Tom Sykes went from third in combined qualifying to tenth after the new-look Superpole contest, as he prepares to give the all new Ninja ZX-10R its first competitive outing tomorrow.

Tom’s Kawasaki Racing Team team-mate Joan Lascorz was also well in the mix during qualifying at the first round of the year but he too had to settle for a lower final grid position than his real race pace suggests. He qualified ninth going into Superpole but came out 13th, and now starts from the fourth row of the grid. He missed a certain third row start by only 0.058 seconds. Superpole has now reverted to a contest for the top 16 riders in regular qualifying, but is still split into three parts.

Both Kawasaki official WSBK riders worked well with a real race set-up on the Ninja ZX-10R but changes in track temperature, and therefore track conditions shortly before Superpole, played a part in the final grid positions each achieved. Neither rider could get the best out of their qualifying tyres in the warm conditions, which are key to any challenge for a front row starting position.

Sunday’s races will be Joan’s first in World Superbike, after a strong recent career as a Kawasaki official rider in WSS. Joan impressed all with his pace in the early qualifying sessions, having clearly made a swift transition to the demands of Superbike racing.

Now the team will compare data to arrive at a final machine set-up and the most likely tyre choices will be tried out in warm-up tomorrow morning. Weather conditions are expected to deteriorate overnight, but recover in time for Sunday’s two 22-lap races at the classic 4.445km circuit on the south coast of Australia.

Tom Sykes:

“We made good progress earlier today but in the hotter conditions in the afternoon we were not able to use the best of the softer race tyres and qualifying tyres, which bumped us down the final order a bit. We are going to have to work on that, and try to find a good harmony in suspension and chassis in those conditions. It was frustrating to go from third in combined qualifying to the third row, but it is one of those things, and tomorrow is another day. It's the only day that counts for real. We need to have some points in the bag from these races and continue our strong development programme. I was really pleased to be top three after combined qualifying, it shows our true potential.”

Joan Lascorz:

“We had different settings on the bike because the conditions changed and it proved difficult in Superpole. I used a qualifying tyre but it made no real difference to the lap time. We could do the same on the race tyres. We will see how the races are tomorrow but I am quite tired now and will rest and recover before warm-up. I am looking forward to the first races in this class and if we can find good settings for the conditions, I will be happy.”