Tom Sykes proved the master of wet conditions at Misano to overcome his rivals and win the first Superpole prize for the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R in only its sixth competitive WSBK race weekend.
The Brit had been seventh fastest after the dry combined qualifying sessions had been completed and when the rains appeared just as Superpole One was due to start, Sykes and his Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike crew made good set-up choices and Tom was second quickest at that point. He repeated that feat once again in Superpole Two, then kept his best for last to head Superpole three and secure the best possible starting place for Sunday's 24-lap WSBK races. Carlos Checa, Jakub Smrz and Marco Melandri will join him on the front row.
This was the second time that Tom has scored a pole position start, both in his WSBK career and for Kawasaki, as he took top slot at the Imola round last year in similar conditions, on the 2010 model Ninja ZX-10R machine. Sykes now hopes to get off the start line cleanly and head the field into the first corners at this generally tight and twisty circuit located close to the Adriatic coast.
"That just makes it a little bit sweeter for me, having struggled to get a good dry set-up at some points this weekend," Sykes said. "I took this pole in exactly the same conditions as last year at Imola. I want to give massive credit to Kawasaki Racing and Paul Bird Motorsport, because in those conditions we have a strong electronics package and that helped us today. Conditions we so slippery and we found the maximum. Tomorrow is another day but I am optimistic. I want to get a good start and go as fast as I can for 24 laps. I want to have a top six again, like in America, and today's Superpole win was just a kind of added extra."
Carlos Checa put in five laps, the penultimate of which was his fastest. Although missing out on pole by just two tenths of a second, the Althea Racing rider is nevertheless very satisfied to have secured a front row start in such difficult conditions.
"The start of Superpole didn't go well for me; I crashed almost immediately in the wet but was lucky to not damage the bike," Checa said. "I was able to rejoin without changing bikes but after the crash I took it a little easier, getting to grips with the conditions before starting to push. I was able to gradually build feeling and the strong set-up of the bike allowed me to stay ahead with the fastest guys. To take a place on the front row in conditions like these is great for us as, after a dry weekend, we didn't have any references for wet conditions and the track was really very slippery. My compliments go to Sykes and we'll wait to see what conditions we face tomorrow; I am feeling confident."
with the fourth fastest time Marco Melandri is optimistic of a good result come race day tomorrow.
"It was very important for me to be careful in the first Superpole, avoid making any errors to test the track conditions, gain confidence in the wet and see where I could improve on the bike before the second Superpole," Melandri said. "It got particularly difficult when the track began to dry, I thought we had better grip but the tyres just seemed to give in all of a sudden. We had a very difficult session for this morning's free practice. Suffering from tyre issues, we were unable to work on our race settings for tomorrow. A lot will depend on the weather conditions but I'll certainly do my best. It's great to be on the front row, it should a good race and I'm very optimistic."
The BMW's of Leon Haslam and Troy Corser head the second row with World Champion Max Biaggi and Sylvain Guintoli completing the row.
Chris Vermeulen got back into action and lapped the tight and twisty Misano circuit at a more than respectable pace in his comeback race. His ranking in the time sheets, 22nd, hides the fact that he was only 1.611 seconds from the dry race pre-qualifying best lap. His best lap time was only a second from fourth place in combined qualifying.
"It has been good to come back to a race situation for all of us," Vermeulen said. "We have a little bit of work to do with the bike and the times are so close here. We have improved every session and my gap to the front has been getting closer. It's only 1.6 to the front after dry qualifying but only a second up to fourth place. It is very tight and I just need a little bit more confidence. Kawasaki has been working hard and the improvements can be seen because of Joan and Tom, but we just need to get a base setting and an understanding of the bike from our side.," the Australian concluded.
Parkalgar Honda's Sam Lowes took his first ever World Supersport Championship pole position after rain this afternoon meant that yesterday's qualifying times were never going to be challenged at the Misano circuit in San Marino, Italy, at the fifth round of the series.
Yamaha's Chaz Davies and the Kawasaki duo of David Salom and Broc Parkes will make up the rest of the front row. Championship leader Luca Scassa will miss this round as he serves a penalty for riding the circuit when he was prohibited earlier in the year.
