Loris Baz has given himself the best possible chance of reviving his World Superbike Championship hopes after claiming pole position for tomorrow’s races at Jerez. The Frenchman denied Davide Giugliano in the latter stages of the session with Tom Sykes slipping up towards the end of his hot lap and falling to third.
Baz trails his teammate Sykes by 72 points heading into the final six races but looks well placed to make inroads tomorrow after setting the fastest ever World Superbike lap of Jerez, and he is confident of carrying his pace into race day.
“We changed something on the bike set-up for Superpole and it worked out well. I could have pushed a little bit more in the first split because I did not know how the full grip of the tyre would be. I think I did the second part of the track really fast so it was a really good lap. My second pole this year but it is the first in fully dry conditions and I am really happy about that. This morning I was struggling a little with finding the best grip but it was the same for everyone. When the conditions are hot here it can be a little strange. Allowing for this I think we have been strong from the beginning of the weekend, especially on fresh tyres. I am happy and confident for the races now.”
Giugliano had initially bagged the circuit record for himself before Baz’s late flyer but the Italian is still delighted with his result and now hopes to succeed where he has failed in the past and convert Q2 pace into points.
“I’m really pleased to be back on the front row as we haven’t been here for a while. This weekend has been tough so far because these conditions make things a bit difficult for us but this result means that the entire team has done a great job and that we are continuing to make good progress. Tomorrow’s races will be hard work I expect, due to the hot conditions. I’ll be doing everything I can to keep the tyres in the best possible condition and obtain the best possible results. I thank my whole team for their hard work so far – it’s a great result.”
Although third wasn’t the ideal result, Sykes will still line up ahead of his two other championship rivals with Sylvain Guintoli fifth behind his Aprilia teammate Marco Melandri while Jonathan Rea must come through from tenth tomorrow. Between him and the Aprilias will start a British quartet, Eugene Laverty, Chaz Davies, Leon Haslam and Alex Lowes all qualifying inside the top ten.
| 2014 eni SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 10 – JEREZ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FREE PRACTICE & TISSOT SUPERPOLE RESULT | |||||
| POS | RIDER | BIKE | TEAM | TIME | |
| 1 |  LORIS BAZ |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:40.298 | SP2 |
| 2 |  DAVIDE GIUGLIANO |
DUCATI | DUCATI SUPERBIKE TEAM | 1:40.533 | SP2 |
| 3 |  TOM SYKES |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:40.561 | SP2 |
| 4 | MARCO MELANDRI |
APRILIA | APRILIA RACING TEAM | 1:40.822 | SP2 |
| 5 | SYLVAIN GUINTOLI |
APRILIA | APRILIA RACING TEAM | 1:40.877 | SP2 |
| 6 |  EUGENE LAVERTY |
SUZUKI | VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI | 1:41.092 | SP2 |
| 7 | CHAZ DAVIES |
DUCATI | DUCATI SUPERBIKE TEAM | 1:41.199 | SP2 |
| 8 | LEON HASLAM |
HONDA | PATA HONDA WORLD SUPERBIKE | 1:41.338 | SP2 |
| 9 | ALEX LOWES |
SUZUKI | VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI | 1:41.421 | SP2 |
| 10 | JONATHAN REA |
HONDA | PATA HONDA WORLD SUPERBIKE | 1:41.447 | SP2 |
| 11 |  TONI ELIAS |
APRILIA | RED DEVILS ROMA | 1:41.882 | SP2 |
| 12 | SYLVAIN BARRIER |
BMW | BMW MOTORRAD ITALIA SBK | 1:42.928 | SP2 |
| 13 | DAVID SALOM |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:42.329 | SP1 |
| 14 | NICCOLO CANEPA |
DUCATI | ALTHEA RACING | 1:42.356 | SP1 |
| 15 | ALESSANDRO ANDREOZZI |
KAWASAKI | TEAM PEDERCINI | 1:42.622 | SP1 |
| 16 |  SHERIDAN MORAIS |
KAWASAKI | IRON BRAIN KAWASAKI SBK | 1:43.380 | SP1 |
| 17 | JEREMY GUARNONI |
KAWASAKI | MRS KAWASAKI | 1:43.628 | SP1 |
| 18 |  BRYAN STARING |
KAWASAKI | IRON BRAIN KAWASAKI SBK | 1:43.640 | SP1 |
| 19 | CLAUDIO CORTI |
MV AGUSTA | MV AGUSTA REPARTO CORSE | 1:43.651 | SP1 |
| 20 |  IMRE TOTH |
BMW | BMW TEAM TOTH | 1:44.633 | SP1 |
| 21 | GABOR RIZMAYER |
BMW | BMW TEAM TOTH | 1:45.590 | FP3 |
| 22 |  GEOFF MAY |
EBR | TEAM HERO EBR | 1:45.693 | FP3 |
| 23 | AARON YATES |
EBR | TEAM HERO EBR | 1:45.929 | FP3 |
| 24 | LUCA SCASSA |
KAWASAKI | TEAM PEDERCINI | 1:47.525 | FP1 |
