1-2 For Parkes And Salom In Motorland Qualifying

2011-06-18 10:47
Championship leader Broc Parkes and his team-mate David Salom dominated qualifying at Aragon, with Parkes setting a new best lap of 2’02.093 and Salom finishing close behind on his own Ninja ZX-6R.

The Provec Motocard.com team used the knowledge gained from a relatively recent test at Aragon to be in the leading mix from the very first session this weekend, with Parkes riding a wave of confidence that delivered him a first pole position in partnership with Kawasaki, and the 12th pole of his career. Broc has fallen twice in qualifying but his self-confidence and smart teamwork in the pits mean that he recovered from each with no harm done and he is fully prepared for Sunday’s 18-lap race. Broc is confident in his pace in both race and qualifying trim as he goes for back-to-back wins.

Had Parks not been baulked in the final qualifying session, he may have set a time under the 2’02 barrier, such was his ability to deal with the blind corner entries and changes of elevation, as well as variations in track temperatures at this circuit new to the championship itself.

The only close challenge Broc had after two qualifying sessions came from his team-mate David, who was second in qualifying at his ‘new’ home track. Salom ended up only 0.361 seconds from Broc, and 0.254 seconds ahead of third placed qualifier, Sam Lowes.

Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki rider Massimo Roccoli also had a strong qualifying performance, going sixth on the grid, starting the race from the second row. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki) was also in the right half of the qualifying rankings, 13th from 29 riders.

Broc Parkes: “We had a little bit in the bag, I think, and we were always going to put on that last new tyre. I had a couple of downs this weekend so I did not want to use the last tyre too early in the final session. Even on my best lap I had a little bit of traffic at the end so maybe we could have made a 2’01 lap time. Anyway, I am really happy to have pole and it’s the first one for Kawasaki and I together. I really enjoyed winning the pole but most of all we need to be there for the win tomorrow. The pace looks good for us but the race is 18-laps long, it is going to be hot, so it is will be another challenge tomorrow. There is one choice of rear tyre for all of us, I think. It is working pretty good and we think it is going to go the distance. Things look OK after qualifying.”

David Salom: “Very good! I am very happy for the team with two riders in the first two positions. I think for tomorrow it will be a good race for us. The bike has been working well and we have a strong race pace. Our consistency has been the way we wanted it. I think we will all be using the same rear tyre as the rest and the team has done a great job during our tests here and then again in qualifying. It is also nice to be racing in Spain this weekend.”

Source: Kawasaki Racing Team

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