Tom Sykes took his eighth pole position of the 2012 season in today’s Superspol session at the spectacular Portoghuese circuit at Portimao.
The Kawsaki rider with his blistering lap in SP3 (he was also the fastest in SP2) in 1.
41.
415, and pn his way to the pole position set a new track record.
Starting on the front row with the Kawasaki rider will be Carlos Checa and Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty (and it will be interesting to see if the Irishman will receive team orders for tomorrow’s races) and the only three to break the 1.
42 barrier while Marco Melandri will start in fourth and ahead of title rival Max Biaggi.
Opening the second row will be Biaggi, who will need an good start and be one of the two front runners when they hit the last of the three right opening turns.
Leon Haslam will be sarting right next to him with Jonathan Rea and Chaz Davies (who was the fastest rider at the end of SP1 with a best lap of 1’42″516 using his first qualifying tire).
The third row will see Leon Camier who was ousted out of SP3 by just 0.
016s by BMW’s Leon Haslam and he will have Davide Giugliano, Sylvain Guintoli (the French rider and Lorenzo Zanetti will have to search for a new team next year as Pata is pulling out after losing their title sponsor to Honda) and Kawasaki’s Loris Baz who didn’t improve with his second qualifying tire, but he managed to pip Liberty Racing’s Brett McCormick – in his best starting result this season – from SP2 by a mere 0.
002s but the Canadian out performed riders like Ayrton Badovini, Michel Fabrizio and David Salom.
WSBK Portimao Superpole results:1.
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′41.
415 2.
Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′41.
780 3.
Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′41.
789 4.
Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1′42.
015 5.
Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′42.
140 6.
Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1′42.
271 7.
Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1′42.
717 8.
Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′43.
459 9.
Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′42.
767 10.
Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′42.
799 11.
Sylvain Guintoli (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1′42.
995 12.
Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′43.
199 13.
Brett McCormick (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′43.
410 14.
Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1′43.
483 15.
Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1′43.
863 16.
David Salom (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′44.
479 17.
Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1′44.
569 18.
Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1′44.
790 19.
John Hopkins (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′44.
865 20.
Alexander Lundh (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′45.
158 21.
Lorenzo Lanzi (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 1′45.
682 22.
Matteo Baiocco (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 1′46.
344 23.
Norino Brignola (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 1′46.
891