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SBK Kyalami, report Pirelli Superbike

In SBK

18 maggio 2009

At 1465 Metres above sea level, the 4.246km long Kyalami circuit offered the World Superbike and Supersport competitors a unique challenge in several ways. It is a new track for most, as it was last used by WSBK in 2002, although many of the top Superbike teams and one World Supersport Team tested at the circuit in the Gauteng region of South Africa last December, during tyre and machine development session.

Since then the removal of the final chicane, to be replaced with a right-hander over the crest of a hill, has changed the track length to 4.246km, and made it naturally faster, but the sheer pace of the qualifying sessions at Kyalami was impressive all the same.

Ben Spies, who has been making headlines and history since he first arrived in WSB this year, wrote his name into granite in the record books again in qualifying, and he now shares the record for six consecutive pole position wins with his fellow Texan, Doug Polen. He set a new track best of 1’37.288 in Superpole three to head up a front row qualifying order of Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) and championship leader, Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox). Spies was only one thousandth of a second ahead of Fabrizio in Superpole three.

Several riders were replaced for this race, because of injury, with Fonsi Nieto, Gregorio Lavilla, Sheridan Morais, Steve Martin and Shaun Whyte taking their place on the grid for the first time this year. Regis Laconi (DFX Ducati) crashed at high speed in the first session of the weekend, and suffered serious head, spinal and lung injuries. He condition is now improving and he is set to have an operation on Tuesday to fix his broken vertebrae in place, and the other neurological problems resulting from the crash are also showing positive results.

After the feedback received from the tests in December, Pirelli shipped 4,365 tyres from Europe in February, to suit the needs of Kyalami racetrack. The old, scarred and bumpy asphalt at Kyalami means the riders need a lot of grip to recover their ideal racing lines. The track temperature during the current South African winter has been less warm than the extremes of over 50°C experienced in testing. That has allowed the use of softer tyres than a normal WSB weekend.

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