Ducati’s Badovini Earns Maiden Pole at Nurburgring Superbike

Ducati Alstare's Ayrton Badovini

Ducati Alstare's Ayrton Badovini
Ducati Alstare’s Ayrton Badovini
2013 Nurburgring World Superbike Qualifying Results

At the end of an extremely hard-fought Superpole, which took place in wet conditions Saturday at the German Nurburgring, Ducati Alstare 1199 R Panigale pilot Ayrton Badovini earned his first-ever World Superbike pole position.

Badovini had to push hard to outperform fellow Italian Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GolBet), who was second at the flag ahead of Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team). The Brit managed to get an encouraging result despite a crash he had, in the final minutes, at Turn 3.

Despite his usual confidence under rain conditions, Sykes' teammate Loris Baz was fourth ahead of Pata Honda duo of Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam.

The leader in qualifying, BMW Motorrad GoldBet's Chaz Davies, finished seventh. he lost control of his bike during the second session, as well as ninth-place Jules Cluzel who high-sided at the first turn while accelerating to exit the corner.

Championship leader Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) finished between the two above-mentioned riders in eighth place.

A true disappointing Superpole for other factory Aprilia rider Eugene Laverty, who's going to start tomorrow's races from the fourth row of the grid, after finishing twelfth behind Max Neukirchner (MR-Racing Ducati) and Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki).

Ayrton Badovini (Ducati Alstare 1199 R) says: “I’m really happy with the result. I knew that if it was wet we’d have the chance to qualify on the front row but I didn’t expect to be on pole, it’s fantastic! Towards the end of the second phase the track was getting more and more slippery, it was risky but I wanted to give it my all, to see if we could finish on top and we did it.

"In those kind of conditions, the union between my 1199 Panigale and my ability in the wet works perfectly. I’m enjoying this moment; this result is for the team that has worked so hard since the start of the season. We haven’t formulated a strategy for the races yet but to start out in front will surely be an advantage.”

2013 Nurburgring World Superbike Superpole Results:
1. Ayrton Badovini (Team Ducati Alstare) Ducati 1199 Panigale 2'09.513
2. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK) BMW S1000 RR 2'09.616
3. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 2'10.136
4. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 2'10.401
5. Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) Honda CBR1000RR 2'11.204
6. Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike) Honda CBR1000RR 2'12.006
7. Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK) BMW S1000 RR 2'12.663
8. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2'13.177
9. Jules Cluzel (Fixi Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2'14.454
10. Max Neukirchner (MR-Racing) Ducati 1199 Panigale 2'15.975
11. Leon Camier (Fixi Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2'16.393
12. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2'16.409
13. Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2'16.660
14. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2'18.775
15. Matej Smrz (Yamaha Motor Deutschland) Yamaha YZF R1 2'19.277
16. Mark Aitchison (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'56.344
17. Markus Reiterberger (Vanzon-Remeha-BMW) BMW S1000 RR 1'56.362
18. Carlos Checa (Team Ducati Alstare) Ducati 1199 Panigale 1'56.451
19. Federico Sandi (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'57.482
20. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Grillini Dentalmatic SBK) BMW S1000 RR 1'58.409

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