PTR Honda's Sam Lowes blasted to World Supersport pole position at Imola this afternoon, going half a second faster than Sheridan Morais with his final lap to deny the South African and put former champion Kenan Sofuoglu into third on the grid.
The former British Supersport Champion went round in 1'51.436 with only two minutes of the session remaining, leaving the competition virtually no time to respond. Morais' best was a 1'51.906 while Turk Sofuoglu was back in the early 1'52s bracket.
"We worked towards the race, made some changes to the bike and it felt really good. The qualifying session was going really well and I knew I could do a faster time but the red flag caught us out a little bit. I thought we left it a bit late but luckily I got one flying lap in and managed to grab the pole position. The bike is working good and it's exactly how I want it. We're capable of a good performance tomorrow so I'll do the best I can.," said Lowes.
Lowes' team-mate Jules Cluzel, in only his second WSS race, took the final front row spot, deposing ex-champ Broc Parkes who heads row two. Veteran Fabien Foret is next to the Australian with Roberto Tamburini and Massimo Roccoli in seventh and eighth. Britain's Martin Jessopp, on another PTR machine, is 18th and nearly three seconds off the pace.
