Superpole Assen: Sykes far ahead of Guintoli and company

After three test sessions in the wet, the World Superbike riders competed for the Dutch pole position on a dry track. Tom Sykes emerged victorious from this delicate event, far ahead of Guintoli and Giugliano… When the second session of the Superpole (SP2) begins, the circuit is dry but lacking …

After three test sessions in the wet, the World Superbike riders competed for the Dutch pole position on a dry track. Tom Sykes emerged victorious from this delicate event, far ahead of Guintoli and Giugliano…

When the second session of the Superpole (SP2) begins, the circuit is dry but devoid of rubber and the temperatures remain cool in the air as on the track. The wind continues to blow very strongly, which allowed the track to dry out but complicates the task of the pilots…

It is clearly not easy to get into the rhythm, as Chaz Davies’ exit from the track proves from the first corner of his first lap! The Ducati rider happily reached the track without incident and set off again to storm the clock.

Michael Van den Mark appears in the lead at the end of the first lap, but the local child (down) is removed from the provisional pole by Sylvain Guintoli. Tom Sykes took the lead a few seconds later, completing his first lap under 1.38! The English Ninja is approaching the next round of the 1 ’37.

Jonathan Rea, on the other hand, struggles to find his marks in the dry … The "Number One" takes several minutes to propel himself from tenth to second position! Davies then closes the Top 3 on hard compounds, ahead of Reiterberger, Van den Mark, Giugliano, Lowes and Guintoli.

Then the teams take out the soft qualifying tires … "Magic Michael" again hoists his Fireblade to pole position but Giugliano, Guintoli and Sykes take turns leading the screens while Lowes falls in the final chicane.  

Tom Sykes’ time is not beaten: "Major Tom" signs his third pole of the season – in four events! – and the 33rd of his career. The famous n ° 66 is only 10 units away from Troy Corser’s record: 43 poles, against 26 for Bayliss and 21 for Fogarty.

Less close to Sykes than to Aragon two weeks ago in terms of time, Sylvain Guintoli will nevertheless post his official Yamaha R1 on second place on the grid this afternoon and tomorrow. The Frenchie is ahead of Davide Giugliano and his factory Ducati.

The world champion Jonathan Rea places his Ninja in front of his two main opponents: Van den Mark who rides at home on his Honda and Davies who signed the double in Aragon and pursues him at the world championship at the controls of his Ducati…

Picked up in SP1, the two BMW team riders Althea Marcus Reiterberger and Jordi Torres supervise Xavi Fores, very impressive during the last two Spanish races on his private Ducati. Hayden, Savadori and Lowes form the fourth row.

A few minutes before SP2, the Superpole 1 pilots were the first to ride on a dry track, but only partially: some portions were still very dark and you had to be very precise on the trajectories….

From the first loops, Leon Camier and Alex de Angelis set up their Italians (MV Agusta F4 and Aprilia RSV4 respectively) at the forefront. Karel Abraham on the contrary, victim of a new technical problem, must give up at mid-session.

While three S1000RR drivers Josh Brookes, Marcus Reiterberger and Jordi Torres are at the gates of SP2, Lucas Mahias pulls out all the stops and sets the second fastest time three minutes from the end! Sylvain Barrier’s replacement did not come to butter sandwiches !

The Franco-Grolandais was however one second behind Camier, and Brookes then Reiterberger found a way to slip between the two leaders. Camier drives home the point at the end of the session but "Reiti" and Jordi freak out the lap times and qualify for SP2…

After dominating most of SP1, Camier returned to the pits in third position, synonymous with thirteenth place on the grid for the first race this afternoon and the second tomorrow. The sole MV Agusta driver will be accompanied by Josh Brookes and Matteo Baiocco.

Lucas Mahias hoists Sylvain Barrier’s Kawasaki ZX-10R to 17th rank, behind Alex de Angelis ‘Aprilia RSV4 and ahead of Roman Ramos‘ Ninja. Matthieu Lussiana, the Brazilian champion who will take part in half a dozen world events this year, qualifies in 19th position.

Superpole World Superbike Assen 2016

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