Both Leon Camier and Eugene Laverty weren't able to progress in the latter stages of today's World Superbike Superpole sessions at Imola after massive chatter problems meant both were eliminated before the final eight.

Camier was first to go out as his first run on the Pirelli soft tyres resulted in his Fixi Suzuki refusing to behave and he was in the pits when the chequered flag was dropped in session one. The former British Superbike Champion had already suffered a crash in second qualifying this morning and missed some time in the final free session.

Neither has ridden on the Pirelli qualifying rubber on their current machinery and Laverty struggled in the second session and ended up in 11th place. He said: “We made good progress with our setting today and I felt content after final free practice. Unfortunately we encountered a major issue with chatter in Superpole which stopped me from lapping quickly. I’m very disappointed because we will start the races from 11th on the grid. The team will investigate the problem and hopefully we can find the solution before the races tomorrow."

Camier added: “I lost time in the qualifying session this morning after a slow speed crash. The rear end was chattering and I just lost the front. There was no problem with me, but the bike had to be rebuilt and that meant I lost the rest of that session and also about 10 minutes of the next one.

“I am happy with the chassis, but I am looking forward to further engine developments from Yoshimura as I’m struggling to pass riders who are two seconds a lap slower than me, and that’s a bit frustrating. I went out on a race tyre in Superpole, but made a little mistake so came back to the pits for a qualifier.

"Even before I reached the first turn, the bike was wobbling and then chattering as I went into the corner, I’ve no idea why, but there was nothing wrong with the bike! I came back to the pits, but wasn’t able to get back out in time on another tyre to set a decent lap in time to progress to Superpole two.”