SPIES ALMOST 1sec UNDER BAYLISS' 2008 TIME

+ Click to Enlarge SUPERPOLE SUPERSTAR: Ben Spies (Yamaha) has claimed 11 pole positions in 2009's 14 World Superbike rounds - a record for the series.

October 24, 2009

The final Superpole session of 2009 went the same way as 10 others as Ben Spies made it 11 out of 14 for Yamaha - a record for the series - at the Portimao circuit in Portugal.

Spies' time of 1min42.412 was almost a second quicker than 2008's best lap, set by Troy Bayliss. Spies will start favourite for Sunday's races with title rival and points leader Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) relegated to the third row after missing the cut in Superpole 2.

Consolation for Ducati came from private entry Shane Byrne and Haga's team mate Michel Fabrizio, second and third respectively, with Honda's Jonathan Rea filling the front row.

Leon Haslam (Honda) overhauled Aprilia veteran Max Biaggi at the end of the session to take an excellent fifth after Biaggi had crashed in the pre-Superpole free session.

Fonsi Nieto (Ducati) and Troy Corser (BMW) will line up alongside Haslam on the second row while Sylvian Guintoli made an excellent World Superbike debut with eleventh on a Suzuki.

Spies said: "We've been working under the radar all weekend on a lot of different things. Superpole was good for us, we kept pushing as hard as we could,but it's not just about Haga and me tomorrow, there are other guys - we'll just run our own race and give it everything we've got."

Byrne said: "I'm delighted to be back on the front row, it seems like it's been for ever. We used both sets of qualifying tyres before the last section and when a 42.99 came up on my dash I was so tired I closed the throttle on the straight - with one more lap to go!

Fabrizio said: "It was very hot and difficult in qualifying today. The bike was not so good in Superpole but it think it will be OK for the races tomorrow. My race pace is quite similar to Spies' but I know he is very fast."

Rea said: "A year ago I made my Superbike debut here and I didn't like the track. I think I must be getting worse because I was third on the grid then! But we've had a good weekend so far and I've got a really good feeling with the bike."

Results of Superpole at Portimao in Portugal on Saturday
1 Ben Spies (US) Yamaha - 1min42.412
2 Shane Byrne (Britain) Ducati - 1min42.996
3 Michel Fabrizio (Italy) Ducati – 1min43.016
4 Jonathan Rea (Britain) Honda – 1min43.126
5 Leon Haslam (Britain) Honda – 1min43.523
6 Max Biaggi (Italy) Aprilia -1min43.526
7 Fonsi Nieto (Spain) Ducati -1min43.563
8 Troy Corser (Australia) BMW - 1min44.719
9 Jakub Smrz (Czech Republic) Ducati - 1min43.240
10 Noriyuki Haga (Japan) Ducati - 1min43.377
11 Sylvain Guintoli (France) Suzuki – 1min43.406
12 Carlos Checa (Spain) Honda - 1min43.461
13 Leon Camier (Britain) Aprilia - 1min43.671
14 Yukio Kagayama (Japan) Suzuki - 1min43.717
15 Makoto Tamada (Japan) Kawasaki – 1min44.050
16 Matteo Baiocchi (Italy) Ducati – 1min45.439