Kawasaki’s Sykes Storms to 4th SBK Superpole at Donington

2013 Donington World Superbike Superpole Results

Four out of five – that’s Kawasaki Racing Team’s Tom Sykes’ record so far for Superpole wins, the Brit’s latest arriving Saturday at Donington Park in the UK.

En route to winning the pole position for Sunday’s World Superbike double header, Sykes also set a new fastest lap at Donington – a 1:27.378.

The Superpole was Sykes’ 15th of his career, and he now equals current MotoGP CRT rider Colin Edwards at sixth for Superpole wins. If he gets one more, he will equal fellow countryman Neil Hodgson.

Joining Sykes on the front row will be the current points leader, Aprilia Racing’s Sylvain Guintoli, and the Frenchman’s teammate Eugene Laverty. As for Guintoli, he equaled to the hundredth of a second the exact lap record set by Sykes last season – a 1:27.716.

Heading up the second row will be Pata Honda World Superbike’s Jonathan Rea, who took a win at Donington last season. Fifth went to FIXI Crescent Suzuki’s Leon Camier, who finished ahead of BMW Motorrad GoldBet S1000RR riders Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies, respectively.

Qualifying eighth was Althea Racing Aprilia’s Davide Giugliano, who was followed by the quickest Ducati rider – Alstare’s Niccolo Canepa. The One Event rider, current Championship leader in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, was the only one entry of the Team Ducati Alstare to qualify for Superpole 3, finishing 9th.

Rounding out the top 10 in Donington Superpole was the 2011 World SBK Champion, Carlos Checa aboard the Ducati Alstare 1199 Panigale R.

Local rider Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike), who was cleared to ride just before Free Practice 1 on Friday morning, qualified 13th.

The riders will be back on the Donington track Sunday for the double header.

2013 Donington World Superbike Superpole Results:

1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’27.378

2. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’27.716

3. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’28.014

4. Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) Honda CBR1000RR 1’28.139

5. Leon Camier (Fixi Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’28.252

6. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK) BMW S1000 RR 1’28.280

7. Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK) BMW S1000 RR 1’28.644

8. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’28.779

9. Niccolò Canepa (Team Ducati Alstare) Ducati 1199 Panigale R 1’29.318

10. Carlos Checa (Team Ducati Alstare) Ducati 1199 Panigale R 1’28.454

11. Jules Cluzel (Fixi Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’28.844

12. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’28.850

13. Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike) Honda CBR1000RR 1’29.172

14. Ayrton Badovini (Team Ducati Alstare) Ducati 1199 Panigale R 1’29.211

15. Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’29.214

16. Max Neukirchner (MR-Racing) Ducati 1199 Panigale R 1’30.817

17. Federico Sandi (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’32.010

18. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Grillini Dentalmatic SBK) BMW S1000 RR 1’32.145

19. Alexander Lundh (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’33.141