Brno WSB: Biaggi the dominant force after first qualifying

Max Biaggi saved his best until last by snatching provisional pole position from fellow Roman Michel Fabrizio in the final seconds of the opening qualifying session at Brno.

The factory Aprilia man became the only man to lap under the two minute barrier around the long 3.35 mile circuit with a lap time of 1m 569.982 seconds. Throughout his career, Biaggi has shown an affinity with the Czech track having won here in 500GP’s, MotoGP and WSB and is clearly targeting his first win for the Aprilia RSV4 this weekend.

Michel Fabrizio claimed second spot with a resurgent Carlos Checa onboard the Ten Kate Honda in third. Checa was full of compliments about the performance of the Honda and looks set to be a contender some Sunday if the team can continue their impressive progress since switching to Ohlins suspension.

Ben Spies finished the day in fourth and 0.576 seconds off the pace and onboard his factory Yamaha with DFX Ducati man Lorenzo Lanzi pushing him all the way in fifth.

BMW backed up their strong Free Practice result with both Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus finishing in the top eight.

It was a tough day for the Brits with Shane Byrne leading the way in 11th ahead of Rea in 13th, Sykes 16th and Haslam in 19th.

Noriyuki Haga ended the day down in 15th spot but reduced the gap to the leaders finishing just 1.080 seconds off Biaggi’s best.
 

1 3 M.BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’59.982
2 84 M. FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 2’00.066
3 7 C. CHECA ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2’00.205
4 19 B. SPIES USA Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 2’00.558
5 57 L. LANZI ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 2’00.581
6 11 T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 2’00.603
7 56 S. NAKANO JPN Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2’00.648
8 111 R. XAUS ESP BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 2’00.731
9 23 B. PARKES AUS Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. Kawasaki ZX 10R 2’00.887
10 71 Y. KAGAYAMA JPN Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2’00.958
11 67 S. BYRNE GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 2’01.017
12 121 J. HOPKINS USA Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2’01.021
13 65 J. REA GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2’01.023
14 96 J. SMRZ CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 2’01.031
15 41 N. HAGA JPN Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 2’01.062
16 66 T. SYKES GBR Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 2’01.070
17 100 M. TAMADA JPN Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. Kawasaki ZX 10R 2’01.385
18 91 L. HASLAM GBR Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2’01.403
19 9 R. KIYONARI JPN Ten Kate Honda Racing Honda CBR1000RR 2’01.439
20 14 M. LAGRIVE FRA Honda Althea Racing Honda CBR1000RR 2’01.720
21 99 L. SCASSA ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 2’02.155
22 77 V. IANNUZZO ITA Squadra Corse Italia Honda CBR1000RR 2’02.346
23 10 F. NIETO ESP DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 2’02.644
24 25 D. SALOM ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 2’02.691
25 94 D. CHECA ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone Yamaha YZF R1 2’02.785
26 53 A. POLITA ITA Celani Race Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2’02.940
27 88 R. RESCH AUT TKR Suzuki Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2’04.041
28 51 M.CIHAK CZE ProRace Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2’04.905