Fabrizio leads Kyalami practice
Added on Friday, May 15th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Fabrizio leads Kyalami practice
Michel Fabrizio has continued his recent good form by clocking the fastest time in Friday practice at Kyalami.
The Ducati rider, who secured a win and a second place at Monza last weekend, posted a time of 1:40.067 during the free practice session in South Africa in a closely fought session.
Just 0.734 seconds separated Fabrizio from fourteenth position on the time sheets, although championship front-runners Noriyuki Haga and Ben Spies both found themselves much further down the standings than expected.
Haga, the only rider on the grid to have won at Kyalami, posted the ninth quickest time of the day at 1:40.531 whilst Yamaha rider Spies was down in 12th position.
It was another positive day for the Brits, with Jonathan Rea third fastest behind Ten Kate teammate Carlos Checa. Leon Haslam was fourth ahead of Shinya Nakano, Shane Byrne was sixth fastest and Tom Sykes completed the top ten. Tommy Hill was further down the standings in 21st position.
Further down the field, Suzuki replacement rider, Fonsi Nieto marked his return with a steady run to 20th, while Steve Martin, standing in for BMW’s Troy Corser, was 24th of the 25 riders.
Meanwhile, Regis Laconi didn’t take part in the session after crashing heavily on his first flying lap. The accident prompted a red flag, with the Frenchman being taken to the medical centre for checks.
