Yamaha Sterilgarda’s Cal Crutchlow managed a blistering pace around his home circuit to take provisional pole.
Yamaha Sterilgarda’s Cal Crutchlow set the fastest time in the first qualifying session on Friday to take provisional pole at the Silverstone circuit. Crutchlow excelled at his home circuit, outpacing Honda Ten Kate’s Jonathan Rea and BMW’s Troy Corser by 0.342 seconds.
Aprilia rider Leon Camier took fourth on the timesheets after setting a best lap of 2'06.064.
"We started off as we had hoped, siad Camier. "I'd say that with the setting we're on target, now I just need to improve my trajectories, especially on some sections. The final tenths which need to be shaved off are there, in my knowledge of the track and the lines. Here, at home, I really want to do well for my supporters and my Team."
Ducati’s Michel Fabrizio earned the fifth-best time with a pace that was just 0.024 seconds away from Camier. Crutchlow’s Yamaha teammate, James Toseland, put in a hot lap around the newly-modified circuit to take sixth in the books, with championship leader Max Biaggi following just 0.077-seconds behind in seventh.
"We still need to fix a few things," said Biaggi. "Especially in the turns on the rougher asphalt. Without looking too much at the clock we punched out a good time, quite close to those ahead of us. The English riders are giving 110%, they are breathing in their home air, but I'll try to... bring honor to the Italian flag even here! All joking aside, we have some ideas on the setup which needs to be perfected hand in hand with the experience we gain on this new track. Concentration and determination will do the rest."
Biaggi’s rival, Leon Haslam, took the eighth-best time after qualifying with 2'06.464, which was eight-tenths of a second off the leader’s pace.
"Happily, today was like a normal Friday - and that is a good feeling to have after Brno," Haslam said. "This is a fantastic track and has bags of character. It's fast and flowing; and there are lots of passing opportunities. I think it's going to be great racing on Sunday. At the moment, I am still trying to find the right lines around it, but, because the track is quite wide, there are many different lines to try. Tomorrow we'll push harder, hopefully have a good Superpole; and be in a much-better position on the grid than Brno!"
Althea Ducati’s Carlos Checa took ninth after putting in a lap just eleven-hundredths of a second adrift of Haslam, and Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes rounded out the top10 times with a fast lap of 2'06.596.
Jonathan Rea posted the second-fastest lap at the SIlverstone circuit during qualifying ahead of Leon Haslam.
1. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) 2'05.664
2. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 2'06.006
3. Troy Corser (BMW) 2'06.052
4. Leon Camier (Aprilia) 2'06.064
5. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) 2'06.088
6. James Toseland (Yamaha) 2'06.238
7. Max BIaggi (Aprilia) 2'06.315
8. Leon Haslam (Suzuki) 2'06.464
9. Carlos Checa (Ducati) 2'06.475
10. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 2'06.596
11. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) 2'06.699
12. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) 2'06.803
13. Shane Byrne (Althea) 2'06.952
14. Jacob Smrz (Aprilia) 2'06.988
15. Luca Scassa (Ducati) 2'07.042
Supersport
Parkalgar Honda rider Eugene Laverty rose to the top of the qualifying session on Friday after posting a lap of 2'09.826 ahead of the competition. Only 0.090 seconds behind Laverty was Intermoto Czech Honda’s Gino Rea in second, followed by Kawasaki’s Joan Lascorz in third with a time that was 0.161 seconds adrift of Laverty’s pace. Current championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu came in fourth with a time of 2'10.069 and was followed by Parkalgar Honda’s Miguel Praia who rounded out the top-five times.
Sixth on the timesheets was Roberto Tamburini, who turned a best lap of 2'10.689 to fall 0.863 seconds shy of the leader’s pace. Triumph rider David Salom took the seventh-quickest time and was more than seven-hundredths of a second behind Tamburini, with Kawasaki rider Fabian Foret rounding the circuit more than a second away from Laverty’s pace. Rounding out the top-10 times were Vittorio Iannuzzo and Massimo Roccoli, taking ninth and tenth respectively.
Eugene Laverty took the fastest lap of Friday in the Supersport class ahead of Gino Rea and Joan Lascorz.
1. Eugene Laverty (Honda) 2'09.826
2. Gino Rea (Honda) 2'09.916
3. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki) 2'09.987
4. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) 2'10.069
5. Miguel Praia (Honda) 2'10.438
6. Roberto Tamburini (Yamaha) 2'10.689
7. David Salom (Triumph) 2'10.761
8. Fabian Foret (Kawasaki) 2'10.915
9. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Kawasaki) 2'11.195
10. Billy McConnell (Yamaha) 2'11.339
11. Chaz Davies (Triumph) 2'11.339
12. Matthieu Lagrive (Triumph) 2'11.373
13. Robbin Harms (Honda) 2'11.385
14. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Triumph) 2'11.569
15. Massimo Roccoli (Honda) 2'11.578
