Sep 6, 2008 - Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) powered to his sixth Superpole of the year at Donington Park in a wet session. Just as happened at Brands Hatch a few short weeks ago, a "wet" Superpole meant that riders had a 50 minute session in which to ride a maximum of twelve laps, the fastest lap of those twelve being taken as the official Superpole result. It was his third Superpole in a row and the 24th in his career. Bayliss looked particularly quick in the final part of the 4.02 km circuit, and is certainly one of the candidates for the wins in tomorrow's eleventh round of the championship.

This is the sixth time in eleven Superbike rounds held so far that Troy lines up at the front of the grid, meaning he secures already this weekend the Alfa Romeo car, awarded as a prize by FGSport to the rider who achieves the most pole positions during the season.

The only rider capable of matching Bayliss's performance was Troy Corser (Yamaha Italia), but he crashed at the final hairpin on his quick lap right at the end and had to settle for eighth quickest time. Alongside Bayliss on the front row are the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda pairing of Brands Hatch winner Ryuichi Kiyonari and Carlos Checa.

Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Ducati) made a major improvement today to take the final position on the front - while wild-card James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) took the first place on the 2nd row, ahead of Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Ducati). The British wildcards who had made all the running in the first two days were out of luck; Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) crashed into the gravel, as did Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda).

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Italia) could only manage a place on the third row, while Max Neukirchner (Alstare Suzuki), who has failed to shine so far this weekend, is one row behind.

Troy Bayliss - Ducati Xerox - Superpole
It's been difficult ever since we got here as far as the weather is concerned. Every session has been wet which doesn't often happen, so that has given us the chance to really work a lot on the bike, changing settings and making steady progress and improvements, especially this afternoon. I am of course very happy with today's result, the Ducati Xerox F08 has been working incredibly well and so I was able to get out there and finish just ahead of the others. Having said that, Kiyo, Checa and the wildcards have been doing a great job and tomorrow will be tough against those guys. I've just found out I've won a new Alfa, the prize for the most pole positions taken in a season, so I'd like to thanks FG and of course Alfa for that too.

Ryuichi Kiyonari - Hannspree Ten Kate Honda - 2nd
Today was very difficult conditions but we tried many different settings and finally I found a good one. For wet conditions we are OK but I do not know if it is dry. For me however, either is OK for tomorrow.

Carlos Checa - Hannspree Ten Kate Honda - 3rd
It was quite a hard job because today at Donington was not the best conditions, but we've been working quite well during the weekend and have got good settings for tomorrow if it is wet. We are very satisfied with the front row and quite ready and comfortable about these conditions tomorrow.

Ruben Xaus - Sterilgrada Ducati - 4th
During the session I got a lack of grip when I pushed on the gas. So I chose to face the Superpole with a different gear setting. That's improved all the set-up and it allowed me to be quicker in the corners. A good choice, definitely.

Max Biaggi - Sterilgrada Ducati - 6th
We still have problems in the third part of the track when the engine doesn't work as i wish when I use the first two gears. Anyhow we were constantly quick and we got an excellent starting position.

Troy Corser - Yamaha Italia - 8th
I picked up a few more bruises today and we are still looking for a bit more grip from the rear. The first crash I had we tried a new rear but it did not have so much feel and I fell going down Craner Curves. I hope it is dry tomorrow because it will be as safe to race for everyone with a short dry set-up time as it would to race with a set up you found after riding all day in the wet. The spray is too intense in a race situation, and that means you can't see where the puddles are, so you don't know what to avoid. We have tried out our new electronic suspension and it works in the dry and the wet, it's just that we have to find a reasonably good set-up without using it and then start using it to see if we can improve on it. So that is what we tried to do, we've got a base wet set up and we have started to play around with the electronic side.

Cal Crutchlow - HM Plant Honda - 9th
I think we did make the right plan for Superpole, but I am disappointed with how it went, obviously. We had a problem with the rear tyre going from wet to some drier parts of the track and I was losing grip on some areas of the circuit. On the lap that I fell I think I could have been on pole if I had finished the lap, and then eventually I would have been bumped back to third or fourth, but that's how it goes. I've no issue with what's happened today as we can come through the field and I'm aiming for a podium or a top six minimum from the races.

