Davide Giugliano announced his return to World Superbikes in the grand manner by claiming pole position on home soil at Imola. The Aruba.it Ducati rider edged out the two factory Kawasakis of Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea to claim his fourth career pole, his last coming on his most recent WSBK appearance in Qatar last year.
Giugliano had risen to the top of the practice timesheets on Saturday morning and backed that up with a sensational lap on qualifying rubber in SP2. Despite a slight mistake at the Variante Bassa, Davide clocked a 1:46.382 to pip Sykes by 0.084s and although he was delighted with the outcome, the WSBK returnee admits he may struggle to repeat today’s heroics over a race distance.
“I knew that I could put in a fast lap – that’s one of my strengths. We can only be pleased with this result and I think it’s a nice reward not only for myself but also for the team, the sponsors and all my fans. Tomorrow will be more difficult; I believe that we’re in a good place as far as set-up is concerned, and we’ve already chosen the tyres, but I’m not physically fit and think I’ll struggle a bit in the races. Anyway, that said, never say never, maybe adrenalin will help me! For now I’ll celebrate the Superpole with my team, and tomorrow we’ll have to see…”
Sykes outqualified his teammate for the second race running to take P2 on the grid with Rea rounding out the front row. Chaz Davies starts fourth on the second Aruba.it Ducati with the Aprilias of Leon Haslam and Jordi Torres completing the second row. Leandro Mercado and Ayrton Badovini impressed to finish seventh and eighth in SP2 while Michael van der Mark secured ninth spot on the sole PATA Honda to reach the second session.
ACERBIS ITALIAN ROUND: SUPERPOLE CLASSIFICATION
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