The Superstock 1000 qualifying shootout saw riders take to the circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours at 14:15 local time (GMT+2) straight after WorldSBK’s thrilling Race 1. It was Pata Yamaha Official Stock Team’s Lucas Mahias who led for most of the session and eventually secured pole position ahead of Sunday’s race.

The stakes are high for the Cup’s protagonists Leandro Mercado (Aruba.it Racing- Junior Team) and Raffaele De Rosa (Althea BMW Team) as Sunday’s grid position could be the deciding factor in who is crowned champion for the 2016 season. De Rosa has the clear advantage heading into the race having cemented second place on the grid at the last minute, while points leader Mercado will start from sixth.

Fellow Frenchman Jeremy Guarnoni (Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) briefly led Mahias but eventually finished in third, locking out the front row of the grid.

Roberto Mercandelli (Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) took a heavy tumble, which  red flagged the session with five minutes remaining. Once back out on track, a flurry of activity at the top of the timesheets saw hundreths and thousandths of seconds sliced off of the fastest times.

Roberto Tamburini (Nuova M2 Racing) finished in fourth ahead of Aruba.it Ducati – Junior Team’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi who locked out the top five.

Alessandro Nocco (Nuova M2 Racing) finished in seventh with Riccardo Russo  Pata Yamaha Official Stock Team) in eigth. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)came ninth ahead of tenth placed Marco Faccani (Triple_M Racing).

STK1000 will be out on track on Sunday the 2^nd of October for the Penultimate round of the 2016 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup which could see a winner take the title.