07 Sep 2011 Yamaha stays ahead at home ground, Honda twin stars shine in national class - 2011 CSBK Shanghai Round Qualifying Report

The 2011 China Superbike Championship (CSBK) season continues at Shanghai Tianma Circuit on 3 September. This is the third round of the year and the beginning of the second half of the season. The results of this round will probably decide the championship winners.

Q1: Wuyang - Honda makes great improvements

At 12 pm on 3 September, 150cc Open class's first qualifying session begins. In the last round at Beijing, Young Cubs Racing's five Wuyang-Honda has made great improvements and were able to compete against SYM Jiguang Racing's T1 machine. In addition to the old warhorse Loncin GP150, SYM Jiguang Racing's ambitions to dominate will not be easily realized. Also, the Shanghai race weekend has attracted a number of local riders to take part. Bikes such as the SDH 150 and XGJ F5 machines add to the excitement of the race.

As the session begins, the Young Cubs Racing gang seem to show another step in their improvement, rider Chen Xiao-Lei manages a 1:19.167 lap to take provisional pole position. His lap is 0.758 second faster than Xue Wen-Jun's SDH150! SYM Jiguang Racing's trio follow but their laps are more than 1 second slower. But Young Cubs Racing are not enjoying a smooth ride, Chen Yuan-Hang had a big accident in the morning and was sent to hospital, he is not expected to take part today.

At half point, Loncin Dexi Racing's Chen Peng-Yuan has an accident and the race officials shows the red flag to stop the session. Chen Peng-Yuan is sent to hospital for X-rays. The session re-starts and the trio of SYM Jiguang Racing try to achieve a result but they simply have no answer to Chen Xiao-Lei's speed. At the end, Chen Xiao-Lei takes provisional pole position with 1:19.167. Privateer Xue Wen-Jun is in second place with the 3 SYM Jiguang riders in 3-5 places.

At 12:40, SS600cc's first session begins. It looks like another Yes! Yamaha Tianjian Racing and Tianyu DTU Racing battle. Yamaha rider Huang Shi-Zhao does a 1:06.722 lap on lap 4 to go top of the timesheets. "Big Head Fish" Huang Zhi-Yu follows closely just 0.358 second behind. Xiao Jin and Li Peng-Yu are third and fourth. For this race, Huang Shi-Zhao has also organized his own Xujia Flooring  Shi Zhao Racing team to take part in the 600cc class. The riders are Guan Ying-Hao and rookie Qiu Xiao-Wei. Although this is a new team, they have performed well and veteran Guan Ying-Hao qualifies 5th behind the two big teams while Qiu Xiao-Wei puts himself ahead of experienced rider Liang Yu-Xi.

In the last stage of the session, Huang Shi-Zhao's form continues to improve and his 1:06.505 puts pole position out of everyone's reach. Xiao Jin also makes improvement at the last stage and overtakes Huang Zhi-Yu by 0.1 second. But on the tight and twisty Tianma F3 Circuit, the bike's maximum power is not the key to a fast lap,  the never give up Huang Zhi-Yu is not going to let the chance to beat the Yamahas go easily. Soon Big Head Fish manages a faster lap and finished the session in second place. Sandwiched by the two Yamaha riders.

Q2: Xiao Jin takes lead and maintains Yamaha domination

Qualifying session 2 begins at 15:20. First on track is 150cc Open class. At the start of the session, Chen Xiao-Lei continues to show incredible speed and by lap 2, he already sets a 1:19.573 lap to top the time sheets. The trio from SYM Jiguang Racing and privateer Xue Wen-Jun are next. Chen Yuan-Hang, who suffered a big crash in the morning is fine and is allowed to take part in the second session. According to Wang Xi-Ri of Young Cubs Racing, they have recruited a Malaysian engineer to help with their bikes set up for this round, spending RMB 45,000 for this privilege. Wuyang-Honda's progress is hereby explained.

In the second half of the session, although SYM Jiguang Racing's riders try hard to improve their lap times, there is little they can do. In the end, Chen Xiao-Lei takes pole position for the 2011 CSBK Shanghai Round 150cc Open class. Privateer Xue Wen-Jun and SYM Jiguang Racing's Zhou Hang-Kai are second and third. Honda's two different models occupy the first two positions on the grid.

10 minutes after the end of the 150cc qualifying session, SS600cc's second session begins. At the start, Huang Shi-Zhao shows his sizzling form and takes the lead with a 1:07.101. Tianyu DTU Racing's Huang Zhi-Yu and the second Yamaha rider Xiao Jin are second and third.

Behind the lead group are Huang Zhi-Yu's teammate Li Peng-Yu, Xujia Flooring Shi Zhao Racing's Guan Ying-Hao and Qiu Xiao-Wei. In the middle of the session, Huang Shi-Zhao continue to improve his lap time and his 1:06.564 almost confirms his pole position for tomorrow's race. The battle for the second place on the grid heats up as Xiao Jin and Huang Zhi-Yu fight to the finish, the gap between them is only 0.015 second. Xiao Jin makes a last minute dash and makes a 1:06.912 lap to overtake Huang. Yes! Yamaha Tianjian Racing's duo will therefore start from the first two grid positions tomorrow with Huang Zhi-Yu in third place.