Superpole two

Tom Sykes 1’41.360

Jonathan Rea 1’41.787

Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes will start tomorrow’s World Superbike race from pole position, in a Superpole session that experienced both wet and dry conditions. The Huddersfield man was pushed hard by Eugene Laverty who was only 0.001s behind Sykes' fastest lap of 1’41.360.

Superpole two was red flagged early on because of rain out on the track and then declared wet, resulting in one final Superpole session lasting twenty minutes. Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea was the first rider in the final session to set the fastest lap, with his time of 1’41.787, but Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty was not going to let the Isle of Man rider get the better of him this time, and rode a 1’41.361 lap, placing him firmly in the provisional pole position.

But Huddersfield’s finest soon catapulted himself to the number one spot on the grid with less than six minutes remaining. This means it will be a distinctly British and Irish front row, with Sykes, Laverty and Rea taking those pivotal front three positions.

GoldBet BMW’s Marco Melandri has to contend with starting from the second row of the grid, even though he did put in a fast time it was not enough to break into the top three and will start the race tomorrow from fourth. He will be joined by Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli, who could not find the pace to battle for a front row start, alongside team-mate Laverty. Kawasaki’s Loris Baz rounds off the second row.

Fixi Crescent Suzuki’s Jules Cluzel could not emulate the form in the previous dry Superpole one where he ended the opening session in provisional pole position. In the final outing of the day he could only manage a time that placed him on the third row, sandwiched between Ducati Alstare’s Carlos Checa and Red Devils Roma rider Michel Fabrizio.

GoldBet BMW’s Chaz Davies, like Cluzel, could not clinch a front row start for the main races tomorrow, he could not get himself out of the bottom of the time-sheets, and finished the final Superpole session the twelfth fastest, with a 1'43.463 lap, meaning he will have to start from the fourth row on Sunday.

Superpole one

Jules Cluzel 1’42.440

Carlos Checa 1’42.632

Cluzel stormed to the top of the time-sheets in Superpole one, after the Frenchman found himself in the elimination zone for most of the session, but on his fifth lap set a 1’42.440 time, making him the fastest rider out on the track. He was even faster than Davies who, like Cluzel was hovering near the drop zone for most of the 15 minute session, then rode a 1’42.545 for him to soar to the top, only for Cluzel to go one better a few seconds after.

Checa was also in danger of failing to process into Superpole two, but on his last lap went from eleventh to first with a 1’43.632, with just over a minute remaining to topple Sykes, who was the fastest bike on track at the time, but when the chequered flag appeared the Spaniard and the Brit found themselves pushed down to third and fourth respectively.

It was not a good session for anyone named Leon. Fixi Crescent Suzuki’s Leon Camier did find himself as high as third, but the Kent rider only managed to complete two laps and went back to the pits, and from there he had to watch the other riders progress and he ended up being eliminated, alongside fellow Brit Pata Honda’s Leon Haslam.

The Smalley rider has been suffering with a leg injury but did push himself as high as fourth in the time-sheets, but it was not enough and he slipped down the grid. They were joined with MR-Racing’s Max Neukirchner, who never made it out of the drop zone for the entirety of the session.

ELIMINATED

Leon Camier

Leon Haslam

Max Neukirchner

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