SBK: Jerez qualifying – Sykes claims Spanish Tissot-Superpole with new outright record

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) has claimed the Pirelli Spanish Round pole position, his 29th career Pole after a nail biting Tissot-Superpole at the 4.423km Jerez Circuit this afternoon. The Briton lapped in an outright circuit best of 1.40.292s, six thousandths of a second better than former teammate Loris Baz’s time of 12 months ago.

The final minutes of the second session were simply hectic, with many position changes until to the chequered flag as the top 7 were separated by less than nine tenths of a second. Joining Sykes on the front row tomorrow are series leader and team mate Jonathan Rea and Althea Racing’s Niccolò Canepa, the trio split by 0.216s.

Row 2 will be headed by Michael van der Mark, who posted a series of impressive laps to grab fourth after making his way through Superpole 1 and narrowly missing out on his first ever front row start. He will be joined by Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) and Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team).

Replacement rider at the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team Michele Pirro qualified seventh ahead of Althea Racing rider Matteo Baiocco and Voltcom Crescent Suzuki’s Alex Lowes who completes row 3.

Row 4 will see Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) and Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) ahead of Team Pedercini’s David Salom, who after falling in SP1 was unable to take to the track for the final 15 minutes.

Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing) and Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) will line up tomorrow on the fifth row on the grid.

Source: WorldSBK