BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s Leon Haslam will start tomorrow’s two World Superbike races from Aragón on the front row of the grid, after qualifying fourth fastest in the final Superpole session at the Spanish circuit. Despite having been fastest pretty much all weekend on his BMW S 1000 RR, Marco Melandri was sixth hundredths of a second slower than his team-mate in SP3 and will start from the front of the second row tomorrow.

As soon as the factory BMW riders arrived at the Aragón circuit, they were on the pace, especially Melandri, who beat his track lap record from last year in this morning’s qualifying practice. With temperatures around 33 degrees celsius, both riders sailed through SP1 – in third and seventh – and made it safely through to SP2.

The second Superpole session saw Melandri post the fastest ever lap around Aragon up to that point, with a 1:57.207 securing him provisional pole for the session. Leon Haslam’s lap of 1:57.992 was good enough to see him finish SP2 in eighth and make the cut for SP3.

In SP3, it was pole position specialist Tom Skyes who saved his best until last and secured his sixth pole of the year with an unbeatable one-off lap of 1:56.552 – over half a second quicker than his nearest challenger. Leon finished this final session in fourth with another personal best lap time of 1:57.710, while Marco was just behind in fifth with his 1:57.784. BMW Motorrad Italia Goldbet SBK Team rider Ayrton Badovini finished tenth fastest, while Michel Fabrizio was 13th quickest on his RR.

Fast laps and grid positions aside, managing tyre life over full race distance in the high temperatures will be a key factor in determining success in tomorrow’s two WSBK races at Motorland Aragón.

Leon Haslam:

"I am pretty happy. In the test and all the practice sessions we have been playing catch-up a little bit. The feeling for the track and the bike has been good but we lacked a little bit on the lap time, also on the race distance. But today we made some really good steps and now I am really happy to put my RR on the front row and I am also confident that the race tyre is looking better, too. We are well prepared for the races, this is what we have been working on. It sometimes has been a little bit frustrating because we have not been looking for a lap time. Normally, the important thing is to get to a lap time and then maintain it. But it has been the other way around this weekend. We have been working on making the tyre last and now as we were getting the tyre to last, the lap time has become better, too. So this is a funny situation."

Marco Melandri:

"I am disappointed, because the first qualifying tyre was working very good, but with the second one it was completely different and we were struggling a lot. We had a lot of chatter and it was impossible to ride. Fortunately we have a good rhythm for the race. Of course it would have been better to start from the first row, but anyway, fifth place is okay. We will see what we can do in the race."

Head of Race Operations Andrea Dosoli:

"The day was positive. We could improve the performance of both riders. The first two rows are a good starting position for this race. Both crews have been working hard and we are pleased to see the result of the changes on the bikes made from yesterday to today.

Marco was quite fast and set a new best lap on the race tyre in the qualifying practice and on the qualifier in Superpole 2. Leon has back the feeling he was missing yesterday. We are very happy that he will start from the first row which is very important for the tough race we expect tomorrow. It is a pity that Marco could not confirm what he has shown in all the qualifying practices and also in Superpole 2 due to a qualifying tyre which was not working as we expected. But even starting from the second row he can fight with the top guys tomorrow.

Both riders have a very good pace. For sure, the races will not be easy because it will be hot, but both our riders are well prepared and we are convinced that we all will enjoy the race."

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