Tom Sykes set the fastest ever World Superbike lap of Laguna Seca to secure pole position for tomorrow’s races in the United States. The world champion was simply untouchable on the qualifying tyre, lapping half a second faster than nearest challenger Sylvain Guintoli, and looks in good shape to further extend his points lead tomorrow.
Davide Giugliano was the first rider to sample the softer rubber and immediately destroyed Guintoli’s 2013 lap record but the Frenchman regained the honour as the faster ever rider in Monterey with a 1:22.339. In Sylvain’s own words though, his record was “destroyed” by Sykes who set a 1:21.811 a minute from the end of SP2.
The Yorkshireman admitted his Kawasaki ZX-10R wasn’t completely handling to his liking early in the weekend but feels much more confident about his race pace tomorrow.
“To take pole here is very exciting especially after we struggled a bit earlier this weekend and because some of our competitors have been very strong here. Slowly but surely we have got the bike working much better and I am a lot more confident for tomorrow. It is crucial to be on the front row so when I put a qualifying tyre in I had a little stab at getting the best lap. I had a little adventure in The Corkscrew but I came out of the other side and we made it happen for the lap time. I am happy because it is a great lap time and the guys have all worked hard to achieve it. It’s going to be close tomorrow because a number of people have good race pace but I am looking forward to it.”
Guintoli starts second tomorrow with Chaz Davies on the front row for the second weekend in succession after edging out his Ducati teammate Davide Giugliano. Marco Melandri lines up fifth ahead of Eugene Laverty while Leon Haslam leads the Honda challenge from seventh after a crash for Jonathan Rea which kept him back in tenth. Loris Baz escaped the opening Superpole session before qualifying eighth with Toni Elias edging past Rea onto the third row after his tumble.
| 2014 eni SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 9 – LAGUNA SECA | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FREE PRACTICE & TISSOT SUPERPOLE RESULT | |||||
| POS | RIDER | BIKE | TEAM | TIME | SESSION |
| 1 |  TOM SYKES |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:21.811 | SP2 |
| 2 |  SYLVAIN GUINTOLI |
APRILIA | APRILIA RACING TEAM | 1:22.339 | SP2 |
| 3 | CHAZ DAVIES |
DUCATI | DUCATI SUPERBIKE TEAM | 1:22.384 | SP2 |
| 4 |  DAVIDE GIUGLIANO |
DUCATI | DUCATI SUPERBIKE TEAM | 1:22.422 | SP2 |
| 5 | MARCO MELANDRI |
APRILIA | APRILIA RACING TEAM | 1:22.704 | SP2 |
| 6 |  EUGENE LAVERTY |
SUZUKI | VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI | 1:22.725 | SP2 |
| 7 | LEON HASLAM |
HONDA | PATA HONDA WORLD SUPERBIKE | 1:23.181 | SP2 |
| 8 | LORIS BAZ |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:23.242 | SP2 |
| 9 |  TONI ELIAS |
APRILIA | RED DEVILS ROMA | 1:23.358 | SP2 |
| 10 | JONATHAN REA |
HONDA | PATA HONDA WORLD SUPERBIKE | 1:23.501 | SP2 |
| 11 | ALEX LOWES |
SUZUKI | VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI | 1:23.562 | SP2 |
| 12 | NICCOLO CANEPA |
DUCATI | ALTHEA RACING | 1:23.924 | SP2 |
| 13 | SYLVAIN BARRIER |
BMW | BMW MOTORRAD ITALIA SBK | 1:23.840 | SP1 |
| 14 | CHRISTIAN IDDON |
BIMOTA | TEAM ALSTARE | 1:24.024 | SP1 |
| 15 | DAVID SALOM |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:24.227 | SP1 |
| 16 | AYRTON BADOVINI |
BIMOTA | TEAM ALSTARE | 1:24.301 | SP1 |
| 17 |  BRYAN STARING |
KAWASAKI | IRON BRAIN KAWASAKI SBK | 1:24.986 | SP1 |
| 18 |  SHERIDAN MORAIS |
KAWASAKI | IRON BRAIN KAWASAKI SBK | 1:25.021 | SP1 |
| 19 | LEON CAMIER |
MV AGUSTA | MV AGUSTA REPARTO CORSE | 1:25.157 | SP1 |
| 20 | ALESSANDRO ANDREOZZI |
KAWASAKI | TEAM PEDERCINI | 1:25.383 | SP1 |
| 21 | JEREMY GUARNONI |
KAWASAKI | MRS KAWASAKI | 1:26.080 | FP3 |
| 22 |  GEOFF MAY |
EBR | TEAM HERO EBR | 1:26.087 | FP3 |
| 23 | LARRY PEGRAM |
EBR | FOREMOST INSURANCE EBR | 1:26.302 | FP3 |
| 24 |  GABOR RIZMAYER |
BMW | BMW TEAM TOTH | 1:26.506 | FP3 |
| 25 | AARON YATES |
EBR | TEAM HERO EBR | 1:26.999 | FP3 |
| 26 | CHRIS ULRICH |
HONDA | GEICO MOTORCYCLE ROAD RAC. | 1:27.169 | FP3 |
| 27 | PETER SEBESTYEN |
BMW | BMW TEAM TOTH | 1:27.226 | FP2 |
