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Sykes tops Misano superpole

San Marino - Kawasaki's Tom Sykes will start the Misano round of the World Superbike series on pole position after dominating Superpole on Saturday, according to SuperSport.com.

With the track damp as light drizzle fell, Superpole was declared wet. Under Superbike rules that meant two 20 minute session instead of the usual three, with eight riders dropping out at the end of Superpole 1.

Matteo Baiocco, on the wild-card Barni Ducati, set the early pace in Superpole 1 but it was all change as Jakub Smrz jumped to the top of the timesheets with a 1:47.704.

Smrz's reign was short-lived as Ayrton Badovini hit the front only to lose out as the Czech rider returned to the P1 slot ahead of Sylvain Guintoli. The Frenchman continued lapping, hitting the front with a 1:40.173.

Championship leader Max Biaggi was the next to lead the way, followed by Smrz, Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes. The latter, riding his Kawasaki, lowered the benchmark to a 1:36.286 to finish P1.

But as other riders completed their final flying laps, Biaggi was down in 10th place, Marco Melandri was 13th and reigning World Champ Carlos Checa was P16. All three frontrunners out of Superpole.

Superpole 2 got underway on an almost dry track with the eight remaining riders quickly into the action. Guintoli was first up with a 1:36.559 but was soon topped by Sykes, who went over a second quicker.

Rea slotted into second place after his first flying lap came to naught when he ran it off the track. Leon Haslam improved to second as Guintoli's session came to an end with eight minutes remaining as he lost the front end of his bike, sliding into the kitty litter.

Badovini was the next into second place, however, like his rivals the Italian was not able to find that extra bit of pace needed to challenge Sykes for the P1 slot. As the clock run out, Rea overhauled the BMW rider while Eugene Laverty moved up to sixth place.

Superpole 2 ended with Sykes at the very front ahead of Rea, Badovini and Giugliano, who put in a late charge to complete the front row.

Times:

1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'35.375
2. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.991
3. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1'36.083
4. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1'36.147
5. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 1'36.183
6. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1'36.283
7. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'36.365
8. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1'36.559
9. Matteo Baiocco (Barni Racing Team Italia) Ducati 1098R 1'37.509
10. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'37.686
11. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'37.704
12. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1'37.796
13. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1'37.806
14. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'37.985
15. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1'38.078
16. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1'38.977
17. Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1'36.934
18. John Hopkins (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'37.168
19. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 1'37.202
20. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.250
21. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'37.312
22. David Salom (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'37.688
23. Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'38.674
24. Federico Sandi (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 1'40.251
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