WSBK – WSBK Great Britain: Laverty passes between the drops! –

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WSBK Great Britain: Laverty passes between the drops !

WSBK - WSBK Great Britain: Laverty passes between the drops! -

A few drops of rain deprived Sykes of a new pole this afternoon at Silverstone. Relaunched for 20 minutes, the Superpole finally rewarded Eugene Laverty, who will start tomorrow ahead of Checa, Rea, Baz and Sykes.   The red flag and the "change of grip" flag appeared as Tom Sykes raced towards the finish line…

A few drops of rain deprived Sykes of a new pole this afternoon at Silverstone. Relaunched for 20 minutes, the Superpole finally rewarded Eugene Laverty, who will start tomorrow ahead of Checa, Rea, Baz and Sykes.  

The red flag and the "change of grip" flag appeared as Tom Sykes raced towards the finish line and was about to set a time that would certainly have secured him the 18th pole position of his World Superbike career..

Instead, the n ° 66 and his little comrades from SP3 (third and final phase of the Superpole) had to join the pits and prepare for a final 20-minute qualifying session. Declared "Wet", it took place almost entirely in the dry…

Leaving like a ball as soon as the track reopened, Loris Baz posted the reference time and thought he would hold his first pole position in the WSBK there. But the aces of the handlebars did not hesitate to go out one last time, a few minutes from the end, giving rise to an incredible battle !

In the end, Eugene Laverty comes out happy winner of this memorable fight. For the official Aprilia rider, this is his very first World Superbike Superpole. The Irishman has yet competed in 68 races (i.e. 34 weekends), climbed 20 podiums and won 7 victories in the same category…

Almost as happy as "Youdjine", Carlos Checa took advantage of this Superpole event "like no other" to post the second fastest time on the handlebars of his Ducati Alstare. In terms of progress between the first and second day of testing, the Spanish champion is widely needed. Will he manage to keep pace with the race ?

Jonathan Rea and his Honda Pata complete the first row, just ahead (less than three hundredths of a second!) Loris Baz and his official Kawasaki. Fourth on the English grid, our "Green Giant" will not need the rain this year to win. Keep an eye on the green n ° 76 !

On the other side of the Kawa ‘box, Tom Sykes was quite pissed off. Untouchable Friday, the English Ninja was ahead of Leon Camier by only three hundredths of a second this morning at the end of the second qualifying session ‘and was counting on the Superpole event to set the record straight. He will have to do it tomorrow in the race…

Chaz Davies and his BMW Goldbet took 6th place and relegated Leon Camier and his Suzuki Crescent to third place. The Fixi Crescent team is playing at home and hoped for a better place: invited in 2011 to this event, they had taken pole with John Hopkins … Fortunately, "Lionne" is much better in the race than in qualifying !

Dropped by his Aprilia, Sylvain Guintoli could not complete a single lap during the last Superpole session and inherits eighth place on the grid. The championship leader risks suffering from a shoulder pain tomorrow: he will have to give everything, especially at the start of the race !

Davide Giugliano for his part, pushed again cap his Pirelli too far … The n ° 34 lost the front end of his Aprilia Althea during SP2. Once raised, the Roman realized that he was unable to put his left foot on the ground. Evacuated on a stretcher, so he had to give up on SP3 (and "SP4"!). Hopefully he will be able to take the start tomorrow.

Winner of, Leon Haslam still limped strongly when he reached his garage. The n ° 91 of the Honda Pata team was not satisfied with his place on the grid because he intended to hoist his Honda on the first row! It is far from it: 12th, behind Max Neukirchner and his Ducati MR-Racing.

At the head of the fourth row, Jules Cluzel is also disappointed: author of the best time in SP1 (in 2 ‘04.498), our n ° 16 remained stuck in SP2. The Supersport vice-world champion had a perfect weekend last year at Silverstone (read) … But the Superbike is a level above !

The Italians had no luck this Saturday afternoon: Ayrton Badovini and his Ducati Alstare were stopped (by Leon Haslam) in SP1 for seven hundredths of a second. One hundredth of a second behind this first transalpine duo, Michel Fabrizio and his Aprilia Red Devils Roma have to be content with 14th place on the grid.

Victim of a gearbox problem on his BMW Goldbet in the middle of SP1, Marco Melandri for his part was not even able to defend his chances in Superpole and fell to 15th place on the grid. Eleventh time after qualifying, the n ° 33 will have to spit in the gloves during the races … Good for the show !

Mark Aitchison, who replaces Alex Lundh in the Kawasaki Pedercini team, precedes his teammate Federico Sandi in the last row. Vittorio Iannuzzo and his BMW Grillini will complete this sixth line during the two departures scheduled for tomorrow: at 12 noon then at 3.30 p.m. (+ 1 hour in France!).

The 2013 World Superbike races at Silverstone, as well as that of the Supersport category, will be followed almost live on the Site: stay tuned !

WSBK 2013 Silverstone Superpole

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