Tom Sykes (KRT) set a new track best of 1’34.214 at Misano to score his third Superpole win of the year, as his team-mate Jonathan Rea (KRT) placed fourth. Sykes had to first negotiate Superpole 1 after qualifying in 11th place after the first three timed qualifying sessions but ended up with a clear advantage of 0.212 seconds over the second placed rider after Superpole 2.

Sykes was only just out of the top ten after regulation qualifying meaning he had to ride in Superpole 1 to earn his place in Superpole 2. He led this first contest on a race tyre and then used a qualifying rear tyre to make sure he entered Superpole 2.

In the second Superpole sector Tom pushed on to record his new track best lap time, to his own surprise in some regards, but his start from the best possible grid position will stand him in good stead for each race on Sunday.

Rea was on strong form from the start at Misano and although he missed a front row start in Superpole after pushing too hard in the first sector of his first flying lap, he is in a good starting position to take on the challenge of a newly resurfaced Misano circuit.

Rea has been working through various tyre options, both front and rear, through race weekend and he will make his final race selection after morning warm-up on Sunday.

After taking his 27th career Superpole win Sykes is now the second ranked qualifier of all time in his own right, moving one place ahead of WSB legend Troy Bayliss today. He has also scored pole at Misano in the past four visits of the WSB championship to the Adriatic circuit.

Weather conditions for raceday will determine final race settings but both KRT riders are confident they each have a strong set-up for any possible circumstance on raceday.




Tom Sykes:

“I am a little bit surprised to be win Superpole because I was not sure if my lap was good enough. But it was, so for this I am happy. I used a race tyre, then a qualifier in Superpole 1 and finally we had to do three fast laps on the front tyre. I did a 1’34.9 on a race tyre at one stage but the front tyre had already done ten laps. The new track surface is good and the circuit is faster, and a better camber in some areas. We have had a good way of working through the weekend but we had to try a couple of different things and they did not work out. We got caught out because we did not put a fresh tyre in during practice to check our performance over one lap. In a way it was good to do Superpole 1 because I got three extra flying laps in. At this level it gives you a bit more understanding, especially on fresh tyres.”

Jonathan Rea:

“In the first lap of Superpole using my qualifying tyre I pushed a little but hard and messed up the first sector. After that on the second lap I did a much better job in the first two sectors but by then the qualifying tyre had gone off a little. I am happy enough because P4 is not the worst-case scenario and I think we have a bike we can race with in good condition. I do not know what we will get for weather but we are set-up for both conditions, cooler or hotter. We have been fast with the soft tyre and the hard tyre, and when the lights go out we will see what happens.”

David Salom (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) is 20th on the grid after having an issue in Superpole 1. Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven Kawasaki) starts 17th.