Tom Sykes led a Kawasaki 1-2 in Superpole at Aragon after snatching pole position from teammate Loris Baz in the dying seconds. The reigning world champion was the king of Saturday afternoons last season and set a time within a tenth of his own Superpole record to open his 2014 account.
Superpole 1 was delayed substantially following a bizarre incident on the start/finish straight which saw Jeremy Guarnoni’s MRS Kawasaki suffer an engine blow-up with debris taking out a pit board, leaving oil and debris on the race track. Thankfully no-one was injured and once the action resumed, Elias set about doing what he needed to reach the second session. The Spaniard succeeded with a 1:58.938 while Leon Camier produced a sensational effort to snatch second from Niccolo Canepa, the Briton returning to the series as a replacement for the injured Sylvain Barrier.
Camier couldn’t perform such heroics in SP2 as a late crash kept him back in eleventh but he will at least start ahead of Leon Haslam following a high side for the PATA on his first timed lap of the afternoon. Davide Giugliano’s opening attempt launched him straight into pole position but championship leader Sylvain Guintoli changed that with a 1:56.769 a minute from time.
The Kawasaki challenge emerged in the final seconds with Loris Baz going a tenth faster than his fellow countryman but Sykes saw off the pair of them with a 1:56.479 as the chequered flag flew. Giugliano fell to fourth with Jonathan Rea grabbing fifth from Chaz Davies after the Welshman crashed his Ducati at turn twelve.
Marco Melandri had showed impressive pace in free practice but must come through from seventh on the grid tomorrow and the Italian will have both Voltcom Suzuki’s for company on row three with Eugene Laverty and Alex Lowes qualifying eighth and ninth, just ahead of Toni Elias.
| 2014 eni SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 2 – MOTORLAND ARAGON | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TISSOT SUPERPOLE RESULT | ||||
| POS | RIDER | BIKE | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 |  TOM SYKES |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:56.479 |
| 2 |  LORIS BAZ |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:56.675 |
| 3 | SYLVAIN GUINTOLI |
APRILIA | APRILIA RACING TEAM | 1:56.769 |
| 4 |  DAVIDE GIUGLIANO |
DUCATI | DUCATI SUPERBIKE TEAM | 1:56.825 |
| 5 | JONATHAN REA |
HONDA | PATA HONDA WORLD SUPERBIKE | 1:56.972 |
| 6 | CHAZ DAVIES |
DUCATI | DUCATI SUPERBIKE TEAM | 1:56.977 |
| 7 | MARCO MELANDRI |
APRILIA | APRILIA RACING TEAM | 1:57.063 |
| 8 |  EUGENE LAVERTY |
SUZUKI | VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI | 1:57.736 |
| 9 | ALEX LOWES |
SUZUKI | VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI | 1:57.975 |
| 10 |  TONI ELIAS |
APRILIA | RED DEVILS ROMA | 1:58.180 |
| 11 | LEON CAMIER |
BMW | BMW MOTORRAD ITALIA SBK | 1:59.326 |
| 12 | LEON HASLAM |
HONDA | PATA HONDA WORLD SUPERBIKE | NO TIME |
| ELIMINATED IN SUPERPOLE 1 | ||||
| 13 | NICCOLO CANEPA |
DUCATI | ALTHEA RACING | 1:59.255 |
| 14 | DAVID SALOM |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:59.486 |
| 15 | AYRTON BADOVINI |
BIMOTA | TEAM ALSTARE | 1:59.596 |
| 16 | CLAUDIO CORTI |
MV AGUSTA | MV AGUSTA RC-YAKHNICH MOTORSPORT | 1:59.747 |
| 17 |  SHERIDAN MORAIS |
KAWASAKI | IRON BRAIN KAWASAKI SBK | 2:00.415 |
| 18 | CHRISTIAN IDDON |
BIMOTA | TEAM ALSTARE | 2:01.102 |
| 19 | MICHEL FABRIZIO |
KAWASAKI | IRON BRAIN KAWASAKI SBK | 2:01.862 |
| 20 | JEREMY GUARNONI |
KAWASAKI | MRS KAWASAKI | NO TIME |
| FAILED TO QUALIFY FOR SUPERPOLE 1 | ||||
| 21 | LUCA SCASSA |
KAWASAKI | TEAM PEDERCINI | 2:02.037 |
| 22 | FABIEN FORET |
KAWASAKI | MAHI RACING TEAM INDIA | 2:02.188 |
| 23 | ALESSANDRO ANDREOZZI |
KAWASAKI | TEAM PEDERCINI | 2:02.507 |
| 24 |  IMRE TOTH |
BMW | BMW TEAM TOTH | 2:02.682 |
| 25 |  AARON YATES |
EBR | TEAM HERO EBR | 2:03.102 |
| 26 | GEOFF MAY |
EBR | TEAM HERO EBR | 2:03.657 |
| 27 | PETER SEBESTYEN |
BMW | BMW TEAM TOTH | 2:05.623 |
