wSBK Press Release:
With high track and air temperatures the first ever Tissot-Superpole at the Sepang International Circuit has been won by Sylvain Guintoli.
Alex Lowes and David Salom were the first 2 classified riders in Superpole 1, progressing to the final shootout with the already seeded top ten from the combined free practice sessions. Ayrton Badovini had been on course for one of the coveted top two places before the Italian fell, thankfully without injury.
At the end of a hot and humid 15 minutes on track it was Sylvain Guintoli who secured his second Tissot-Superpole of the year, winning the grid deciding battle by a margin of 0.106s.
Tom Sykes and Davide Giugliano complete the front row with Toni Elias, Marco Melandri and an unlucky Loris Baz, who crashed whilst on a potential Pole Position lap making up row two in both of tomorrow’s 16 lap encounters.
The trophies for today’s Tissot-Superpole were presented to the top 3 riders by 5 time 500cc World Champion and motorcycle racing icon Mick Doohan.
In the EVO category, the accolade of being the first classified competitor went to David Salom who qualified 12th overall on his Kawasaki.
Sylvain Guintoli:
“The weekend has been perfect so far but tomorrow’s results are the ones that really count. I trained well and I was ready for the extreme heat. I have to say that I feel better on the bike with race tires. I’m happy, the RSV4 is working really well here and we can take the best out of it. I’m really enjoying riding the bike and I’m looking forward to tomorrow, even though there will be two difficult races.”
Tom Sykes:
“We have been quite consistent all weekend and on race tires we are there or thereabouts. I feel we have learned something in the Superpole laps so we will hopefully put that to good use tomorrow. We were not too far away from our competitors and the times have been close, but we will try to work even more to improve the race set-up. I am hoping that we can be in quite a good position tomorrow for race distance and we just need to improve the general feel to utilize the bike a bit better in some corners.”
Times:
1 GUINTOLI Aprilia RSV4 Factory
2 SYKES Kawasaki ZX-10R
3 GIUGLIANO Ducati 1199 Panigale R
4 BAZ Kawasaki ZX-10R
5 ELIAS Aprilia RSV4 Factory
6 MELANDRI Suzuki GSX-R1000
7 LAVERTY Ducati 1199 Panigale R
8 DAVIES Suzuki GSX-R1000
9 LOWES Honda CBR1000RR
10 REA Honda CBR1000RR
11 HASLAM Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO
World Supersport:
Jules Cluzel has claimed Pole Position in the first ever World Supersport event at Sepang.
An exciting 45 minute qualifying session saw many riders taking their turn at the top of the timesheet but at the flag, it was the Frenchman who won on his MV Agusta debut in Australia who secured the top spot on the grid for tomorrow’s 14 lap race.
Joining him on the front row tomorrow will be Kev Coghlan and championship leader Michael van der Mark.
Row two will comprise former champion Kenan Sofuoglu, Roberto Rolfo and a late charging Lorenzo Zanetti.
Wildcard rider Zaqhwan Zaidi sent the crowd into a frenzy with an incredible ride to 7th, just missing out on a second row start in the last seconds of the session.
Times:
1. Cluzel (MV Agusta) 2’08.331 average 155.635 kph
2. Coghlan (Yamaha) 2’08.424
3. Vd Mark (Honda) 2’08.961
4. Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) 2’08.977
5. Rolfo (Kawasaki) 2’09.134
6. Zanetti (Honda) 2’09.494
7. Zaidi (Honda) 2’09.552
8. Jacobsen (Kawasaki) 2’09.580
9. Kennedy (Honda) 2’09.613
10. Wilairot (Honda) 2’09.707
11. Marino (Kawasaki) 2’09.714
For more information: www.worldsbk.com
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