Sykes Back on Form with Assen Pole Position

Tom Sykes has taken his first pole position of the 2015 World Superbike season after edging out his teammate Jonathan Rea in Superpole at Assen. The 2013 champion has endured a disappointing season so far as Rea has dominated the championship but the pendulum swung Sykes’ way for the first time on Saturday in the Netherlands.

Rea, a five time winner at Assen during his Honda days, made a sensational start to SP2 with a 1:35.913, quicker than anything he had done all weekend, but despite an improvement on his second lap, the championship leader was usurped by Leon Haslam who clocked a 1:35.713 on his Aprilia.

The change to qualifying tyres triggered a thrilling finale with home favourite Michael van der Mark briefly snatching provisional pole for PATA Honda, only to hand it back to Haslam, but the Kawasakis soon raised the bar with both breaking into the 1:34s. Rea was the first to cross the line with a 1:34.920 but Sykes would secure his 25th career pole, and arguably the most significant to date, with a 1:34.789 moments later.

Haslam rounds out the front row with practice pacesetter Chaz Davies forced to settle for fourth, just ahead of van der Mark, while Alex Lowes produced a standout performance to qualify sixth on a Suzuki still adjusting to the Magneti Marelli electronics.

Xavi Fores starts seventh ahead of compatriot Jordi Torres while Sylvain Guintoli completes the third row after a stunning effort on the third lap with his qualifying tyre in SP1 which saved him from elimination.

 

DUTCH ROUND: SUPERPOLE CLASSIFICATION

Pos	Rider	Constructor	Team	Time
1	66. Tom Sykes	Kawasaki	Kawasaki Racing Team	1:34.789	SP2
2	65. Jonathan Rea	Kawasaki	Kawasaki Racing Team	1:34.920	SP2
3	91. Leon Haslam	Aprilia	Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils	1:35.336	SP2
4	7. Chaz Davies	Ducati	Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team	1:35.425	SP2
5	60. Michael van der Mark	Honda	PATA Honda World Superbike	1:35.619	SP2
6	22. Alex Lowes	Suzuki	Voltcom Crescent Suzuki	1:35.722	SP2
7	112. Xavi Fores	Ducati	Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team	1:35.786	SP2
8	81. Jordi Torres	Aprilia	Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils	1:35.855	SP2
9	1. Sylvain Guintoli	Honda	PATA Honda World Superbike	1:36.118	SP2
10	36. Leandro Mercado	Ducati	Barni Racing Team	1:36.394	SP2
11	2. Leon Camier	MV Agusta	MV Agusta Reparto Corse	1:36.402	SP2
12	18. Nicolas Terol	Ducati	Althea Racing	1:36.555	SP2
13	15. Matteo Baiocco	Ducati	Althea Racing	1:36.392	SP1
14	86. Ayrton Badovini	BMW	BMW Motorrad Italia SBK	1:36.711	SP1
15	40. Roman Ramos	Kawasaki	Team Go Eleven	1:36.847	SP1
16	44. David Salom	Kawasaki	Team Pedercini	1:37.033	SP1
17	59. Niccolo Canepa	EBR	Team Hero EBR	1:37.273	SP1
18	14. Randy de Puniet	Suzuki	Voltcom Crescent Suzuki	1:37.654	SP1
19	23. Christophe Ponsson	Kawasaki	Grillini SBK Team	1:38.326	SP1
20	51. Santiago Barragan	Kawasaki	Grillini SBK Team	1:38.977	SP1
21	90. Javier Alviz	Kawasaki	Team Pedercini	1:40.334	FP3
22	72. Larry Pegram	EBR	Team Hero EBR	1:40.699	FP3
23	75. Gabor Rizmayer	BMW	BMW Team Toth	1:41.543	FP1
24	10. Imre Toth	BMW	BMW Team Toth	1:41.958	FP3