Tom Sykes Takes Superpole at Donington Park
Cycle News Staff | May 23, 2015
Photography by Gold & Goose
Tom Sykes rode his Kawasaki factory to the pole Saturday for Sunday’s pair of World Superbike races at Donington Park in England, round six of the championship. It marks the 26th-career Superpole for Sykes who earned today’s Tissot Superpole in an enthralling 15 minute shootout that eventually saw the top seven riders covered by 0.940s.
For Sykes his lap time of 1.27.071s shattered his own previous outright circuit best lap, set during Superpole in 2013.
Kawasaki teammate and current championship leader Jonathan Rea will start from the middle of row 1, with Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) lining up alongside him to complete the top 3 riders on the grid.
Row two comprises Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils), Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) and Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) while Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing) and Sylvain Guintoli will line up for tomorrow’s races on row 3.
David Salom, Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) and Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) qualified 10th, 11th, and 12th respectively.
Places 13th to 15th will be taken by Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils), Nico Terol (Althea Racing) and Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing) who will start from the fifth row of the grid courtesy of their Superpole 1 times.
In Superpole 1, reigning champion Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) and David Salom (Team Pedercini) progressed to the second stage of qualifying
Race 1 is scheduled to start at 7:00am Eastern tomorrow with Race 2 getting under way at 10:00am.
Superpole qualifying WSBK at Donington Park, Great Britain – May 23, 2015
1. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 27.071s
2. Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 27.308s
3. Davide Giugliano ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 27.344s
4. Leon Haslam GBR Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 27.535s
5. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 27.554s
6. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 27.710s
7. Leon Camier GBR MV Agusta F4 RR 1m 28.011s
8. Matteo Baiocco ITA Althea Ducati 1199R 1m 28.188s
9. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Honda CBR1000RR 1m 28.370s
10. David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 28.620s
11. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia S1000RR 1m 28.701s
12. Michael van der Mark NED PATA Honda CBR1000RR 1m 28.715s
13. Jordi Torres ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 28.689s
14. Nicolas Terol SPA Althea Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 28.827s
15. Leandro Mercado ARG Barni Ducati 1199R 1m 28.991s
16. Roman Ramos ESP GO Eleven Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 29.436s
17. Christophe Ponsson FRA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 29.668s
18. Randy de Puniet FRA Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 29.686s
19. Niccolo Canepa ITA Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 29.783s
20. Santiago Barragan ESP Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 30.839s
21. Imre Toth HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR 1m 32.647s
22. Gabor Rizmayer HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR 1m 33.466s
