Tom Sykes jumped to the top of the timesheets in QP2 at Phillip Island ahead of this afternoon’s first Superpole of 2012 World Superbike championship season.
The Kawasaki rider set the best lap of the 45 minute session in 1.
31.
323, which was enough to keep, not only former World champion Max Biaggi at bay, but also reigning World champion Carlos Checa, who took the third spot on the provisional grid.
Effenbert Liberty duo Jakub Smrz and Sylvain Guintoli were fourth and fifth respectively, followed by Leon Camier who qualified for Superpole in sixth, followed by debuting and impressive Red Devils Roma Ducati team and rider Niccolo Canepa who grabbed the seventh spot.
Jonathan Rea who set yesterday’s QP1 pace crashed out early in the session at the MG corner, but managed to finish in eighth.
Third Effenbert Liberty Ducati rider Maxime Berger was ninth, while Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK) closed out the top ten.
The heroes of the day so far are injured Eugene Laverty and Leon Haslam who qualified 12th and 13th despite carrying their hand and leg injuries.
Haslam who underwent surgery on Thursday outpaced his healthy team mate Marco Melandri who finished the session in 14th and 0.
800s from Sykes.
ParkinGO’s Chaz Davies qualified for the Superpole in 15th but a crash in the dying minutes left his with a broken wrist.
The last rider to qualify was Joan Lascorz and he was a little more than a second from his team mate Sykes.
Not making it into the Superpole was Hiroshi Aoyama, Bryan Staring, David Salom and Ayrton Badovini Lorenzo Zanetti, Josh Brookes, Mark Aitchison, Raffele de Rosa and wild card David Johnson.
WSBK Phillip Island QP2 results:01- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – 1’31.
32302- Max Biaggi – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.
15403- Carlos Checa – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
29804- Jakub Smrz – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
46005- Sylvain Guintoli – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
50906- Leon Camier – Crescent Fixi Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.
58107- Niccolò Canepa – Red Devils Roma – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
63008- Jonathan Rea – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 0.
63609- Maxime Berger – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
64310- Michel Fabrizio – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 0.
74511- Eugene Laverty – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.
74612- Leon Haslam – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 0.
75913- Marco Melandri – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 0.
80014- Davide Giugliano – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
87515- Chaz Davies – ParkinGO MTC Racing – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.
01516- Joan Lascorz – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 1 1.
08817- Hiroshi Aoyama – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 1.
25318- Bryan Staring – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 1.
29019- David Salom – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 1.
31720- Ayrton Badovini – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 1.
38021- Lorenzo Zanetti – PATA Racing Team – Ducati 1198 – + 1.
45922- Joshua Brookes – Crescent Fixi Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 2.
06123- Mark Aitchison – Grillini Progea Superbike Team – BMW S1000RR – + 2.
07324- Raffaele De Rosa – Team Pro Ride Real Game – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 2.
07825- David Johnson – Rossair AEP Racing – BMW S1000RR – + 2.
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