Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow took pole position at Magny Cours in addition to setting a new track record.
Sterilgarda’s Cal Crutchlow etched his name at the top of the charts in the final Superpole session of the season ahead of Alstare
Suzuki’s Sylvain Guintoli and
Aprilia’s Jakub Smrz.
“What I wanted was the pole but unfortunately Cal just managed to get it ahead of me," said Guintoli. "Today was great, this morning when I was quickest in Q2 it was good and I’m looking forward to tomorrow because I’ve been so close to the podium so many times this year. I really wish I can get my first one here in front of the French public, I’m going to push hard tomorrow, my race pace is good and I feel confident.”
During the tough session that saw the top-eighth riders lap within 0.8 seconds of each other, Crutchlow pulled ahead of Guintoli by just 0.069 seconds. Not only did Crutchlow take the fastest lap of the field, but the Britt also set a new circuit record in the process.
"It's nice to be going in to my last Superbike race before I head off to Moto GP with a pole position,” said Crutchlow. “It's a good reward for Yamaha, they've put their trust and faith in me for the next two years so it's good to deliver for them. I want to make it two race wins tomorrow for sure. It's taken a while to find race pace this weekend, maybe we've found something in the Superpole, we'll see tomorrow and I'm hoping for two good races.”
Despite a mild case of the flu Max Biaggi remains determined to earn his Aprilia team the manufacturer title.
2010 champion, Max Biaggi, took fourth in the books in his quest to earn the Manufacturer’s Title for his Aprilia team. The Italian is still suffering from a mild case of the flu, but pulled through regardless.
"Compared to last weekend at Imola, things began decisively better here,” said Biaggi. “We're fast, we are working well and if we can shave off just a little more I will have an excellent chance at staying up front and battling with the best riders. Unfortunately I'm still not at 100% physically. The races are long and they could prove to be tiring for me. I really want to give my best. After the rider championship it would only be right to close out the season earning the manufacturer title as well."
Behind the champion was
Ducati’s Michel Fabrizio in fifth, a little more than three-tenths off the pace of Biaggi. Beginning from the second row will be Ten Kate
Honda’s Jonathan Rea who, despite serious injuries, rode well during the session and was under half a second off the pace of the leader. Following his double victory at Imola, Ducati’s Carlos Checa will also be starting from the second row after putting in the seventh-quickest lap aboard his Ducati 1098R. Occupying the final spot on Row 2 will be Japanese rider Noriyuki Haga.
BMW’s Troy Corser and Suzuki’s Leon Haslam rounded out the top-10 times for the day in ninth and 10th respectively, with Yamaha’s James Toseland continuing to struggle back in 15th.
"We had one front tire in for all the Superpole sessions, and when we put the new Pirelli qualifier on it was the first time we'd used it as we didn't get a chance at Imola,” said Toseland. “It's quite a lot better than the old one so we had much more grip on the rear than the front. It was ok for the first session but just didn't hold out for the second, I lost nearly half a second on it and lost the front a couple of times and had to pick it up on my knee. We've got a pretty good race set up so if we can get a good start tomorrow and keep out of trouble for the first couple of laps we'll be alright and up there."
2010 World Superbike Magny Cours Qualifying Results:
1. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) 1'37.699
Suzuki's Sylvain Guintoli made it a close Superpole by finishing just 0.069 seconds shy of Cal Crutchlow.
2. Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki) 1'37.768
3. Jakub Smrz (Aprilia) 1'37.784
4. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) 1'38.039
5. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) 1'38.082
6. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1'38.155
7. Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1'38.252
8. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) 1'38.421
9. Troy Corser (BMW) 1'38.250
10. Leon Haslam (Suzuki) 1'38.327
11. Ruben Xaus (BMW) 1'38.364
12. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 1'38.370
13. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) 1'38.519
14. Shane Byrne (Ducati) 1'38.538
15. James Toseland (Yamaha) 1'38.551
Supersport
Honda Ten Kate’s Kenan Sofuoglu posted his fifth pole of the season after controlling the qualifying charts in France. With a time of 1'41.372 Sofuoglu outpaced nearest rival in the championship, Eugene Laverty, by 0.441 seconds. Motocard.com Kawasaki’s Katsuaki Fujiwara took third after another strong performance, whose time was exactly half a second off the pace of Sofuoglu.
French World Supersport legend, Fabien Foret, was the final rider to make it on the front row after posting a time that was 0.134 seconds adrift of Katsuaki. Rounding out the top-five times was Kawasaki’s Broc Parkes at 1'42.086.
2010 World Supersport Qualifying Results:
Kenan Sofuoglu took pole position in France ahead of Eugene Laverty by 0.441 seconds.
1. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) 1'41.372
2. Eugene Laverty (Honda) 1'41.813
3. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Kawasaki) 1'41.872
4. Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) 1'42.006
5. Broc Parkes (Kawasaki) 1'42.086
6. David Salom (Triumph) 1'42.091
7. Miguel Pirro (Honda) 1'42.163
8. Massimo Roccoli (Honda) 1'42.167
9. Gino Rea (Honda) 1'42.240
10. Mark Aithchison (Honda) 1'42.431
11. Robbin Harms (Honda) 1'42.520
12. Chaz Davies (Triumph) 1'42.596
13. Florian Marino (Honda) 1'42.782
14. Roberto Tamburini (Yamaha) 1'42.919
15. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Triumph) 1'43.140
