Tom Sykes grabbed the first provisional pole at the Silverstone circuit edging out Carlos Checa – who seemed on the verge of making a clean sweep this Friday for the top spot until the Kawasaki rider came up the charts in the final minute to pip him by just 0.
033s.
The very tricky damp conditions saw Sykes lap in 2′06.
115, while a highly impressive Sylvain Guintoli took third with his Pata Ducati, after leading much of the session.
Leon Camier also moved up the timesheets to take fourth.
Chaz Davies in a fast lap flyer finished in fifth and ahead of Liberty Racing’s Jakub Smrz.
Eugene Laverty also put in flying lap towards the end of the session to take seventh, while Lorenzo Zanetti has gotten a wake up call and took eighth.
The Ducati’s seem not be feeling the extra weight in England as Maxime Berger finished in ninth and John Hopkins jumped into 10th.
Ayrton Badovini was the fastest BMW rider in 11th, while BMW factory rider Marco Melandri who was 5th fastest this morning, dropped down to 12th with team mate Leon Haslam right behind him.
A returning Niccolò Canepa was 14th, while Loris Baz dropped back to 15th was BMW Italia’s Michel Fabrizio couldn’t do any better than 16th.
Max Biaggi (17th) and Jonathan Rea (18th) finished outside the provisional 16 and their Superpole partecipation could be at risk if tomorrow’s QP2 turns out to be wet.
WSBK Silverstone QP1 results:01- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – 2’06.
115 02- Carlos Checa – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
033 03- Sylvain Guintoli – PATA Racing Team – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
461 04- Leon Camier – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.
502 05- Chaz Davies – ParkinGO MTC Racing – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.
569 06- Jakub Smrz – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
680 07- Eugene Laverty – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.
736 08- Lorenzo Zanetti – PATA Racing Team – Ducati 1198 – + 0.
754 09- Maxime Berger – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – + 0.
852 10- John Hopkins – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.
892 11- Ayrton Badovini – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 0.
974 12- Marco Melandri – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 1.
129 13- Leon Haslam – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 1.
286 14- Niccolò Canepa – Red Devils Roma – Ducati 1198 – + 1.
289 15- Loris Baz – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 1.
384 16- Michel Fabrizio – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 1.
543 17- Max Biaggi – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.
608 18- Jonathan Rea – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 1.
625 19- Davide Giugliano – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 1.
695 20- Hiroshi Aoyama – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 1.
881 21- David Salom – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 3.
323 22- David Johnson – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 3.
928 23- Norino Brignola – Grillini Progea Superbike Team – BMW S1000RR – + 5.
530 24- Brett McCormick – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 7.
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