Superpole three
Tom Sykes 1'41.415
Carlos Checa 1'41.780
Eugene Laverty 1'41.789
Kawasaki's Tom Sykes took yet another World Superbike pole position at Portimao this afternoon and set a new circuit best lap in the process with 1'41.415, more than three tenths faster than former champion Carlos Checa himself only just able to hold off Aprilia's Eugene Laverty in third.
BMW's Marco Melandri completes the front row but the BMW just missed out on his final flying lap after some bodywork came loose from his S1000RR in the pitlane with two minutes to go and he was beaten by the chequered flag.
Max Biaggi tops the second row with Leon Haslam right next to him with Jonathan Rea and Chaz Davies round out the top eight.
Superpole two
Tom Sykes 1'41.691
Carlos Checa 1'41.793
Eugene Laverty 1'42.104
Davies pulled another lap out of the bag to get into the final session, jumping from the drop zone into fifth place which demoted old mate Leon Camier into ninth place and out of the final analysis. Haslam was also going through squeaky-bum time but he held on by a gnat's.
Sykes was once again quickest, only doing a single lap to take top spot and a late lap by Checa also saw him safely through. Laverty is pushing through consistent times, getting among the front runners once again.
ELIMINATED
Leon Camier
Davide Guigliano
Sylvain Guintoli
Loris Baz
Superpole one
Chaz Davies 1'42.516
Tom Sykes 1'42.635
Eugene Laverty 1'42.659
Davies hauled himself from the middle of the relegation zone to top spot with his final lap on his first of two qualifying tyres and just squeaked Sykes down to second place. The Kawasaki man's rear tyre was so soft in terms of air pressure it he was nearly airborne over the yump at the start of the home straight, the back wheel skipping around with the throttle pinned open.
Camier and Baz were on the bubble of being demoted by no-one below them managed to go any quicker. David Salom's Pedercini Kawasaki developed a technical problem on his last lap while Ayrton Badovini hasn't been able to get any rear grip from his BMW Italia bike all weekend.
ELIMINATED
Brett McCormick
Ayrton Badovini
Michel Fabrizio
David Salom
