Biaggi scores his first brace in Portimao !

The second round of the World Superbike yesterday in Portugal saw Biaggi and his Aprilia win over the two Superbike rounds. But Haslam remains at the top of the provisional classification while in Supersport, Sofuoglu leads the dance. Report.

Pole for Crutchlow

While much was expected of James Toseland’s return to the World Superbike scene, it was his teammate Cal Crutchlow who caused a sensation by signing the first pole of the year for Yamaha. And not content with beating "Dji-Ti" – as well as the rest of the field – the 2009 Supersport World Champion also beats Ben Spies !

Indeed, on Saturday during the Superpole event, the English posted the best time ever achieved by a Superbike on the Portimao track: 1 ‘42.092. That’s three tenths faster than "Big Ben" last year … and five tenths – yes, half a second! – faster than Max Biaggi yet 2nd on the Portuguese grid !

Behind the R1 n ° 35 and Aprilia n ° 3 are Carlos Checa (Ducati Althea) and Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare), the two drivers who dominated the debates in Australia last month, during the race of opening of the championship.

A fifth mark completes the Top 5 of this starting grid: Jonathan Rea takes the lead of the second row at the controls of his Honda CBR1000RR prepared by Team Ten Kate. He is ahead of two private Ducatis: those of Jakub Smrz (PATA B&G) and Shane Byrne (Althea). Last of the last Superpole session – the "Superpole 3" -, Troy Corser will start from 8th place on the handlebars of his official BMW.

Our national driver, Sylvain Guintoli sets the 9th fastest time in Superpole 2 at the controls of his GSX-R 1000. Syl ‘is accompanied on the third row by Ruben Xaus (BMW Motorrad), Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) and Tom Sykes ( Kawasaki Racing Team).

We note the absence on the grid of Chris Vermeulen: his right knee injury preventing him from properly piloting his Ninja ZX-10R, the Australian preferred to withdraw from the first day … Chris was to see a specialist on Sunday Belgium in order to prepare for his return in two weeks to Valence.

Well and truly present on the track, other drivers are also noticed by their absence at the forefront … James Toseland first of all, suffered a fall in Superpole 2 and found himself relegated to 15th position.

But it’s even worse for the two members of the official Ducati team: Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga do not pass the Superpole 1 milestone and are respectively in 17th and 18th place! They will have to spit in the gloves to score big points.

In Supersport, Eugene Laverty offers his Honda Parkalgar team a second consecutive pole on his national circuit. Slower than last October, the Irishman (1 ‘45.169 against 1’ 44.836) is nevertheless ahead of all his little comrades, starting with Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda Ten Kate).

While the Turkish only yielded 14 small hundredths to his predecessor, the other drivers were relegated to more than half a second from the leading duo. Michel Pirro (Ten Kate) and Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com) complete the 1st row.

Fabien Foret and his ZX-6R (Lorenzini) take the lead in second row ahead of Chaz Davies (Triumph Parkingo BE1), Katsuaki Fujiwara (Kawasaki Motocard.com) and Michel Praia (Honda Parkalgar). The third row is taken over by the Daytona 675s: David Salom, Jason Di Salvo and Matthieu Lagrive reserve places 9, 10 and 11 on the grid !

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