Michel Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox - 10th
It has gone quite well, all things considered, but unfortunately we had some problems with the tyres and I was never totally comfortable with the rear today, which seemed to be sliding away from me in these tricky conditions. We'll see what tomorrow brings; it's so unpredictable here but I'm almost hoping, after two days of continuous rain, that we have wet races tomorrow too, as at least we've been working on the bike in that way up until this point and so know better how the bike is behaving in those conditions.

Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha Italia - 11th
I have some mixed feelings about today because we did not crash but we have also not got the result we were hoping for. We could not get the best grip out of our tyre, I think, but it could have been worse of course. Tomorrow is the important day and I am thinking positive. We will try to do whatever we can do and the key will be tyre choice if it rains. It will be a gamble of course, but a gamble we will be forced into, not one we want to make! But mentally I am positive for tomorrow, as I like this track.

Leon Haslam - HM Plant Honda - 12th
We made a mistake in Superpole by trying a different engine mapping setting on the bike, as the HM Plant Fireblade was pushing me into corners a little. We also went out thinking it would rain later on, but instead it dried up and by that time we had used up our 12 laps. So, to be fair we struggled a bit in Superpole as a result, but I still feel we could have been on the front row. The positive thing is that we've got a good race pace, so I'm confident that with a good start we can do well come the races tomorrow.

Max Neukirchner - Suzuki Alstare - 14th
All three of us had the same problem - no grip! I was happy I managed to get into Superpole, but really my feeling for the rear end did not get much better. The front is OK but, despite all the changes we made and the things we tried, we never managed to get a good feeling at the rear. It's hard to know what to do, but I still think I can make a good result tomorrow because many things can happen in a race and, if it is wet, I am sure there will be many crashes. So my idea is to keep upright, ride as hard as I can and see what happens.

Kenan Sofuoglu - Hanspree Ten Kate Honda - 20th
I'm not so happy with the weather we have had this weekend, especially since we have had almost no wet testing this season. The situation is not extremely bad, but it's not very good, either. I hope it stays wet for tomorrow because we have had no dry time here, but I will try for a good result.

Fonsi Nieto - Suzuki Alstare - 23rd
So far, this weekend has been a disaster! Normally I don't crash a lot, so to crash twice is a big surprise to me. Also, normally I am quite good in the wet, but here I have found no rear grip in two days, even though we've tried many different things. This afternoon's free practice was a bit better then the two previous sessions, but there's still some way to go to find a good set-up. I really hope that it will not rain tomorrow because that is probably the best chance I have to make a good result.

Yukio Kagayama - Suzuki Alstare - 24th
This weekend has not been easy and the conditions have been very difficult. When it was wet in Germany earlier this season, the grip was not so bad, and I could make a good lap. But here, at Donington, I have found no rear end grip at all, so it's been hard to go fast. We've made many changes over these two days but have not been able to find any rear grip. In fact, the bike feels as if it is aquaplaning in the turns and on the straights! I even tried changing my riding style today, but it didn't make any difference. This is the first time I have not qualified for Superpole and that makes me a little angry and frustrated. I would prefer a dry race tomorrow and two very good starts!

 
Superpole Times - Donington SBK 
 1. BAYLISS      Duc 1098 F08    1:42.013
 2. KIYONARI     Hon CBR1000RR   1:42.353
 3. CHECA        Hon CBR1000RR   1:42.486
 4. XAUS         Duc 1098 RS08   1:42.573
 5. ELLISON      Hon CBR1000RR   1:42.582
 6. BIAGGI       Duc 1098 RS08   1:42.619
 7. SYKES        Suz GSX-R1000   1:42.624
 8. CORSER       Yam YZF-R1      1:42.875
 9. CRUTCHLOW    Hon CBR1000RR   1:43.125
10. FABRIZIO     Duc 1098 F08    1:43.172
11. HAGA         Yam YZF-R1      1:43.218
12. HASLAM       Hon CBR1000RR   1:43.387
13. WALKER       Hon CBR1000RR   1:43.492
14. NEUKIRCHNER  Suz GSX-R1000   1:43.895
15. LAVILLA      Hon CBR1000RR   1:43.915
16. SMRZ         Duc 1098 RS08   1:44.683

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