. A big thanks to my crew, they've been doing so much all week. We got through a fair amount of hardware at Magny-Cours testing and got a good base setting for this weekend. And finally in the last few sessions and qualifying we've been doing some good times, so hopefully it'll all come good in the race tomorrow."


Ben Spies: "A front row start is good anyway and congratulations to Jakub. We missed out today because we just didn't have it when it counted. I'm happy with the bike and the race set-up is good, but to be honest we're a little bit quicker than the guys we're racing against for the championship and that's a good thing. However I'm sure they'll all be up there in the race tomorrow."


Michel Fabrizio: "It's important to be on the front row here at Misano and I start from the same position as last year, but this time in the race I hope to do better! I saw both this morning and this afternoon that my race pace was very similar to that of Ben's so it's clear that I'll be running my race around him tomorrow."


The Misano Superpole was also the first time Pirelli did not use their one-lap qualifying tyre, which has now been abandoned in favour of a new soft compound that can last up to five or more laps. The results were extraordinary because all four riders on the front row of the grid went quicker than last year's mark set by Troy Corser in 1'35"993.


The second row of the grid sees Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) holding down fifth place, with points leader Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) and the Ten Kate Honda duo of Carlos Checa and Ryuichi Kiyonari seventh and eighth. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) was heading for a front row slot but failed to make the final run due to a technical problem and the Italian had to settle for ninth, ahead of Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda) and Fonsi Nieto, the leading Suzuki Alstare runner. The first BMW, that of Troy Corser, qualified on row 4, while after their encouraging form shown on Friday, the two Kawasakis of Broc Parkes and Jamie Hacking slipped down to the fifth row.


Times: 1. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'35.435; 2. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.609; 3. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'35.631; 4. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'35.811; 5. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'36.224; 6. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'36.277; 7. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'36.537; 8. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'36.884; 9. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'36.439; 10. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'36.510; 11. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'36.510; 12. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'36.682; 13. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'36.916 ; 14. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'36.978; 15. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'36.994; 16. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'37.209