BMW Motorrad Motorsport - WSBK - Salt Lake City - Superpole

Salt Lake City – Qualifying Practice 2 & Superpole.

Sunday, 29 May 2011.

Weather conditions: Persistent rain until start of Superpole Qualifying.

Temperature: Air: 7 – 8 °C, Track: 11 – 12 °C

Number of riders participating: 21 from 13 teams

Fastest lap Qualifying Practices: Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) 1:48.260 min

Fastest lap Superpole 3: Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) 1:58.315 min

After a long day of work in rainy and exceptionally cold conditions, Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport left the track disappointed. Factory riders, Troy Corser (AUS) and Leon Haslam (GBR), will start the fifth round of the 2011 FIM Superbike World Championship at Salt Lake City (USA) from the second and third rows respectively. Troy finished the Superpole Qualifying sixth, and Leon 12th. It rained persistently until the start of the Superpole Qualifying. While Troy made it into the third and final session, Leon crashed in turn six on a quick lap close to the end of the second session.

Troy Corser:

Fastest lap QP2: 2:11.940 min (P14) / Fastest lap FP2: 2:02.660 min (P2) / Fastest lap SP3: 1:59.262 min (P6)

“Overall I am happy with where we finished in Superpole. This morning we were having some issues as track conditions were really bad. We simply couldn’t get any grip, and that was reflected in the poor lap times. So we made some changes and used some of Leon’s information. He was finding a lot more grip than us and instantly the bike felt a lot better. The weather conditions improved slightly and we were able to make it into Superpole 3, finally qualifying on the second row. I am happy with the level of consistency from the bike and the tyres, we are able to run at a good pace and I am looking forward to the races tomorrow.”

Leon Haslam:

Fastest lap QP2: 2:06.351 min (P3) / Fastest lap FP2: 2:03.002 min (P4) / Fastest lap SP2: 2:01.127 min (P12)

 “We have been struggling with inconsistency in the electronic settings. The setup we used this morning in heavy rain worked really well, and I felt confident with the bike. Sadly come Superpole the conditions changed, the track began to dry and the settings we had simply weren’t working. The bike became harder to ride and I ended up crashing trying to push my way into Superpole 3. It’s quite frustrating because I felt really good this morning. With regard to tomorrow, it will all depend on the weather conditions, as we definitely have the pace in the wet.”

Rainer Bäumel (Head of Race Operations):

“We started out the day well. Unfortunately it stopped raining a little early today. Our performance looked really promising until the track dried. In Superpole Qualifying Leon faced the same issues as yesterday – he struggled with the engine brake settings. This issue also caused his crash in Superpole 2. We have to continue working on this issue to make him feel more comfortable on the bike. Troy put in a good performance today, and starting from P6 is not too bad. I am confident for tomorrow. The distance to the first corner is quite long, and if Troy and Leon are able to start the race well, everything is possible.”