SBK Qualifying position
1 Tom Sykes 1m55.197s (SP3) GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
2 Carlos Checa +0.176s SPA DUCATI Althea Racing
3 Jakub Smrz +0.548s CZE DUCATI Team Effenbert - Liberty Racing
4 Marco Melandri +0.571s ITA YAMAHA Yamaha World Superbike Team
5 Leon Haslam +0.837s GBR BMW BMW Motorrad Motosport
6 Troy Corser +1.088s AUS BMW BMW Motorrad Motosport
7 Max Biaggi +1.283s ITA APRILIA Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team
8 Sylvain Guintoli +1.857s FRA DUCATI Team Effenbert - Liberty Racing
9 Ayrton Badovini 1m57.374s (SP2) ITA BMW BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team
10 Eugene Laverty +0.080s IR YAMAHA Yamaha World Superbike Team
11 Jonathan Rea +0.457s GBR HONDA Castrol Honda SBK Team
12 Joan Lascorz +1.135s ESP KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
13 Michel Fabrizio 2m02.235s (SP1) ITA SUZUKI Team Suzuki Alstare
14 Maxime Berger +0.205s ITA DUCATI Supersonic Racing Team
15 Ruben Xaus -- SPA HONDA Castrol Honda SBK Team
16 Leon Camier -- GBR APRILIA Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team
17 Noriyuki Haga -- JPN APRILIA PATA Racing Team Aprilia
18 Matteo Baiocco -- ITA DUCATI Barni Racing Team S.N.C.
19 Lorenzo Lanzi -- ITA BMW BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team
20 Alessandro Polita -- ITA DUCATI Barni Racing Team S.N.C.
21 Roberto Rolfo -- ITA KAWASAKI Team Pedercini
22 Chris Vermeulen -- AUS KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
23 Mark Aitchison -- AUS KAWASAKI Team Pedercini
WSS Qualifying position
1 Sam Lowes 1m39.541s GBR HONDA Parkalgar Honda
2 Chaz Davies +0.077s GBR YAMAHA Yamaha ParkinGO Team
3 David Salom +0.254s SPA KAWASAKI Kawasaki Motocard.com
4 Broc Parkes +0.356s AUS KAWASAKI Kawasaki Motocard.com
5 Fabien Foret +0.592s FRA HONDA Hannspree Ten Kate Honda
6 Ilario Dionisi +0.600s ITA HONDA Honda Italia Improve FG
7 Robbin Harms +0.913s DEN HONDA Benjan Racing
8 Florian Marino +0.926s FRA HONDA Hannspree Ten Kate Honda
9 Massimo Roccoli +1.098s ITA KAWASAKI Lorenzini By Leoni
10 James Ellison +1.202s GBR HONDA Bogdanka PTR Honda
11 Roberto Tamburini +1.439s ITA YAMAHA Bike Service R.T.
12 Mirko Giansanti +1.448s ITA KAWASAKI Puccetti R. Kawasaki Italia
13 Alessio Velini +1.472s ITA HONDA Velmotor 2000
14 Stefano Cruciani +1.740s ITA KAWASAKI Puccetti R. Kawasaki Italia
15 Vladimir Ivanov +1.799s RUS HONDA Step Racing Team
16 Gino Rea +1.836s GB HONDA Step Racing Team
17 Danilo Dell'Omo +1.861s ITA TRIUMPH Suriano Racing Team
18 Pawel Szkopek +1.904s POL HONDA Bogdanka PTR Honda
19 Vittorio Iannuzzi +2.026 ITA KAWASAKI Lorenzini By Leoni
20 Vladimir Leonov +2.138s RUS YAMAHA Yakhnich Motorsport
21 Miguel Praia +2.189s PRT HONDA Parkalgar Honda
22 Alexander Lundh +2.224s SWE HONDA Cresto Guide Racing Team
23 Ondrej Jezek +2.344s CZE HONDA SMS Racing
24 Imre Toth +2.389s HUN HONDA Team Hungary Toth
25 Luca Marconi +2.734s ITA YAMAHA Bike Service R.T.
26 Luri Vigilucci +3.002s ITA YAMAHA Vigi Racing Team
27 William Marconi +3.224s ITA YAMAHA Marconi Racing
28 Balazs Nemeth +3.333s HUN HONDA Team Hungary Toth
29 Roman Stamm +3.392s SUI HONDA MACH Racing
30 Ronan Quarmby +3.506s RSA TRIUMPH Suriano Racing Team
31 Marko Jerman +4.128s SLO TRIUMPH MD Team Jerman
32 Giuliano Rovelli +4.792s ITA YAMAHA Yamaha ParkinGO Team
33 Mitchell Pirotta +4.984s AUS HONDA Kuja Racing
34 Yves Polzer +5.902s AUT YAMAHA Team MRC Austria
35 Valery Yurchenko +6.504s RUS YAMAHA Rivamoto
36 Eduard Blokhin +6.573s RUS YAMAHA Rivamoto
37 Oleg Pozdneev +6.608s RUS YAMAHA Rivamoto
