Kawasaki’s Loris Baz pulverized the outright lap record during the World Superbike qualifying session at Jerez, and went four tenths faster that the best time set by Eugene Laverty last year.
The tall French rider lapped an incredibly quick 1’40.298, and will start on pole for the double-header tomorrow. The front row is completed by Ducati’s Davide Giugliano and Baz’s duelling team-mate, Tom Sykes.
Huddersfield’s finest was three tenths off the time lapped by his colleague, but still did enough to secure third on the starting grid for Sunday. Aprilia’s Marco Melandri heads up row two, with team-mate Sylvain Guintoli at his side.
Voltcom Suzuki’s Eugene Laverty rounds up the second row, and managed to edge ahead of Ducati’s Chaz Davies on the sheets, to secure sixth. The Welshman didn’t get into the 1’40’s but a 1’41.199 was good enough to place him seventh, with Pata Honda’s Leon Haslam and Voltcom Suzuki’s Alex Lowes rounding up an all British third row.
The reigning MCE British Superbike champion was on course to improve on his best lap of a 1’41.421, but crashed at Michelin, just as the chequered flag appeared. Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea never made it from the bottom half of the sheets in Superpole two, and finds himself on the fourth row with Barrier for company. The French rider did not have the best of sessions after he fell at Peluqui.
Haslam initially topped the Superpole one session, but with a minute to go David Salom went quickest with a 1’42.329 onboard his Evo Kawasaki bike, but the Smalley rider bit back and regained his place at the top spot of the timesheets, with a 1’42.058, only to be pipped to the post by Sylvain Barrier – who went three tenths faster on his BMW Evo machine.
But Haslam managed to hang on to second to make his way into Superpole two, and both him and Barrier were the only riders to lap inside the 1’41’s during the opening qualfiying session. Salom and fellow Evo rival Canepa will start the races from the fifth row.
