Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri were on flying form today on the sunny Algarve circuit at Portimao to secure two front row starts on tomorrow’s grid for the final two races of the 2011 season.
Both riders got straight down to business in this morning’s second qualifying session making several minor adjustments to their R1 set-ups in search of better grip and stability on the machine. Having made significant improvements, both riders concentrated on race set up in the afternoon’s free practice, completing a longer run before wrapping up the successful session at the top of the time sheets, with Melandri in first place and his team-mate just 0.031 of a second behind him in second position.
In the first Superpole knockout session this afternoon, Melandri set the fastest time to claim the top slot, while his team-mate, just behind in third place went comfortably through to the second heat of the day, having both saved their qualifiers for the remaining two sessions. Laverty dominated the second heat using a qualifier to clock in an impressive 1’42.097, just 0.005 off the best lap time recorded on the R1 in 2010. While several riders switched to the last qualifying tyre to complete a further two laps and secure a place in the third heat, Melandri was bumped to eighth place. The final Superpole session of the season saw both Yamaha riders claim front row positions on tomorrow’s race grid, with Laverty in third place and his Italian team-mate beside him in fourth, setting them up nicely for the grand finale.
