Tom Sykes rode his Kawasaki Racing Team Ninja ZX-10R to his first front row start of the 2015 season by finishing Superpole in third place at Motorland Aragon, with his team-mate Jonathan Rea just one place and one row behind.

Sykes declared that his fast lap using a qualifying rear tyre was not quite ideal as he had to adopt a degree of caution after pushing the front earlier during his best lap, because much more rear grip is available from the qualifying tyre. He set a 1’49.863 on his way to his front row start.

Rea, who has been consistently fast all weekend, was fourth, losing his 100% perfect record of pole starts in what has been a remarkable start to his season with Kawasaki. His best in Superpole was a 1’50.053. The championship leader is still in a good position to take on the two 18-lap races on Sunday and will make a final set-up call after morning warm-up.

The 5.077km Motorland circuit has proved to be fast and exciting in its new WSB layout, with the long final corner playing its part already for Sykes. He had to use a touch of caution as he completed his best lap of the weekend.

The circuit conditions have varied from providing a cool track surface in the morning sessions to warmer asphalt in the afternoons, but the weather conditions have been kind in general with all sessions conducted in the dry.



Tom Sykes:

“I am happy to be on the front row because it was second row in the previous round, so that is a little bit better today. We are improving, so I am happy for that. As soon as we put the qualifying tyre in I had too many warnings early in the lap and when I came into the last sector there was a fast corner to finish. I did not want to go in there too hot. Those warnings earlier on did put me off a bit and so it was not a perfect lap. But I am happy enough to get on the front row. Starting from there also gives us a cleaner track ahead for the two races. We started the weekend in a good position and we are now in a better position. Everybody always tries to improve so we will have a look at the situation later and try to improve our set-up even more.”

Jonathan Rea:

“Superpole went OK and I felt that my lap was good but not good enough for the front row. We have been working really hard all weekend on our tyre option and trying to maximise our race set-up. I’m quite happy with our progress and we will work in warm-up to try and further improve my feeling. Tomorrow I hope to make a good start and to be in the front group to see how the race unfolds. For me the most important thing is to be fast in the last laps when the tyre performance drops.”