Haslam takes wet Superpole win

Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) took only his third career Superpole win after a dramatic wet session at Magny-Cours. He was in the process of trying to pass Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati WSB) when he fell late in the stopped and restarted Superpole 2 session. He still took the best grid spot, even from the gravel, as Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) could not finish off his potentially fastest lap the way he needed to.

Rea had been on his way to being fastest man earlier in the session but in his final sector the red flags had come out.

Wet weather arrived just in time for Superpole, meaning wet weather tyres and set-ups were given a first outing for the Superbike class.

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) crashed at turn 13 with just over half the session left. Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda WSB) was also to fall, with six minutes to go, and then Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati WSB) who crashed at high speed into turn 15.

A red flag was shown with 2 minutes 46 seconds left. Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) had crashed heavily and lay immobile for some time, before walking away with the marshals, heading for the medical centre for checks.

The quick restart procedure saw those who could get back out on track to go for one more chance at improving their grid positions.

Haslam took the final prize from Rea and privateer rider Niccolo Canepa (Althea Racing Ducati).

Davies would finish fourth, Guintoli fifth, and Luca Scassa (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati WSB) sixth.

Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was seventh, Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) eighth, and Sykes ninth, being unable to restart after the red flag.

Scassa and Camier escaped the first wet Superpole session to join the ten fastest qualifiers in Superpole 2, with a wet track still underneath them.