Aprilia riders in good shape with Haslam only 0.011s from Pole Position
First and second row starts for Aprilia in Thailand
In a spectacular Superpole session Aprilia, the reigning world champions declared themselves in good shape after 2 almost perfect laps gave Leon Haslam a front row start with team-mate Jordi Torres excelling on his first experience with qualifying tyres to secure a place on the second row.
For Leon Haslam (leading the standings after victory in Australia) this is the second front row start in as many races after taking 3rd on his debut with the Aprilia RSV4. After putting the best time of the session on his first attempt with a qualifier, Leon kept on, further improving his performance to miss out on Pole Position by the smallest margin.
Leon Haslam: “I'm pleased with this Superpole. The first row was our goal. In the first lap with a qualifier I may have been a bit overly cautious, whereas in the second one I made a small mistake. In any case, in terms of race pace we are doing well. The guys at Aprilia have done a great job and the RSV4 adapted quickly to the new track. Tomorrow the track condition will be different and I expect that there will be several riders capable of making a play for the win.”
For WorldSBK rookie Jordi Torres, this was his first experience with a Pirelli Superpole tyre as in Australia the Superpole 2 session had been suspended. In any event, the Spaniard handled this new situation well, finishing with the fifth best time which earns him a spot on the second row of the starting grid for both 20 lap races tomorrow.
Jordi Torres: “I would have needed a few more laps during this weekend, but unfortunately the rain this morning made us miss a session. In FP4 we managed to do a great job, getting back up front, but first and foremost increasing my feeling with the RSV4. In Superpole for the first time I used a qualifier and the second row is not too bad at all, but when you ride an Aprilia it's never enough! Tomorrow we'll have to use the warmup wisely to improve further, especially in the braking sections where I still haven't found the right solution to brake hard and keep the bike stable.”
