BMW Motorrad Motorsport factory riders Leon Haslam and Marco Melandri both qualified their S 1000 RR Superbikes on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s two WSBK races at Donington Park circuit in the UK.

On a sunny but blustery day at the Leicestershire racetrack, the two works riders were blisteringly fast on their RR machines and continued the impressive form shown in both timed qualifying sessions on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, when Haslam finished fourth fastest, closely followed by Melandri in fifth.

In the first SP1 session, it was Melandri who set the early pace, with a 1:28.323 lap posted with 10 minutes still remaining of the first session. This was the fastest lap of the weekend so far and just three tenths off the fastest time ever around Donington Park – but there was much more to come…

With all four BMW riders having qualified for Superpole, the session ended with Melandri fastest, Haslam in sixth and BMW Motorrad Italia Goldbet SBK riders Michel Fabrizio and Ayrton Badovini in eighth and 12th respectively.

In SP2, just after Marco Melandri had improved his impressive time from SP1 with a 1:28.161, it was Haslam who stole the show, posting a first flying lap of 1:28.092 – the fastest ever Superbike lap around Donington Park and certainly good enough for provisional pole. The two BMW Motorrad Italia Goldbet SBK riders failed to make the top eight in this session, with Badovini and Fabrizio finishing in 10th and 11th respectively, which will see them line up on the third row of the grid tomorrow.

In the SP3 showdown, Haslam stunned spectators and circuit commentators by posting yet another ‘fastest ever’ lap of the Donington Park circuit on his RR. However, his time of 1:28.012 only stood for a few seconds, as fellow Brit Tom Sykes put in an amazing lap of 1:27.716 to claim his fourth pole position in just five rounds. Haslam too managed to dip into the sub 1:28 bracket, with just 30 seconds of the session remaining. His time of 1:27.864 on the 4.263km Grand Prix circuit was good enough for second on the grid – matching his best ever qualifying position for BMW Motorrad Motorsport. Team-mate Marco Melandri was just behind in third after he posted a 1:28.177 lap time. These results make it the first time ever that BMW has had both riders occupying the front row of a WSBK grid.

“I am really happy to be on the front row at my home race,” said a delighted Leon Haslam. “A big thanks to my team! In SP1, we had a small issue with the bike. After fixing this, we put on a qualifying tyre. Then in SP2, I clocked a new best lap on race tyres and was on P1. In SP3, we decided to use the qualifying tyre right at the end, but Tom was quicker – he keeps getting these pole positions! In general, the race tyres were working really well, but we were struggling a bit with the qualifying tyres. The times are very close and I think it is going to be an exciting race. There are many riders who can be fast and for sure racing is always close at Donington. We have been working quite hard on race set-up and are pretty consistent. Now we have to see what the weather does. But for now I am feeling pretty happy.”

This was a view shared by Marco Melandri, who said: “I am very happy. The team and the people back at the BMW Motorrad factory did a great job. To be on the front row again in a dry Superpole here at Donington – a completely different track than Monza – is very important for us. It’s great to be back after the issues we had yesterday. Today, I was happy with the race tyre and I got a very good feeling, so I could save the qualifying tyres for the final Superpole session. However, they were not working perfectly, as I experienced some chatter with them, although the laptimes were not too bad. Thanks to my team for the good work they did. Now I am looking forward to tomorrow, when I will try to be on the podium.”

In summarising, Head of Race Operations Andrea Dosoli said: “So far it has been a really great weekend. Both crews were working hard and were able to successfully react to issues, as was the case with Marco yesterday and with Leon in today’s SP1. To have both RRs on the first row is the result of this. We are very close to Tom Sykes, and also our race pace is good. Both riders have done very fast and consistent laps on race tyres, so we are looking forward to two exciting races tomorrow.”

Superpole results:
1. Tom Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki;
2. Leon Haslam (GBR) BMW Motorrad Motorsport;
3. Marco Melandri (ITA) BMW Motorrad Motorsport;
4. Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia

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