Sykes clocks the new Best Lap for another Tissot-Superpole
The 5th Tissot-Superpole of the season got underway today at Donington Park under an unusual British sunshine and home fans were not surprised to see Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) scoring his 15th career pole position. Thanks to his 4th consecutive top slot on the grid, the Huddersfield-born rider equals Colin Edwards at sixth all-time for Superpole wins, one off fellow English Neil Hodgson. The works Kawasaki rider bettered three times the previous Best Lap of the Leicester circuit, up to an unbeatable 1'27.378.
An irony of fate for 2nd place Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team), who matched exactly the previous record set last year by Sykes (1'27.716) to secure a front row start along with team mate Eugene Laverty.
After coming close to elimination in Superpole 2, Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) progressed to an outstanding 4th place, a great result for the Ulsterman on the track that saw him winning the latest WSBK race held on the Leicester circuit.
Encouraging performance for Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) who was 5th at the chequered flag to precede works BMW riders Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies, Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia) and Niccolò Canepa. The One Event rider, current Championship leader in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, was the only one entry of the Team Ducati Alstare to qualify for Superpole 3, finishing 9th.
Spaniard Carlos Checa ended his charge to the front rows in Superpole 2 and will start from 10th place on the grid, while Ayrton Badovini was 14th behind local man Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike), who was cleared to ride just before Free Practice 1 on Friday morning.
