![Tom Sykes race action shot]()
Tom Sykes, determined to reaffirm his leadership role at Kawasaki, rode his
ZX10-R to a new lap record at Misano World Circuity on Satutrday, grabbing pole position with a lap of 1:34.214. That’s six-tenths of second quicker than last year’s Superpole time.
His performance was perfect, but the Italian crowd was more focused on the emotional return of Max Biaggi to the Superbike scene. Biaggi qualified fifth, only sixty-five hundredths of a second behind Sykes. This was an impressive return, given Biaggi’s lack of familiarity with the latest generation of qualifying tires.
The temptation to draw a parallel with Troy Bayliss’ return earlier this year with Ducati is strong. On Biaggi’s side is the fact that the Aprilia RSV4 has evolved big time, but is basically still the same bike he raced and won on a couple of years ago. Bayliss raced and won on the legendary Ducati 1198 featuring a near perfect Mas-simo Tamburini-designed chassis, and he never got fully familiar with the Panigale chassis, which still hides gremlins that suddenly pop up and spoil the day. At Misa-no, this happened to Davide Giugliano and Luca Scassa in free practice. Giugliano re-covered to qualify 3rd on the grid, while Luca Scassa broke a collarbone and was re-placed by Michele Pirro, who qualified 10th, ahead of Chaz Davies had all sorts of mechanical troubles.
![Max Biaggi race action shot]()
Second on the grid is Leon Haslam, who took full advantage of Biaggi’s experience in setting up the
Aprilia RSV4 RF. Biaggi’s presence probably also motivated Haslam to push harder than usual. Championship leader Jonathan Rea qualified fourth, close behind Davide Giugliano and just ahead of Max Biaggi. Sixth qualifier was Jordi Tor-res, on the second Aprilia RSV4 RF factory entry, a tenth of a second behind Biaggi.
Biaggi was faster on regular race tires than on qualifiers, so stay tuned and let’s see how he fares on Sunday. Is he physically fit enough withstand the rigors of two legs at Misano? One thing is for sure: Biaggi’s perfectly neat lines around corners still are a great sight for roadracing connoisseurs.
1. Tom Sykes GBR
Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 34.214s
2. Leon Haslam GBR Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 34.426s
3. Davide Giugliano ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 34.442s
4. Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 34.459s
5. Max Biaggi ITA Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 34.463s
6. Jordi Torres ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 34.551s
7. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 34.811s
8. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia S1000RR 1m 34.881s
9. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Honda CBR1000RR 1m 35.061s
10. Michele Pirro ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 35.139s
11. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 35.473s
12. Matteo Baiocco ITA Althea Ducati 1199R 1m 35.862s
![3.ApriliaWSBK_Biaggi]()
![hi_R08_Misano_Sykes_GB45041]()
Tom Sykes, determined to reaffirm his leadership role at Kawasaki, rode his ZX10-R to a new lap record at Misano World Circuity on Satutrday, grabbing pole position with a lap of 1:34.214. That’s six-tenths of second quicker than last year’s Superpole time.
His performance was perfect, but the Italian crowd was more focused on the emotional return of Max Biaggi to the Superbike scene. Biaggi qualified fifth, only sixty-five hundredths of a second behind Sykes. This was an impressive return, given Biaggi’s lack of familiarity with the latest generation of qualifying tires.
The temptation to draw a parallel with Troy Bayliss’ return earlier this year with Ducati is strong. On Biaggi’s side is the fact that the Aprilia RSV4 has evolved big time, but is basically still the same bike he raced and won on a couple of years ago. Bayliss raced and won on the legendary Ducati 1198 featuring a near perfect Mas-simo Tamburini-designed chassis, and he never got fully familiar with the Panigale chassis, which still hides gremlins that suddenly pop up and spoil the day. At Misa-no, this happened to Davide Giugliano and Luca Scassa in free practice. Giugliano re-covered to qualify 3rd on the grid, while Luca Scassa broke a collarbone and was re-placed by Michele Pirro, who qualified 10th, ahead of Chaz Davies had all sorts of mechanical troubles.
Second on the grid is Leon Haslam, who took full advantage of Biaggi’s experience in setting up the Aprilia RSV4 RF. Biaggi’s presence probably also motivated Haslam to push harder than usual. Championship leader Jonathan Rea qualified fourth, close behind Davide Giugliano and just ahead of Max Biaggi. Sixth qualifier was Jordi Tor-res, on the second Aprilia RSV4 RF factory entry, a tenth of a second behind Biaggi.
Biaggi was faster on regular race tires than on qualifiers, so stay tuned and let’s see how he fares on Sunday. Is he physically fit enough withstand the rigors of two legs at Misano? One thing is for sure: Biaggi’s perfectly neat lines around corners still are a great sight for roadracing connoisseurs.
1. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 34.214s
2. Leon Haslam GBR Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 34.426s
3. Davide Giugliano ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 34.442s
4. Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 34.459s
5. Max Biaggi ITA Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 34.463s
6. Jordi Torres ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 34.551s
7. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 34.811s
8. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia S1000RR 1m 34.881s
9. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Honda CBR1000RR 1m 35.061s
10. Michele Pirro ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 35.139s
11. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 35.473s
12. Matteo Baiocco ITA Althea Ducati 1199R 1m 35.862s
