Yamaha World Superbike riders Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri got straight to work in this morning’s first practice and subsequent Qualifying sessions to provide a series of strong and consistently fast laps.

Eugene Laverty was on flying form under the Italian sunshine in Monza completing this afternoon’s Qualifying session in third place, just three tenths of a second behind Haslam in first. After improving his position on the bike, providing further comfort and stability, the Irishman proceeded to focus on race pace and tyre wear before putting in a flying lap ahead of tomorrow’s Superpole.

Team-mate Melandri was on equally reliable form. The Italian spent the duration of this morning’s session getting acquainted with the particularly fast track, which he hasn’t had the opportunity to ride since his brief encounter in 1996. Despite this unfamiliarity, the Italian showed constant progress throughout the two sessions, putting in his fastest lap at the end of the 23 laps completed, and finishing in seventh place.

Eugene Laverty - Yamaha World Superbike Team - 3rd, 1'43.265

“Today went well. I’m particularly happy with this afternoon’s Qualifying session. I did a race run and put in a series of consistent laps, which I am very satisfied with. I also managed to get in a fast lap time to ensure I make the cut for Superpole. Tomorrow we can concentrate on further improving the set up of the bike and I don’t have to worry about making the final 16.”

Marco Melandri - Yamaha World Superbike Team - 7th, 1'43.588

“Today was a very positive, yet difficult day. I’m relatively satisfied with the results but we still have quite a bit of work to do. We focused on the bike’s race set up this morning and tried the softer tyre combination with it this afternoon . There’s still plenty of room for improvement but we are on the right road. The team are working hard and let’s hope we can improve on the set-up and get better results tomorrow.”

Andrea Dosoli - Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager

“Both riders had a positive day today. I believe this was a good start to a weekend that’s very important to us , being the home race. Eugene and Marco focused mainly on the bike’s rear set-up. They both gathered some valuable data which the teams will evaluate and continue to work on this evening . I am satisfied overall, they were consistent throughout the sessions and also put in a flying lap. It’s important to be in a position to select a suitable race tyre tomorrow and we’ll see if the input we gathered from today’s sessions will provide better results ahead of second qualifying and Superpole sessions.”

1 Leon Haslam BMW GBR 1'42.934
2 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 1'42.953
3 Eugene Laverty Yamaha GBR 1'43.265
4 Ayrton Badovini BMW ITA 1'43.276
5 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 1'43.321
6 Noriyuki Haga Aprilia JPN 1'43.531
7 Marco Melandri Yamaha ITA 1'43.588
9 Maxime Berger Ducati FRA 1'43.679
10 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 1'43.730
11 Michel Fabrizio Suzuki ITA 1'43.762
12 Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 1'43.850
13 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati FRA 1'43.861
14 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 1'44.071
15 Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ESP 1'44.095
16 Ruben Xaus Honda ESP 1'44.232




Yamaha ParkinGO riders topped the time sheets in today’s first Qualifying session, under beautiful sunshine at the team’s home track in Monza. Davies means to continue where he left off in Assen where he bagged his maiden victory of the 2011 World Supersport Championship.

Team-mate and current Championship leader, Luca Scassa was also on flying form, completing the day’s qualifying session in second place, just one tenth of a second behind Davies. Yamaha ParkinGO Team have three out of three wins so far this season and are proving to be extremely capable of a fourth victory this Sunday on this infamously fast Italian track.

Chaz Davies - Yamaha ParkinGO Team -1st, 1'48.408

"I’m very satisfied with today’s results. The bike is going very well and I’m really pleased with it. By lap four today I had already beaten my fastest lap here from last year and that’s a pretty good sign. I don’t think the bike is 100 per cent yet, but I know where we need to improve and so potentially we can do even better tomorrow. I was a little bit weary of coming to Monza. I had a bad race here last year but I think that’s well behind me now.”

Luca Scassa - Yamaha ParkinGO Team- 2nd, 1'48.513

“It was a good start to my home race weekend here in Monza today. We still need to improve on the bike set-up but just fine tuning really. I intend making up for lost points from the fall in Assen and I’m more motivated than ever now. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”

1 Chaz Davies Yamaha GBR 1'48.408
2 Luca Scassa Yamaha ITA 1'48.513
3 Gino Rea Honda GBR 1'49.153
4 Florian Marino Honda FRA 1'49.156
5 Broc Parkes Kawasaki AUS 1'49.218
6 Roberto Tamburini Yamaha ITA 1'49.263
7 Sam Lowes Honda GBR 1'49.462
8 David Salom Kawasaki ESP 1'49.788
9 Fabien Foret Honda FRA 1'49.831
10 Miguel Praia Honda POR 1'49.855
11 Imre Toth Honda HUN 1'49.920
12 Massimo Roccoli Kawasaki ITA 1'49.924
13 James Ellison Honda GBR 1'49.953
14 Mirko Giansanti Honda ITA 1'50.000
15 Vittorio Iannuzzo Kawasaki ITA 1'50.218
23 Luca Marconi Yamaha ITA 1'52.036
28 Yves Polzer Yamaha AUT 1'55.029
29 Eduard Blokhin Yamaha RUS 1'55.132
30 Chip Yates Yamaha USA 1'55.797
31 Oleg Pozdneev Yamaha RUS 1'55.999