WSBK 2012 DONINGTON: JAKUB SMRZ TAKES QP1

Liberty Racing’s sponsor Effenbert will definitely be happy that in this afternoon’s first qualifying practice at Donington Park was lead by Jakub Smrz. The Czech rider in the final minutes of the session upped his game and posted a best lap of 1.29.336 that left Jonathan Rea in second and just 0.057s adrift, but the Honda rider suffered another crash at the Foggy Esses that ruled him out of another chance of bettering himself.

Lap times dropped considerably from this morning with Carlos Checa racing up to 3rd after this morning’s 11th spot and he was followed by two Leon’s, Haslam and Camier who provisionally qualified fourth and fifth respectively. This morning’s leader Tom Sykes dropped to sixth, but he was just 0.383s from Smrz. Michel Fabrizio finished in seventh with Aprilia’s Max Biaggi right behind him. Two other Italian’s closed out the top ten, Davide Giugliano and Ayrton Badovini on their Ducati and BMW machines. The GoldBet rider also suffered a crash in this session

Marco Melandri finished 11th after an error on his last flying lap dropped him out of the top ten and he was the last rider to be within a second from Smrz, while Eugene Laverty was only 16th.

WSBK DONINGTON PARK QP1 RESULTS

• 01. Jakub Smrz – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – 1’29.336
• 02. Jonathan Rea – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 0.058
• 03. Carlos Checa – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.171
• 04. Leon Haslam – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 0.268
• 05. Leon Camier – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.278
• 06. Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 0.383
• 07. Michel Fabrizio – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 0.582
• 08. Max Biaggi – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.637
• 09. Davide Giugliano – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.641
• 10. Ayrton Badovini – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 0.650
• 11. Sylvain Guintoli – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.889
• 12. Marco Melandri – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 0.909
• 13. Chaz Davies – ParkinGO MTC Racing – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.056
• 14. Hiroshi Aoyama – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 1.186
• 15. Maxime Berger – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 1.203
• 16. Eugene Laverty – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.241
• 17.. Peter Hickman – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 1.568
• 18. Lorenzo Zanetti – PATA Racing Team – Ducati 1198 – + 1.699
• 19. Niccolò Canepa – Red Devils Roma – Ducati 1198 – + 1.863
• 20. Loris Baz – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 2.289
• 21. Mark Aitchison – Grillini Progea Superbike Team – BMW S1000RR – + 2.667
• 22. Leandro Mercado – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 3.470
• 23. Gary Mason – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 4.748