2018 Misano World Superbike Superpole Results: Big Qualifying Rubber

Submitted by Jared Earle on

The sun returned to World Superbike and, after yesterday's rain-dashed final session, Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Michael van der Mark started the opening Superpole session in the favourite spots to get promoted to the second session. 

After one lap, Michael van der Mark sat at the top with a 1'35.525, just five hundredths the quickest. Jordi Torres, on his second lap, climbed from second to first quickest, but van der Mark knocked him back down a few seconds later. On the third lap, van der Mark pitted in while Torres worrisome spewed smoke from his exhaust on his way to a 1'35.320 before pitting in for the mid-session tea break. Torres and van der Mark were a quarter of a second clear of Leandro Mercado and Toprak Razgatlioglu. Michael Ruben Rinaldi sat in last place but pitted out before the other riders to take advantage of an empty track. 

On his first lap after the break, van der Mark knocked half a second off his time with a 1'34.762, his first sub-1'35 of the weekend. The flag came out and Torres was the first to meet it, getting to within two tenths of van der Mark's fast lap and the only other 1'34 of the session. 

Leandro Mercado, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Yonny Hernandez were the best of the rest and would make up the fifth row of the grid for this afternoon's race, while Michael van der Mark and Jordi Torres joined the top ten to determine their final starting places. 

Tom Sykes has set the pole position at Misano for the last six years, but it was his teammate Jonathan Rea who set the first fast lap of Superpole two with a 1'34.467, ahead of Loris Baz and Sykes, and a lap later, Rea moved the goalposts with a 1'34.223, half a second quicker than everyone else on a race tyre, before pitting in for the quicker qualifying tyre. 

Most riders opted for the higher-profile qualifying tyre, to match the tyre they're racing with so there's no need to change the gearing or suspension for the tyre. 

After the break, Eugene Laverty was the first rider to set a fast lap on the stickier rubber, but Jonathan Rea posted a 1'33.673, a hundredth of a second off his teammate's lap record, and Tom Sykes was on a fast lap as he approached the flag. 

Tom Sykes took pole position at Misano, with a new outright lap record of 1'33.640, getting the most out of the qualifying tyre and pushing his Kawasaki teammate Jonathan Rea to second place on the grid with Eugene Laverty in third. Xavi Fores, the quickest Ducati, headed the second row ahead of Lorenzo Savadori on the second Aprilia and Loris Baz on the BMW. 

No other current rider has set pole position at Misano, so Tom Sykes getting his seventh consecutive pole position should have come as no surprise, but he was off the pace in the third sector, only pulling the lap back in the final sector.

Qualifying Results:

Pos No. Rider Bike Time Gap Speed
1 66 T. SYKES Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1'33.640   262,1
2 1 J. REA Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1'33.673 0.033 263,4
3 50 E. LAVERTY Aprilia RSV4 RF 1'34.281 0.641 266,7
4 12 X. FORES Ducati Panigale R 1'34.363 0.723 264,1
5 32 L. SAVADORI Aprilia RSV4 RF 1'34.400 0.760 264,7
6 76 L. BAZ BMW S 1000 RR 1'34.527 0.887 264,7
7 7 C. DAVIES Ducati Panigale R 1'34.532 0.892 264,1
8 33 M. MELANDRI Ducati Panigale R 1'34.533 0.893 270,0
9 81 J. TORRES MV Agusta 1000 F4 1'34.569 0.929 261,5
10 2 L. CAMIER Honda CBR1000RR 1'34.597 0.957 264,1
11 60 M. VAN DER MARK Yamaha YZF R1 1'34.605 0.965 265,4
12 22 A. LOWES Yamaha YZF R1 1'35.239 1.599 265,4
13 36 L. MERCADO Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1'35.473 0.711 264,7
14 54 T. RAZGATLIOGLU Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1'35.869 1.107 260,2
15 68 Y. HERNANDEZ Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1'35.918 1.156 264,1
16 94 N. CANEPA Yamaha YZF R1 1'36.064 1.302 262,8
17 99 P. JACOBSEN Honda CBR1000RR 1'36.233 1.471 264,7
18 40 R. RAMOS Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1'36.348 1.586 257,8
19 45 J. GAGNE Honda CBR1000RR 1'36.599 1.837 264,7
20 21 M. RINALDI Ducati Panigale R 1'36.644 1.882 264,7
21 24 A. ANDREOZZI Yamaha YZF R1 1'37.297 2.535 257,8

Superpole One:

Pos No. Rider Bike Time Gap Speed
1 60 M. VAN DER MARK Yamaha YZF R1 1'34.762   262,1
2 81 J. TORRES MV Agusta 1000 F4 1'34.894 0.132 260,2
3 36 L. MERCADO Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1'35.473 0.711 264,7
4 54 T. RAZGATLIOGLU Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1'35.869 1.107 260,2
5 68 Y. HERNANDEZ Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1'35.918 1.156 264,1
6 94 N. CANEPA Yamaha YZF R1 1'36.064 1.302 262,8
7 99 P. JACOBSEN Honda CBR1000RR 1'36.233 1.471 264,7
8 40 R. RAMOS Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1'36.348 1.586 257,8
9 45 J. GAGNE Honda CBR1000RR 1'36.599 1.837 264,7
10 21 M. RINALDI Ducati Panigale R 1'36.644 1.882 264,7
11 24 A. ANDREOZZI Yamaha YZF R1 1'37.297 2.535 257,8

Superpole Two:

Pos No. Rider Bike Time Gap Speed
1 66 T. SYKES Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1'33.640   262,1
2 1 J. REA Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1'33.673 0.033 263,4
3 50 E. LAVERTY Aprilia RSV4 RF 1'34.281 0.641 266,7
4 12 X. FORES Ducati Panigale R 1'34.363 0.723 264,1
5 32 L. SAVADORI Aprilia RSV4 RF 1'34.400 0.760 264,7
6 76 L. BAZ BMW S 1000 RR 1'34.527 0.887 264,7
7 7 C. DAVIES Ducati Panigale R 1'34.532 0.892 264,1
8 33 M. MELANDRI Ducati Panigale R 1'34.533 0.893 270,0
9 81 J. TORRES MV Agusta 1000 F4 1'34.569 0.929 261,5
10 2 L. CAMIER Honda CBR1000RR 1'34.597 0.957 264,1
11 60 M. VAN DER MARK Yamaha YZF R1 1'34.605 0.965 265,4
12 22 A. LOWES Yamaha YZF R1 1'35.239 1.599 265,4
Round Number: 
9
2018
World Superbikes
Misano, Italy
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