In the first of two qualifying practices (the final chance to qualify for tomorrow’s Superpole qualifying sessions is tomorrow morning) held today at the Magny-Cours circuit in France for the penultimate round of the World Superbike Championship saw Ducati Xerox’ Michel Fabrizio power to the top spot, just acing out Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea by 0.041 seconds, with title rivals Nori Haga and Yamaha’s Ben Spies right behind. The competition is already proving to be incredibly tight, with the top four separated by only 0.169 seconds.
"It was a good first session,” said Spies after his first laps on the circuit. “I've worked out where the track is going and we've been making improvements to the settings over the day. I think we've found a good pace for race distance, but there are still a couple of things we can improve on for tomorrow. The track is still a bit slippery in parts, but I still think we can find some more speed for the next session and get up there. For the first day I'm happy."
First Qualifying Practice:
- 1. Michel Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati 1:38.770
- 2. Jonathan Rea (IRL) Honda 1:38.821
- 3. Nori Haga (JPN) Ducati 1:38.877
- 4. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha 1:38.939
- 5. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda 1:39.379
- 6. Troy Corser (AUS) BMW 1:39.435
- 7. Yukio Kagayama (JPN) Suzuki 1:39.497
- 8. Jakub Smrz (CZE) Ducati 1:39.613
- 9. Fonsi Nieto (SPA) Ducati 1:39.772
- 10. Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia 1:39.834