WSBK Portugal: Sykes in Superpole, nothing !

Threatened by rain, the Superpole has just taken place in two stages, instead of the usual three. This did not bother Sykes who signed his 5th Superpole of the season in Portimao. Laverty is second … to a thousandth of a second! A few drops having appeared on the Portuguese circuit at the very start of SP2 (the second …

Threatened by rain, the Superpole has just taken place in two stages, instead of the usual three. This did not bother Sykes who signed his 5th Superpole of the season in Portimao. Laverty is second … to a thousandth of a second !

A few drops having appeared on the Portuguese circuit at the very start of SP2 (the second Superpole session out of the three scheduled in the dry), the officials preferred to play it safe and hoist the red flag. Declared "Wet", the Superpole was therefore played between 12 pilots during a second session of 20 minutes…

Unperturbed, Tom Sykes dominated his eleven little comrades by completing the 4.592 km of the Algarve route in 1 ‘41.360. However, it was a little short – two thousandths of a second! – so that Eugene Laverty does not beat the time for the Kawasaki rider and wins the first Superpole of his Superbike career !

The first row of the Portuguese event is entirely British since Jonathan Rea posts his Fireblade on third place on the grid. At the head of the two qualifying sessions, the n ° 65 of the Pata Ten Kate team continues to complain about the electronics of his Honda, but remains at the forefront despite this.

Marco Melandri puts his BMW in the lead of the second row and will also drive for the win tomorrow. The former GP star is ahead of an old acquaintance: Sylvain Guintoli, current leader of the championship. Our favorite Frenchie has a 4 point lead over Sykes: one – or two? – victory this weekend would be welcome !

Loris Baz had a very good second Superpole session and will install his Ninja on sixth place on the Portuguese grid, ready to jump into the Top 5 in the race at the slightest opportunity. The uncertain weather of tomorrow could also help our expert in mixed conditions….

Wedged between Carlos Checa (Ducati Alstare) and Michel Fabrizio (Aprilia Red Devils Roma), our third representative Jules Cluzel qualifies for a superb 8th place at the controls of his Suzuki Fixi Crescent. Tenth in the general classification, Jules will target the Top 10 again this Sunday !

Ayrton Badovini manages to hoist his Panigale to 10th place on the grid but will have a hard time dominating his two pursuers over the whole of a race: Davide Giugliano – who started at fault in SP2 but unscathed – and Chaz Davies should not make short work of the Ducati thanks to their respective Aprilia and BMW.

Eliminated during SP1 "100% dry" – while his teammate Jules Cluzel drew the best lap of the session! -, Leon Camier inherits a distant 13th place and will have, once again, to make his way through the peloton to reach the Top 5 he is aiming for in the race.

Leon Haslam is preparing for two even more difficult races: the ligaments in his knee are causing him excruciating pain – more than his fracture itself now – and the No.91 will not be able to ride without the help of the famous Clinica Mobile.

The fifth row will be completed by Max Neukirchner. The German may have pushed his Panigale R to its very last limits, he only won 15th place. The No. 76 of the MR Racing team will try to integrate, for the third time this season, the Top 10 in the race.

Sixteenth at the end of the two qualifying sessions, Vittorio Iannuzzo will lead the penultimate place on the starting grid tomorrow noon – and afternoon – in Portimao. The Italian,, places his BMW Grillini in front of Alex Lundh’s Kawasaki Pedercini and Ivan Clementi’s BMW HTM. Federico Sandi will start in last position on the second Ninja Pedercini.

WSBK 2013 Portimao Superpole

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