Kawasaki's Tom Sykes (center) took the leading time in Saturday's Superpole session followed by Aprilia's Jacob Smrz (left) and Suzuki's Leon Haslam (right).
It was a seriously eventful session both on and off the track at Imola today. On track the forecasted rain arrived and played havoc with the proceedings, with the result being highly unpredictable results at the end of Superpole. The highlight of the day was Tom Sykes securing
Kawasaki’s first pole position in over three years. The last pole victory came at the Lausitzring in 2007 thanks to Spaniard, Fonsi Nieto. Ironically, Sykes has no contract for next season, but his performance in recent rounds, combined with today’s pole, will almost certainly help his contract negotiations.
“In Superpole 1 I struggled with grip,” said Sykes. “I came in at the end and gave my boys some information and they took the information and gave me the best package I could have hoped for. The circuit is very bad in terms of grip and consistency, but we made a few more changes for Superpole 3 and I knew that it was now or never. It’s something great to put on my CV and it’s great for the whole team.”
Championship leader Max Biaggi scored a second row start in Sunday's races by posting a time of 2'09.924.
Sykes also added that: “The conditions in the wet are horrendous, but I’ll take it any which way - I’m not bothered if it’s wet, dry or damp tomorrow - I’m just happy to be on the front row because I think it will really help us in the race.”
Sykes was joined by
Aprilia-mounted Jacob Smrz in second with fellow Brit, Leon Haslam, in third. Haslam dug deep to post his best time despite still suffering from his Nurburgring crash and resulting knee damage, which has necessitated pain-killing injections at least once a day ever since the fall.
“I’m hurting a fair bit now, but I’m happy where we’ve ended up,” said Haslam. “It’s the first time I’ve ridden the bike in fully wet conditions and I’ve ended up third in the wet and dry. I’ve out qualified Max and I want to carry on beating him and take the championship to the final round at Magny Cours.”
It was a memorable day for Italian Luca Scassa, who secured his first-ever front row start riding the Supersonic
Ducati in fourth.
Despite the treacherous conditions, championship leader Max Biaggi put in another accomplished performance to take seventh spot. The factory Alitalia Aprilia rider looked smooth and in control and did what he needed to do without crashing like a lot of his rivals.
Jonathan Rea suffered an injury after crashing out during the first Superpole. Despite breaking his wrist and collarbone, the Irishman went back out to finish Superpole 2.
In terms of crashes, Jonathan Rea was the highest profile victim. The 23-year-old crashed during Superpole 1, resulting in a broken bone in his wrist and collarbone. He bravely went back on track for Superpole 2 after receiving treatment and injections, but was clearly struggling with pain and the ability to move around on the bike.
Rea was joined by Cal Crutchlow, Shane Byrne, Ruben Xaus and Carlos Checa on a long list of crash victims, which in turn has seriously jeopardized their chances of victory in tomorrow’s two races.
Off track, Japanese star Noriyuki Haga is believed to have signed a deal that will see him become an Aprilia rider in 2011. The current Xerox Ducati man is expected to be confirmed in a new look, one man DFX/Borcianni team which will get support from the Italian factory in terms of bikes and engineers. The ongoing saga over
BMW’s rider line-up continues to role on, with Leon Haslam not yet confirmed to ride for the German manufacturer. The hold-up is Haslam’s current Alstare
Suzuki team, who are still waiting to hear from Suzuki Japan as to the level of technical support they will receive in 2011.
After initial forecasts of heavy rain tomorrow, latest reports claim the weather will stay dry for race day with rain moving into the region on Monday.
