WSB Imola: Sykes takes provisional pole, Haslam third

Tom Sykes continued to demonstrate his impressive pace by securing provisional pole position at the end of second qualifying at Imola this morning. The factory Kawasaki man cites Imola as one of his favourite circuits and he has been in red hot form since arriving at the Italian track.

Second place went to the smooth riding Sylvan Guintoli onboard his Effenbert Liberty Ducati. The UK based Frenchman was the highest placed Ducati, out pacing fellow Ducati rider and world champion Carlos Checa who finished the session well in contention in fourth place.

It was a good day for BMW with both of its factory riders in the top five. Leon Haslam charged to third place with team-mate Marco Melandri in fifth spot.

Eugene Laverty continued his anticipated return to form after suffering a serious hand injury at Phillip Island. The Irishman was ninth on day one and moved up to sixth during the second qualifying session. 

Leon Camier showed impressive pace by running as high as third during the session, but a small crash going for another fast lap meant he could play no further part in the session and dropped to seventh.

It was a disappointing session for 2011 race winner Jonathan Rea who despite improving his lap time dropped to tenth place.

Chaz Davies ended the session in 17th, narrowly missing out on Superpole, with former BSB front runner John Hopkins unable to improve his lap time on Friday leaving him down in 19th place.

Imola – SUPERBIKE – Qualifying 2

1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’47.458
2. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’47.608
3. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’47.646
4. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’47.831
5. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’47.834
6. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’47.908
7. Leon Camier (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’48.119
8. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 1’48.146
9. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’48.176
10. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’48.192
11. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’48.247
12. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1’48.263
13. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 1’48.350
14. Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’48.426
15. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’48.518
16. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’48.650
17. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’48.857
18. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’48.904
19. John Hopkins (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’49.790
20. David Salom (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’49.854
21. Mark Aitchison (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 1’50.009
22. Brett McCormick (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 1’50.266
23. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’50.670
24. Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’50.999
25. Lorenzo Alfonsi (Team Pro Ride Real Game Honda) Honda CBR1000RR 1’52.993