Local rider Roberto Tamburini has taken pole position at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, with a 1:49.672 on his Aprilia to beat former Cup winner Leandro Mercado into P2 by only 0.029. With the session coming to a slightly premature end as the red flag came out with 30 seconds left on the clock after a crash, a few lap times were also deleted as riders pushed too far over the limit to cut time off through the chicanes of the Imola circuit.

On a grid with so many Italians, the home crowd were sure of reasons to celebrate as STK1000 headed out on track to decide grid positions for Sunday’s race. With Althea BMW’s Raffaele de Rosa currently leading the Cup standings from Aruba.it rider Michael Ruben Rinaldi, the support of the home fans was sure to prove extra motivation for so many in the category and 7 of the top 10 are from the home nation.

Tamburini will start from pole for Aprilia, ahead of Argentine rider Leandro Mercado riding the Aruba.it Ducati for some Italian glory, who headed De Rosa, Cali, Salvadori and second Aruba.it rider Michael Ruben Rinaldi in P7. Turk Toprak Razgatlioglu ended the Italian domination for Kawasaki in P8, but was followed by Italian Luca Vitali in P9 ahead of Swiss rider Sebastien Suchet on the Yamaha YZF R1.

Lights go out for the STK1000 Race at 14:20 local time (GMT +2) on Sunday 1^st May for another classic clash.