WSBK – WSBK Aragon: sixth Superpole of Super Sykes! –

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WSBK Aragon: sixth Superpole of Super Sykes !

WSBK - WSBK Aragon: sixth Superpole of Super Sykes! -

Nobody could come close to the incredible time achieved by Tom Sykes this afternoon on the Spanish track of Aragon. Even Biaggi, yet second, fails seven tenths from No.66 while Laverty and Haslam complete the first place.

Nobody could come close to the incredible time achieved by Tom Sykes this afternoon on the Spanish track of Aragon. Even Biaggi, yet second, fails seven tenths from No.66 while Laverty and Haslam complete the first place.

Last year, Marco Melandri took pole position by completing the 5,334m of the Aragon circuit in 1 ‘57,634 riding the fiery Yamaha R1 of World Superbike. The next day, the Italian rider had obtained a victory then a second place.

You got the look, Kawa !

Next year, the World Superbike motorcycles will look like the models on sale in the shops, since trompe l’oeil stickers will faithfully copy the appearance of the headlights. Hyper fast on the track, the Greens are just as fast as regards the application of this new 2013 standard: the Ninja of Sykes and Baz are already sporting their "false lights" !

As a reminder, the Superbikes will still be closer to "our" motorcycles by fitting 17-inch rims instead of the current 16.5 (read). The first official tests of the Pirelli 17 "will take place this Monday in Aragon. Finally, to limit costs this time, the wheels will have to be made of aluminum..

This is naturally all the evil that we wish the new record holder of the Spanish track, Tom Sykes, credited with a breathtaking 1’56.552 at the controls of his beautiful official ZX-10R (see box opposite).

Author of six poles this year – in eight events! -, the English Ninja has transformed only once his excellent tests, during the only sprint race of Monza. For two races, Sykes has not been able to stand on the podium, his Kawasaki prematurely ending the life of his Pirelli…

Currently third in the championship, the n ° 66 must imperatively find the way back to the Top 3 in the race otherwise Melandri, Checa and Haslam risk to pass him in the standings during this second half of the season.

As good as Melandri in (1st then 2nd), Max Biaggi must on the contrary continue his momentum: the n ° 3 is on his fifth podium in a row and brilliantly won the double three weeks ago in .

Second on the grid – but very far behind the clock compared to super Sykes – the Emperor Romain will however have to beware of his teammate Eugene Laverty, on the lookout in third position. According to him, the Irishman would have found the solution to a blockage which has handicapped him for three tests. Checking tomorrow night !

Behind the two official Aprilias sit the two official BMWs: Leon Haslam at the back of the first row and Marco Melandri at the head of the second! Both pilots know that with the right tires their German rockets can lead them to victory … With the right tires !

Jonathan Rea’s sixth place on the grid is far from ridiculous: unlike the Aprilia, BMW and Kawasaki teams, the Ten Kate team selected Assen and not Aragon as their official test track. Injured last year, Johnny had not driven at all in Aragon last year.

This is to say if the n ° 65 suffered from a sacred lack of driving vis-à-vis these rivals! Despite everything, "JR" has gradually filled this gap: 15th, 14th, 11th then 5th in the practice sessions (free and qualifying), the Honda rider will drive at least for the Top 5 tomorrow !

Carlos Checa‘s performance is a little more disappointing, even problematic. In testing, alone on the track, the world champion – and "from the corner" – could still compensate for the slight lack of extension of his 1200 twin by working the winding parts as well as possible..

At the end of the qualifying sessions, moreover, the n ° 7 appeared in third position just a few hundredths behind Sykes and half a second behind the impressive Melandri. Tomorrow in the race, the task will be much harder for Checa…

The "Toro" will have no other choice but to rush headlong into the first corners so as not to be knocked off all sides in the immense straight line at the back of the circuit … Free then to Chaz Davies to take advantage: eighth on the grid, the private RSV4 driver must hook up the right wagon, as he did last month in Salt Lake City !

Big disappointment for Sylvain Guintoli: our beloved Frenchie fails eight hundredths from Superpole 3 and will have to be content with 9th place on the grid tomorrow. He will start in front of Ayrton Badovini’s S1000RR (BMW Italia Goldbet), Davide Giugliano’s 1198 (Ducati Althea) and that of his teammate Jakub Smrz (Ducati Effenbert Liberty).

Barely qualified this morning for the Superpole – with the 16th qualifying time, phew! -, Loris Baz (Kawa ‘racing team) failed to cross the first jump-off. Our dear n ° 76 is ahead of Lorenzo Zanetti (Ducati Pata) but is preceded in fourth place by Leon Camier (Suzuki Fixi Crescent) and Michel Fabrizio (BMW Italia Goldbet).

Relegated to two seconds behind Marco Melandri in the second qualifying session, Davide Salom (Kawa Pedercini), Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda WSBK), Niccolo Canepa (Ducati Red Devils Roma) and Maxime Berger (Ducati Effenbert Liberty) will start from the fifth row tomorrow, and will have a lot to do to enter the Top 10. The Top 15 on the other hand will depend mainly on the number of falls ahead…

Finally, John Hopkins and the second Suzuki will start from the 21st position: "still bad weather in Aragon with a new engine failure and a distant place on the grid … I must remain positive and motivated", tries to convince himself the n ° 21 via Twitter.

The n ° 21 will be followed on the last row by Mercado (Kawa Pedercini) and Brignola (BMW Grillini Progea). See you tomorrow on the Site to follow, almost live, the two Superbike races, as well as that of Supersport. Stay connected !

Results Superpole WSBK 2012 Aragon

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