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World Superbike
WSBK: Portimao Superpole Ticker
Notes and quotes following Saturday's Superpole session at Portimao.
Kawasaki Racing Team's Tom Sykes (Photo: Kawasaki Racing)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Superbike World Championship doubleheader from Portimao, Portugal will air back-to-back on SPEED on September 25 at 12:00pm ET.
Kawasaki Racing Team
KRT rider Tom Sykes put in his eighth Superpole winning performance of the season today and broke the existing track best with a 1’41.415 lap in Superpole three. Loris Baz will start from 12th place.
Sykes found real improvements in the feel of his machine when the qualifying tires were broken out in Superpole and he was untouchable in the final session. Despite making a small mistake on his flying lap his new track best was 0.365 seconds better than his main rival today, Carlos Checa, could manage.
Sykes has now taken ten career Superpole wins, eight this season, which makes him the undisputed master of the art in 2012. Tom had been the second fastest qualifier pre-Superpole, when only race tires are used.
Loris Baz was easily into Superpole in Portimao after finishing combined qualifying in sixth place. At one of his favourite circuits he made progress in Superpole despite a small technical problem and he now lines up on the grid on the third row for Sunday’s two Superbike races.
Pedercini Team Kawasaki rider David Salom was 14th fastest pre-Superpole and then finally 16th on the grid. His teammate Alex Lundh was 20th and now starts from the fifth row.
In the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup class, Pedercini Team Kawasaki rider Bryan Staring was second on the grid on his Ninja ZX-10R, while Christoffer Bergman (BWG Racing Kawasaki) was fourth and Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki) was sixth. Leandro Mercado (Pedercini Team Kawasaki) was ninth.
Tom Sykes: “Obviously I am really happy to get an eighth Superpole this year and when we used a qualifying tire it improved our bike again. I am happy starting from where I am on the grid and if we can get a good clean start, and do our thing, we could have a good day. We had some small issues in Nürburgring, totally unexpected, so if we do not have them come back then we should be OK. I am very fortunate and very happy that I have got these guys working for me because they believe in me 100%. Like I have always said to them, when the settings on the bike are at a good level I can ride the bike, and do what I need to do. When I crossed the line I was actually frustrated a little because I made a small mistake in one section and lost at least a tenth, something like that. So when I crossed the line maybe 80% of me was angry with myself, but the rest of me was relaxed because I had set a good lap time and front row was going to be good enough. I enjoy qualifying, and it is enjoyable just to be yourself on the bike, out on track doing your own thing. There is a lot of pressure and you have to concentrate but ultimately I enjoy it.”
Loris Baz: “We had a good pace in general this weekend but also some small problems with the set-up but we found something good this morning and went sixth. We went back to our settings from this morning for Superpole, after the second free practice session. I did not find and improvement with the qualifying tires. I think the grip was good but maybe too much for the suspension settings we had. It was possible to do better but we are still on the third row. The bike moves a lot here because it is really bumpy now but I am confident in our race pace, so I am confident for the race.”
Kawasaki Racing Team
KRT rider Tom Sykes put in his eighth Superpole winning performance of the season today and broke the existing track best with a 1’41.415 lap in Superpole three. Loris Baz will start from 12th place.
Sykes found real improvements in the feel of his machine when the qualifying tires were broken out in Superpole and he was untouchable in the final session. Despite making a small mistake on his flying lap his new track best was 0.365 seconds better than his main rival today, Carlos Checa, could manage.
Sykes has now taken ten career Superpole wins, eight this season, which makes him the undisputed master of the art in 2012. Tom had been the second fastest qualifier pre-Superpole, when only race tires are used.
Loris Baz was easily into Superpole in Portimao after finishing combined qualifying in sixth place. At one of his favourite circuits he made progress in Superpole despite a small technical problem and he now lines up on the grid on the third row for Sunday’s two Superbike races.
Pedercini Team Kawasaki rider David Salom was 14th fastest pre-Superpole and then finally 16th on the grid. His teammate Alex Lundh was 20th and now starts from the fifth row.
In the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup class, Pedercini Team Kawasaki rider Bryan Staring was second on the grid on his Ninja ZX-10R, while Christoffer Bergman (BWG Racing Kawasaki) was fourth and Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki) was sixth. Leandro Mercado (Pedercini Team Kawasaki) was ninth.
Tom Sykes: “Obviously I am really happy to get an eighth Superpole this year and when we used a qualifying tire it improved our bike again. I am happy starting from where I am on the grid and if we can get a good clean start, and do our thing, we could have a good day. We had some small issues in Nürburgring, totally unexpected, so if we do not have them come back then we should be OK. I am very fortunate and very happy that I have got these guys working for me because they believe in me 100%. Like I have always said to them, when the settings on the bike are at a good level I can ride the bike, and do what I need to do. When I crossed the line I was actually frustrated a little because I made a small mistake in one section and lost at least a tenth, something like that. So when I crossed the line maybe 80% of me was angry with myself, but the rest of me was relaxed because I had set a good lap time and front row was going to be good enough. I enjoy qualifying, and it is enjoyable just to be yourself on the bike, out on track doing your own thing. There is a lot of pressure and you have to concentrate but ultimately I enjoy it.”
Loris Baz: “We had a good pace in general this weekend but also some small problems with the set-up but we found something good this morning and went sixth. We went back to our settings from this morning for Superpole, after the second free practice session. I did not find and improvement with the qualifying tires. I think the grip was good but maybe too much for the suspension settings we had. It was possible to do better but we are still on the third row. The bike moves a lot here because it is really bumpy now but I am confident in our race pace, so I am confident for the race.”
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