Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea scored front row qualifying positions after Superpole 2 at the classic Imola circuit, with Sykes second and Rea third on the grid.

Regular qualifying for the top few riders was close all through the weekend but in Superpole that competitiveness notched up another level as Sykes was only 0.084 seconds from pole and Rea only 0.121 seconds behind the fastest lap.

Sykes’ Superpole lap of 1’46.466 was only half a second from the track best despite a host of technical regulation changes brought in for the 2015 season, designed to reduce top end performance.

Superpole was won at Imola by local rider Davide Giugliano, taking part in his first WSB race weekend since fracturing two vertebrae in a testing crash in Australia in mid-February.

Imola has been experiencing a warm and dry period, allowing Sykes and Rea to make their preparations for Sunday’s two 19-lap races with a relatively consistent track surface to work on.

The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R has a positive recent race record at this undulating 4.936km circuit and both Sykes and Rea are now well placed to take advantage of their strong starting positions.

The first race will get underway at 10.30 on Sunday and race two is scheduled to begin at 13.10.



Tom Sykes:

“I was relatively happy with my Superpole lap but it was a shame to miss out on the pole position. Pole does not give me 25 points, however. For me our main target was the front row and it was really nice to see Davide Giugliano come back from such a potentially serious injury to take Superpole. Marcel, my crew chief, has been cracking the whip again this weekend trying to get information for us to use on raceday. It has been so unusual for us to drop our pace after 12 laps or so in the previous two events. That is something we are not used to so it is something we have worked on this weekend.”

Jonathan Rea:

“My best Superpole lap was good but not perfect. I made a little mistake in the first sectors and that carried on through for a few corners. I was happy with my lap in general, especially the second half, which I felt was really good and strong. To qualify on the outside of row one is a little bit of a handicap as you almost start on a corner. The Ninja ZX-10R has been giving me some good starts recently, so I hope I can make a clean getaway and settle into my pace. Hopefully I can stay in the 1’47s in the races because in the sessions today that is where I have been able to put my bike, but there are some other strong guys in there as well. It will be a tough 19-laps in each race and the temperatures are high. I think in the afternoon, when the temperature is hotter, our bike works a bit better.”

David Salom (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) was tenth in Superpole 2 and is therefore tenth on the grid for Sunday’s races, while Roman Ramos (Go Eleven Kawasaki) was 16th in Superpole.