Rea And Honda On Pole In France

Cycle News Staff | October 1, 2011

Castrol Honda’s Jonathan Rea saved his best for last today during Superpole at the Magny Cours circuit in France, the Northern Irelander steadily climbing up the timesheets as the three sessions progressed until he was finally at the top when it mattered most – at the end of Superpole 3.For his efforts, Rea will start both races tomorrow from pole position for the first time this year and the second time in his career. In the first of three Superpole sessions, Rea and the CBR1000RR ended up seventh; in Superpole 2 he climbed to fourth and in the final session he ended up on top with a best lap of 1:37.490.That lapped bested factory Yamaha’s Eugene Laverty, the Irishman also saving his best for the end as he came up just .110 of a second short of Rea at the very end.

Third fastest went to the man who will wrap up the World Superbike Championship tomorrow – Carlos Checa. Checa led Superpole 1, then barely made the cut to Superpole 3 as he ended up eighth in the second session. In the third, he was in the fight to the very end before falling to third with his 1:37.932 – the final rider in the 1:37s in the final session.The front row for tomorrow’s races will be filled by Brit Leon Camier on the factory Aprilia – the fourth different manufacturer on the front row, joining Honda, Yamaha and Ducati.Ducati privateer Sylvain Guintoli, the Frenchman strong throughout practice and qualifying in his home race, will lead row two. He will be joined there by fellow Brit Tom Sykes, the Kawasaki rider earlier leading Superpole 2 with his 1:37.650 – a time he couldn’t match in Superpole 3. Those two – with identical times of 1:38.094 – will be joined on the second row by BMW’s Leon Haslam and Yamaha’s Marco Melandri.Noriyuki Haga and Joan Lascorz rounded out the top 10 qualifiers.Final Qualifying

1.                  Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1:37.490

2.                  Eugene Laverty (Yamaha) 1:37.600

3.                  Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1:37.932

4.                  Leon Camier (Aprilia) 1:38.006

5.                  Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) 1:38.094

6.                  Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 1:38.094

7.                  Leon Haslam (BMW) 1:38.382

8.                  Marco Melandri (Yamaha) 1:38.562

9.                  Noriyuki Haga (Aprilia) 1:38.137

10.                  Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki) 1:38.204