Honda’s Michael Van Der Mark was the fastest man in World Superbike free practice two at Buriram this morning, ending the session on top with a 1’34.629 just a fraction ahead of Syvlain Guintoli and his Pata Yamaha.
Van Der Mark took top spot with just under 15 minutes remaining in Thailand and, try as they might, the Dutchman was never headed as he gave Honda a huge boost ahead of the remaining practice and qualifying sessions.
Pata Yamaha’s Guintoli tested Van Der Mark all the way, and although he came up just short in second the Frenchman will be plenty pleased with the work gained from the opening two sessions in Thailand.
Alex Lowes, on the other Pata Yamaha, finished fourth on the timesheets as he was just denied the top three by a flying Jordi Torres late in the session on the Althea BMW.
After a solid opening stanza, in which both bikes held top spots, the Kawasaki duo of Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes failed to improve their outright times much over the remainder as Rea finished fifth and Sykes seventh, respectively.
The two Kawasakis sandwiched an impressive effort from Nicky Hayden, making his debut at the Buriram circuit, with his sixth coupled along with Van Der Mark’s exploits giving plenty of joy to the Honda squad.
Aruba.it Ducati struggled badly at the Chang International Circuit in 2015 and that could be the case again, with both Chaz Davies and Davide Giuliano coming home in eighth and ninth, just ahead of Althea BMW’s Markus Reiterberger making the preliminary line-up for Superpole two.
Josh Brookes, who like Hayden hasn’t ridden here before, missed out on making it through to the second Superpole session by hundredths of a second and he’ll be joined in the first shoot-out by Leon Camier - who stunned to take top spot in FP1 - and his Milwaukee team-mate Karel Abraham.
Entrants to Superpole:
Superpole 1
11 25 J. BROOKES AUS Milwaukee BMW BMW S1000 RR 1’35.504
12 2 L. CAMIER GBR MV Agusta Reparto Corse MV Agusta 1000 F4 1’35.604
13 151 M. BAIOCCO ITA VFT Racing Ducati 1199 Panigale R 1’35.644
14 17 K. ABRAHAM CZE Milwaukee BMW BMW S1000 RR 1’36.201
15 20 S. BARRIER FRA Pedercini Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’36.376
16 12 X. FORÉS ESP Barni Racing Team Ducati 1199 Panigale R 1’36.542
17 40 R. RAMOS ESP Team GoEleven Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’36.561
18 15 A. DE ANGELIS RSM IodaRacing Team Aprilia RSV4 RF 1’37.203
19 32 L. SAVADORI ITA IodaRacing Team Aprilia RSV4 RF 1’37.327
20 14 A. NAKCHAROENSRI THA Yamaha Thailand Racing Team Yamaha YZF R1 1’38.310
21 11 S. AL SULAITI QAT Pedercini Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’38.605
22 56 P. SEBESTYÉN HUN Team Tóth Yamaha YZF R1 1’39.035
23 10 I. TÓTH HUN Team Tóth Yamaha YZF R1 1’39.966
Superpole 2
1 60 M. VAN DER MARK NED Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR SP 1’34.629
2 50 S. GUINTOLI FRA Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team Yamaha YZF R1 1’34.811
3 81 J. TORRES ESP Althea BMW Racing Team BMW S1000 RR 1’35.217
4 22 A. LOWES GBR Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team Yamaha YZF R1 1’35.224
5 1 J. REA GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’35.314
6 69 N. HAYDEN USA Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR SP 1’35.344
7 66 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’35.406
8 7 C. DAVIES GBR Aruba.it Racing - Ducati Ducati 1199 Panigale R 1’35.461
9 34 D. GIUGLIANO ITA Aruba.it Racing - Ducati Ducati 1199 Panigale R 1’35.479
10 21 M. REITERBERGER GER Althea BMW Racing Team BMW S1000 RR 1’35.498
Free practice two top speeds
1 32 L. SAVADORI Aprilia RSV4 RF 300,0
2 81 J. TORRES BMW S1000 RR 298,3
3 15 A. DE ANGELIS Aprilia RSV4 RF 297,5
4 66 T. SYKES Kawasaki ZX-10R 297,5
5 60 M. VAN DER MARK Honda CBR1000RR SP 296,7