Tom Sykes secured his fourth pole position of the 2014 season on his official KRT Ninja ZX-10R during Superpole at the FIM Superbike World Championship round at Laguna Seca, setting a new best lap in the process. His team-mate Loris Baz finished up eighth on the grid and KRT SBK Evo rider David Salom was 15th, after an unusually tough Superpole qualifying session.

Sykes was the first SBK rider to ever dip under the 1’22 second barrier at Laguna Seca, with his 1’21.811 new best lap. It proved to be 0.528 better than any other rider after the sticky qualifying rear tyres were brought into play.

Also with a strong race pace set-up for his official machine Sykes is in confident mood for race day, after he and his crew had to work hard in practice to give him a bike that got easier to ride going into Superpole. Tom supplied the final ingredients of his own in his record breaking lap to take his 23rd career Superpole win.

Sykes, who won the first race at Laguna Seca here for Kawasaki in 2013, now starts in the best possible place for the two 25- lap races on Sunday 13th.

After a tough first day of qualifying at a circuit he had never visited before, Loris Baz had to enter Superpole one to get through to Superpole two today. He set the early fastest time in Superpole one then ran off track and toppled over in the dirt before remounting and working his way back to the pits. Loris recovered his composure and improved his time later in the session to leave Superpole one as the fastest rider. He ended up eighth fastest overall after Superpole two, earning a place on the third row of the grid.

KRT SBK Evo rider David Salom was Baz’s closest challenger in Superpole one for a time but he could not respond when other riders went faster and he finished up 15th on the grid for a fifth row start. He was not satisfied by his laps in qualifying but is much more confident in his overall race pace as he approaches two 25-lap races on Sunday 13th at Laguna Seca.

Tom Sykes:

“To take pole here is very exciting especially after we struggled a bit earlier this weekend and because some of our competitors have been very strong here. Slowly but surely we have got the bike working much better and I am a lot more confident for tomorrow. It is crucial to be on the front row so when I put a qualifying tyre in I had a little stab at getting the best lap. I had a little adventure in The Corkscrew but I came out of the other side and we made it happen for the lap time. I am happy because it is a great lap time and the guys have all worked hard to achieve it. It’s going to be close tomorrow because a number of people have good race pace but I am looking forward to it.”

Loris Baz:

“We improved today but I feel if we had the normal schedule, of two sessions on day one and then two more today, it would have helped us a bit more. I feel better today but yesterday I was far away and not riding so well. Today we were just missing some little things but I am sure we can find some good things in warm-up tomorrow. I was not at my best in practice at Portimao either but then the races were better, so we will be trying to find some good things tomorrow. The race is another thing from practice. If I can make a good start then I can learn a few things and follow them.”

David Salom:

“I am not happy with my single lap time in qualifying but I am happy with the bike. For the race it should be good because we have strong pace in those conditions. I just did not make a very good lap in qualifying. We have a good bike set-up for the race but it is hard work around here. We have 25-laps each race tomorrow so it will be a busy race day!”

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