Reigning champion Tom Sykes will start from pole position in second round of the World Superbike Championship at Spain’s Motorland Aragon circuit.
The Brit pipped his Kawasaki team-mate Loris Baz to the all important pole by just two tenths of a second with a last gap effort in the dying minutes of Superpole 2.
Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli completed the front row in third just ahead of Ducati’s Davide Giugliano and Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea.
Ducati appeared to have the pace to secure pole with Chaz Davies after an impressive start to the final qualifying session. However, the Welshman ruined his chances with a costly fall and will subsequently start Sunday’s races from sixth.
Davies will start just ahead of Aprilia’s Marco Melandri with half a second separating the top seven riders.
The Crescent Suzuki’s of Eugene Laverty and Alex Lowes struggled for outright pace as the pair secured eighth and ninth spots on the grid respectively.
Toni Elias rounded out the top 10 just ahead of Leon Camier on his return to the championship as a replacement for BMW’s injured Sylvain Barrier.
Pata Honda’s Leon Haslam also suffered a fall in the session but luckily he escaped without injury.
World Superbike Championship Qualifying Results – Aragon
Pos | Rider | Team/Bike | Time |
1 | Tom Sykes | Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R | 1m 56.479s |
2 | Loris Baz | Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R | 1m 56.675s |
3 | Sylvain Guintoli | Aprilia Racing RSV4 | 1m 56.769s |
4 | Davide Giugliano | Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R | 1m 56.825s |
5 | Jonathan Rea | PATA Honda CBR1000RR | 1m 56.972s |
6 | Chaz Davies | Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R | 1m 56.977s |
7 | Marco Melandri | Aprilia Racing RSV4 | 1m 57.063s |
8 | Eugene Laverty | Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 | 1m 57.736s |
9 | Alex Lowes | Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 | 1m 57.975s |
10 | Toni Elias | Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 | 1m 58.180s |
11 | Leon Camier | BMW Italia S1000RR | 1m 59.326s (E) |
12 | Leon Haslam | PATA Honda CBR1000RR | No Time |
13 | Niccolo Canepa | Althea Ducati 1199 Panigale R | 1m 59.255s (E) |
14 | David Salom | Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R | 1m 59.486s (E) |
15 | Ayrton Badovini | Bimota Alstare BB3 | 1m 59.596s (E) |
16 | Claudio Corti | MV Agusta RC F3RR | 1m 59.747s |
17 | Sheridan Morais | IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R | 2m 00.415s (E) |
18 | Christian Iddon | Bimota Alstare BB3 | 2m 01.102s (E) |
19 | Michel Fabrizio | IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R | 2m 01.862s (E) |
20 | Jeremy Guarnoni | MRS Kawasaki ZX-10R | No Time (E) |
21 | Fabien Foret | MAHI Kawasaki ZX-10R | 2m 01.511s (E) |
22 | Luca Scassa | Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R | 2m 01.037s (E) |
23 | Alessandro Andreozzi | Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R | 2m 02.507s (E) |
24 | Imre Toth | Team Toth BMW S1000RR | 2m 02.672s |
25 | Aaron Yates | Team Hero EBR 1190RX | 2m 03.102s |
26 | Geoff May | Team Hero EBR 1190RX | 2m 03.657s |
27 | Peter Sebestyen | Team Toth BMW S1000RR | 2m 05.570s (E) |
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