Cal Crutchlow took his first ever Superpole this afternoon at Portimao.
The Brit pulverized the track record in Superpole 3 with a blistering lap of 1’42.
092, an amazing 0.
320 of a second faster than Ben Spies’ Superpole time in last year’s race on the same track.
Max Biaggi will start in second and he was 0.
421 of a second behind Cruthlow.
Carlos Checa will start in third on the Althea Ducati, the final spot on row 1 was taken by Alstare Suzuki’s Leon Haslam.
Jonathan Rea will open the second row with his fifth place.
Jakub Smrz on his private Ducati will start in 6th followed by another private Ducati rider Shane Byrne in 7th.
Troy Corser was able to qualify in 8th and Sylvian Guintoli 9th and Ruben Xaus in 10th.
In Superpole 1, the biggest surprise was that both Ducati factory riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio missed entering Superpole 2, qualifying in 17th and 18th and will have to take off from the fifth row in tomorrow’s races.
Fabrizio lost the front on his bike during the first stint and had to return to the pits and pick up his spare bike to finish Superpole 1.
Max Neukirchner crashed in a spectacular highside in the middle of the track, leaving his Ten Kate Honda flying into the gravel, completely destroyed.
The German was still able to qualify for the second stint, but in the end could not qualify higher than 13th.
Not making the cut to Superpole 2 were Michel Fabrizio, Noriyuki Haga and both BMW Reitwagen’s riders Andrew Pitt and Makoto Tamada.
Superpole 2 saw James Toseland go down in a mean crash leaving him in 15th place.
Out after Superpole 2 were Sylvain Guintoli, Ruben Xaus, Leon Camier, Tom Sykes, Max Neukirchner, Lorenzo Lanzi, James Toseland and Luca Scassa who was back in action after missing the first round.
Superpole Results:1 35 Crutchlow C.
(GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′42.
0922 3 Biaggi M.
(ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F.
1′42.
5133 7 Checa C.
(ESP) Ducati 1098R 1′42.
5864 91 Haslam L.
(GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′42.
5965 65 Rea J.
(GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′42.
8076 96 Smrz J.
(CZE) Ducati 1098R 1′42.
8897 67 Byrne S.
(GBR) Ducati 1098R 1′42.
9608 11 Corser T.
(AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′43.
1529 50 Guintoli S.
(FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′42.
98410 111 Xaus R.
(ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1′42.
99911 2 Camier L.
(GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F.
1′43.
03912 66 Sykes T.
(GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′43.
19913 76 Neukirchner M.
(GER) Honda CBR1000RR 1′43.
38014 57 Lanzi L.
(ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′43.
56815 52 Toseland J.
(GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′49.
40116 99 Scassa L.
(ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′44.
24917 84 Fabrizio M.
(ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′43.
56418 41 Haga N.
(JPN) Ducati 1098R 1′43.
68619 88 Pitt A.
(AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′43.
78120 49 Tamada M.
(JPN) BMW S1000 RR 1′45.
14221 32 Morais S.
(RSA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′45.
52022 15 Baiocco M.
(ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′45.
61023 31 Iannuzzo V.
(ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′45.
79524 95 Hayden R.
(USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′45.
799