Tom Sykes will head into tomorrow with a genuine chance of clinching his second Superbike World Championship after taking pole position at Magny Cours. The reigning champion set the fastest ever SBK lap time around the French circuit to see off Davide Giugliano in Superpole while his title rival Sylvain Guintoli could only manage fifth.
The second Superpole session began with riders setting a banker lap on race tyres but that didn’t stop Giugliano setting the fastest lap of the weekend, a 1:37.011. Jonathan Rea set the ball rolling on qualifying rubber by going six thousandths faster but Sykes blew that time away with his final effort, pulling out six tenths over his rivals.
Giugliano did have more left in the tank but the Italian could do no better than a 1:36.593 to regain second from Rea. The PATA Honda rider did break into the 1:36s on his last attempt but remained in third, just ahead of the second factory Ducati ridden by Chaz Davies.
Guintoli’s late flyer only produced a 1:37.184 for fifth spot with his Aprilia teammate Marco Melandri six thousandths behind in sixth and unlikely to offer any help to the home favourite if Jerez is anything to go by. Loris Baz had to book his spot in the shootout for pole via SP1 but recovered to salvage seventh with Voltcom Crescent Suzuki pair Alex Lowes and Eugene Laverty joining him on row three.
| 2014 eni SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 11 – MAGNY COURS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FREE PRACTICE & TISSOT SUPERPOLE RESULT | ||||||
| POS | RIDER | BIKE | TEAM | BEST TIME | ||
| 1 | 1 |  TOM SYKES |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:36.366 | SP2 |
| 2 | 34 |  DAVIDE GIUGLIANO |
DUCATI | DUCATI SUPERBIKE TEAM | 1:36.593 | SP2 |
| 3 | 65 | JONATHAN REA |
HONDA | PATA HONDA WORLD SUPERBIKE | 1:36.906 | SP2 |
| 4 | 7 | CHAZ DAVIES |
DUCATI | DUCATI SUPERBIKE TEAM | 1:37.021 | SP2 |
| 5 | 50 |  SYLVAIN GUINTOLI |
APRILIA | APRILIA RACING TEAM | 1:37.184 | SP2 |
| 6 | 33 | MARCO MELANDRI |
APRILIA | APRILIA RACING TEAM | 1:37.190 | SP2 |
| 7 | 76 | LORIS BAZ |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:37.215 | SP2 |
| 8 | 22 | ALEX LOWES |
SUZUKI | VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI | 1:37.270 | SP2 |
| 9 | 58 |  EUGENE LAVERTY |
SUZUKI | VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI | 1:37.407 | SP2 |
| 10 | 91 | LEON HASLAM |
HONDA | PATA HONDA WORLD SUPERBIKE | 1:37.575 | SP2 |
| 11 | 212 |  XAVI FORES |
DUCATI | 3C RACING TEAM | 1:37.673 | SP2 |
| 12 | 27 |  MAX NEUKIRCHNER |
DUCATI | 3C RACING TEAM | 1:37.877 | SP2 |
| 13 | 52 | SYLVAIN BARRIER |
BMW | BMW MOTORRAD ITALIA SBK | 1:38.415 | SP1 |
| 14 | 24 | TONI ELIAS |
APRILIA | RED DEVILS ROMA | 1:38.621 | SP1 |
| 15 | 57 | LORENZO LANZI |
DUCATI | 3C RACING TEAM | 1:38.883 | SP1 |
| 16 | 59 | NICCOLO CANEPA |
DUCATI | ALTHEA RACING | 1:39.367 | SP1 |
| 17 | 44 | DAVID SALOM |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:39.452 | SP1 |
| 18 | 71 | CLAUDIO CORTI |
MV AGUSTA | MV AGUSTA REPARTO CORSE | 1:39.518 | SP1 |
| 19 | 32 |  SHERIDAN MORAIS |
KAWASAKI | IRON BRAIN KAWASAKI SBK | 1:39.701 | SP1 |
| 20 | 9 | FABIEN FORET |
KAWASAKI | TEAM PEDERCINI | 1:39.850 | SP1 |
| 21 | 11 | JEREMY GUARNONI |
KAWASAKI | MRS KAWASAKI | 1:40.427 | FP3 |
| 22 | 21 | ALESSANDRO ANDREOZZI |
KAWASAKI | TEAM PEDERCINI | 1:40.926 | FP3 |
| 23 | 67 |  BRYAN STARING |
KAWASAKI | IRON BRAIN KAWASAKI SBK | 1:41.181 | FP3 |
| 24 | 99 |  GEOFF MAY |
EBR | TEAM HERO EBR | 1:42.051 | FP3 |
| 25 | 20 | AARON YATES |
EBR | TEAM HERO EBR | 1:42.406 | FP3 |
| 26 | 10 |  IMRE TOTH |
BMW | BMW TEAM TOTH | 1:42.470 | FP3 |
| 27 | 74 | GABOR RIZMAYER |
BMW | BMW TEAM TOTH | 1:43.023 | FP1 |
| 28 | 16 | NICOLAS SALCHAUD |
MV AGUSTA | DREAM TEAM COMPANY | 1:44.559 | FP3 |
