It was payback time for Tom Sykes during the second World Superbike qualifying session at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit at Imola after being pipped by Jakub Smrz and team mate Joan Lascorz yesterday. Lap times dropped considerably during the cooler morning temperatures with the Kawasaki rider leading the top of the timesheets with a best lap of 1.47.458, shaving off 1.6s from yesterday’s QP1 practice. After yesterday’s afternoon technical issues in QP1 Sylvain Guintoli climbed back to second followed by Leon Haslam and ahead of the reigning World Champion Carlos Checa who almost rear ended Mark Aitchison.
Marco Melandri made a massive jump forward to claim fifth and a spot in this afternoon’s Superpole. Eugene Laverty was the sixth quickest followed by Leon Camier who would have probably been even faster if he hadn’t lost the front of his Suzuki at the Tamburello towards the end of session. Jakub Smrz who claimed Friday’s provisional pole, crashed out at the Ravizza 1 which left him in 8th but always in the Superpole safety zone, while Jonathan Rea and Joan Lascroz closed out the top ten.
Max Biaggi qualified in 11th followed by a bevy of Ducati’s ridden by Lorenzo Zanetti and Niccolò Canepa, Maxime Berger, while the last two riders to make into Superpole were Ayrton Badovini, Davide Giugliano.
WSBK Imola Qualifying practise day 2 results
1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’47.458
2. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’47.608
3. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’47.646
4. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’47.831
5. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’47.834
6. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’47.908
7. Leon Camier (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’48.119
8. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 1’48.146
9. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’48.176
10. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’48.192
11. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’48.247
12. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1’48.263
13. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 1’48.350
14. Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’48.426
15. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’48.518
16. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1’48.650
17. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’48.857
18. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’48.904
19. John Hopkins (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’49.790
20. David Salom (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’49.854
21. Mark Aitchison (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 1’50.009
22. Brett McCormick (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 1’50.266
23. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’50.670
24. Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’50.999
25. Lorenzo Alfonsi (Team Pro Ride Real Game Honda) Honda CBR1000RR 1’52.993
