Homeboy Crutchlow Takes Silverstone Pole
Cycle News Staff | July 31, 2010
Cal Crutchlow blitzed through Superpole today at the Silverstone circuit in England like he blitzed through every other session, the Sterilgarda Yamaha rider leading all three of the abbreviated sessions and getting faster in each of the them until ultimately ending up with a flying 2:04.091 in Superpole 3. It was more than enough to earn him his fifth World Superpole of the season.Superpole 1 ended with Crutchlow at the top with a 2:04.580; Superpole 2 went to Crutchlow with a 2:04.377; and Superpole 3, which featured the final eight remaining riders, saw the Brit up the ante even more with a 2:04.091 – a time just .773 of a second slower than the lap Jorge Lorenzo used to earn pole position for the British MotoGP earlier in the year.Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Rea ended up second at the very end with his 2:04.763, the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider .672 of a second slower than Crutchlow. Ducati Xerox’s Michel Fabrizio, meanwhile, earned a front-row spot for tomorrow’s two races with his 2:05.083 in Superpole 3.The front row for tomorrow’s races will be filled by Aprilia RSV4-mounted Jakub Smrz, the rider from the Czech Republic besting the factory Aprilia riders – Max Biaggi and Leon Camier, with Biaggi ending up sixth and Camier not making it out of Superpole 2.Row two will be led by Alstare Suzuki’s Leon Camier, the Brit getting the better of his championship rival Biaggi, the Italian ending up seventh. BMW’s Troy Corser and his teammate Ruben Xaus ended up seventh and eighth in the final Superpole session.Although he didn’t make it out of Superpole 2, Althea Ducati’s Shane Byrne will start the races tomorrow from the head of row three – the ninth spot on the grid. Byrne will be joined on row three by his teammate Carlos Checa, Alstare Suzuki’s Sylvain Guintoli and Sterilgarda Yamaha’s James Toseland.
Final Qualifying
1. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) 2:04.091
2. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 2:04.763
3. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) 2:05.083
4. Jakub Smrz (Aprilia) 2:05.168
5. Leon Haslam (Suzuki) 2:05.595
6. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) 2:05.682
7. Troy Corser (BMW) 2:06.740
8. Ruben Xaus (BMW) 2:06.787
9. Shane Byrne (Ducati) 2:05.026
10. Carlos Checa (Ducati) 2:05.035
