Kawasaki's Tom Sykes had to dig deep into his speed reserve to come up with his second World Superbike pole position in a row today at Imola after a problem with the Pirelli qualifying rubber in the second session meant a rapid change to his setup.

The Huddersfield man, who was also in top spot at Phillip Island, said he was beyond the limit in the third sector but he kept it together to marmalise the outright lap record and go half a second faster than the field.

“To get two Tissot-Superpole wins on the roll is fantastic. I dug deep after the second Superpole because I knew the times would be fast. On my fastest lap in Superpole three I had a lot of feedback from my Kawasaki. A couple of times I arrived past the limit, but the feel was good so I could finish with a good lap time," said Sykes.

"A few of us have very consistent race pace so there will be a big fight over full race distances on Sunday. I had a little bit of a problem with the qualifying tyre in that second Superpole session but in Superpole three we made a small change, dug a bit deeper and managed to do a good lap. We have a good starting position for tomorrow and I think it will be exciting during the races.”