Smrz On Pole At Wet Silverstone

Cycle News Staff | August 4, 2012

Liberty Racing Effenbert Ducati’s Jakub Smrz will start tomorrow’s two World Superbike races at Silverstone from pole position, the Czech rider having come the closest to mastering the extremely tricky conditions on a wet day in England.

Smrz earned pole position via his 2:20.810 lap in the second “wet” Superspole session, besting Fixi Crescent Suzuki’s Leon Camier by .036 of a second. For Camier it was his best qualifying position of what has been a tough year for the Suzuki team and it came in his home round.

Smrz’s pole is the second of his career with the first coming at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah back in May (Tom Sykes has seven poles, Sylvain Guintoli and now Smrz have the other two). The rider from the Czech Republic has still yet to win a World Superbike race and he readies to start his 149th race tomorrow.

Guintoli made good use of his new PATA Racing Team Ducati, the Frenchman having missed the last race at Brno after being ousted by the Efffenbert Liberty team on the eve of the race. Guintoli’s best lap was a tad over half a second off his former teammate’s best.

Leon Haslam put his factory BMW on the front row for his home round, the Brit steady all day in the iffy conditions.

Row two will be led by Althea Racing’s Davide Giugliano. The Italian will be joined by countryman and BMW factory star Marco Melandri, his Althea Ducati teammate Carlos Checa and Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes, the Brit having suffered a crash during Superpole 2.

Final Qualifying

1.                  Jakub Smrz (Ducati) 2:20.810

2.                  Leon Camier (Suzuki) 2:20.846

3.                  Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) 2:21.385

4.                  Leon Haslam (BMW) 2:21.613

5.                  Davide Giugliano (Ducati) 2:21.951

6.                  Marco Melandri (BMW) 2:21.960

7.                  Carlos Checa (Ducati) 2:23.356

8.                  Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 2:24.025