Loris Baz set the fastest ever World Superbike lap of Assen to claim pole position for tomorrow’s races in the Netherlands. The Kawasaki rider set the blistering lap moments before rain began to fall, preventing any riders from challenging him and the Frenchman will lead Sylvain Guintoli and Tom Sykes on the front row tomorrow.
Baz looked a threat for pole right from the start of SP2, setting a 1:35.165 on his opening lap, but Guintoli responded with the first sub-1:35 lap despite being held up in the final sector by Toni Elias’ Red Devils Aprilia. After a tyre change in the pits, Baz returned to the track and promptly put pole position well out of Sylvain’s reach with a 1:34.357 and even if the Aprilia rider had enough in hand for a fightback, the weather put paid to that.
Tom Sykes will have been particularly frustrated by the shower in the closing minutes with his early lap only good enough for third, a second down on his teammate, although Marco Melandri will have breathed a sigh of relief to qualify fourth having had to negotiate SP1 early in the afternoon.
Jonathan Rea starts fifth ahead of Davide Giugliano who was also left to curse the weather after being the fastest rider of all in free practice. Niccolo Canepa will be the leading EVO rider on tomorrow’s grid in seventh with both Aprilias for company on row three, Eugene Laverty and Alex Lowes qualifying eighth and ninth respectively while Toni Elias pipped Leon Haslam and Chaz Davies for the final place in the top ten.
| 2014 eni SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 3 – ASSEN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TISSOT SUPERPOLE RESULT | ||||
| POS | RIDER | BIKE | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 |  LORIS BAZ |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:34.357 |
| 2 | SYLVAIN GUINTOLI |
APRILIA | APRILIA RACING TEAM | 1:34.845 |
| 3 |  TOM SYKES |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:35.311 |
| 4 |  MARCO MELANDRI |
APRILIA | APRILIA RACING TEAM | 1:35.333 |
| 5 | JONATHAN REA |
HONDA | PATA HONDA WORLD SUPERBIKE | 1:35.361 |
| 6 | DAVIDE GIUGLIANO |
DUCATI | DUCATI SUPERBIKE TEAM | 1:35.476 |
| 7 | NICCOLO CANEPA |
DUCATI | ALTHEA RACING | 1:35.500 |
| 8 |  EUGENE LAVERTY |
SUZUKI | VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI | 1:35.646 |
| 9 | ALEX LOWES |
SUZUKI | VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI | 1:35.684 |
| 10 |  TONI ELIAS |
APRILIA | RED DEVILS ROMA | 1:36.203 |
| 11 | LEON HASLAM |
HONDA | PATA HONDA WORLD SUPERBIKE | 1:36.284 |
| 12 | CHAZ DAVIES |
DUCATI | DUCATI SUPERBIKE TEAM | 1:36.288 |
| ELIMINATED IN SUPERPOLE 1 | ||||
| 13 | LEON CAMIER |
BMW | BMW MOTORRAD ITALIA SBK | 1:36.434 |
| 14 | AYRTON BADOVINI |
BIMOTA | TEAM ALSTARE | 1:35.547 |
| 15 | DAVID SALOM |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:36.749 |
| 16 | CHRISTIAN IDDON |
BIMOTA | TEAM ALSTARE | 1:36.772 |
| 17 | CLAUDIO CORTI |
MV AGUSTA | MV AGUSTA RC-YAKHNICH MOTORSPORT | 1:36.888 |
| 18 | JEREMY GUARNONI |
KAWASAKI | MRS KAWASAKI | 1:37.141 |
| 19 |  SHERIDAN MORAIS |
KAWASAKI | IRON BRAIN KAWASAKI SBK | 1:37.280 |
| 20 | LUCA SCASSA |
KAWASAKI | TEAM PEDERCINI | 1:37.343 |
| FAILED TO QUALIFY FOR SUPERPOLE 1 | ||||
| 21 | MICHEL FABRIZIO |
KAWASAKI | IRON BRAIN KAWASAKI SBK | 1:37.648 |
| 22 | FABIEN FORET |
KAWASAKI | MAHI RACING TEAM INDIA | 1:38.038 |
| 23 | ALESSANDRO ANDREOZZI |
KAWASAKI | TEAM PEDERCINI | 1:38.771 |
| 24 |  KERVIN BOS |
HONDA | WINTEB LIQUIDRUBBER RACING TEAM | 1:38.860 |
| 25 |  IMRE TOTH |
BMW | BMW TEAM TOTH | 1:39.464 |
| 26 |  AARON YATES |
EBR | TEAM HERO EBR | 1:40.502 |
| 27 | GEOFF MAY |
EBR | TEAM HERO EBR | 1:40.889 |
| FAILED TO QUALIFY | ||||
| 28 | PETER SEBESTYEN |
BMW | BMW TEAM TOTH | 1:42.580 |
