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WSBK: Guintoli Gets Superpole, Sykes Sets Speed Record
Sylvain Guintoli took advantage of difficult conditions to steal the Monza pole while Tom Sykes made headlines by topping 210mph.
Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing's Sylvain Guintoli (Photo: Infront Motor Sports)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Round 4 of the Superbike World Championship from Monza, Italy will air back-to-back on SPEED Sunday, May 6, starting at 2:00pm ET.
Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) made the best of the continuing difficult and changeable track conditions at Monza to record his first ever Tissot-Superpole win. At a circuit that was not expected to favor the twin-cylinders this was a surprise result to most but Guintoli richly deserved his pre-race success after a gamble to use a slick rear tire on a slowly drying track paid off.
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was unable to quite reach the level of Guintoli, as he failed to win the pole prize for the first time this year, but in the final free qualifying session he used the slipstream provided by another rider to take his ZX-10R to a new record top speed in SBK history, 339.5 km/h, which equates to over 210mph.
A wet Superpole was called which meant that there would be only two sessions, each of 20 minutes duration, with the slowest eight riders eliminated after the first session. As soon as the first part started bright sunshine dried the wet track, particularly on the main straight, but further small showers were evident around the lap before the finish.
Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) was third in Tissot-Superpole, Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) fourth.
Sylvain Guintoli: “First pole for me and in difficult conditions! Unlike Tom and Marco I’m hoping for rain tomorrow, I’ll probably do a dance before the race. Today I had to take a lot of risks, I decided to go with the slick tires and some corners were still wet, so it was quite dangerous and the last lap was very exciting. I thought Tom had enough watches now and I could do with one for my wife!”
Tom Sykes: “We’ve done a good job over the race weekend, we’ve got a good consistent race pace, and hopefully it’ll be dry. Today it wasn’t to be; we got outpaced by the ‘snails,’ but I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Obviously it’s great for the Kawasaki to be so fast, I had fantastic drive from the exit of the Parabolica and who better but Max to be directly in front, I had a lot of help from him! Setting a new record is just a little bit extra for the books!”
Marco Melandri: “For sure it’s a good result, it’s been such difficult weather. I’m happy now because after Assen I was a bit worried about the wet conditions. BMW made a good job, the bike is working better and it’s nice to be on the front row. We got a new engine one month ago and it’s working pretty good here. I hope the weather will be a bit more stable. I hope to give a good race to Silvano (Galbusera) who is not here today.”
The second row of the grid for Sunday’s races will be headed by Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) with Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing), Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) and Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Ducati) alongside him. John Hopkins (Crescent FIXI Suzuki) and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing) completed the top ten after just missing out on qualification for Superpole 2, but the most disappointed rider on the day was local man Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia Gold Bet) who had been fastest in combined qualifying but only 11th after Superpole. The last place on the third row was taken by Leon Camier (Crescent FIXI Suzuki).
Times: 1. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'54.276; 2. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'54.990; 3. Melandri M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'55.971; 4. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'56.793; 5. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'57.630; 6. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'58.666; 7. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'59.718; 8. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2'00.645; 9. Hopkins J. (USA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'59.489; 10. Laverty E. (IRL) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'59.680; 11. Fabrizio M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'59.681; 12. Camier L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'59.845; 13. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'59.978; 14. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 2'00.093; 15. Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 2'00.602; 16. Davies C. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2'01.772; etc.
Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) made the best of the continuing difficult and changeable track conditions at Monza to record his first ever Tissot-Superpole win. At a circuit that was not expected to favor the twin-cylinders this was a surprise result to most but Guintoli richly deserved his pre-race success after a gamble to use a slick rear tire on a slowly drying track paid off.
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was unable to quite reach the level of Guintoli, as he failed to win the pole prize for the first time this year, but in the final free qualifying session he used the slipstream provided by another rider to take his ZX-10R to a new record top speed in SBK history, 339.5 km/h, which equates to over 210mph.
A wet Superpole was called which meant that there would be only two sessions, each of 20 minutes duration, with the slowest eight riders eliminated after the first session. As soon as the first part started bright sunshine dried the wet track, particularly on the main straight, but further small showers were evident around the lap before the finish.
Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) was third in Tissot-Superpole, Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) fourth.
Sylvain Guintoli: “First pole for me and in difficult conditions! Unlike Tom and Marco I’m hoping for rain tomorrow, I’ll probably do a dance before the race. Today I had to take a lot of risks, I decided to go with the slick tires and some corners were still wet, so it was quite dangerous and the last lap was very exciting. I thought Tom had enough watches now and I could do with one for my wife!”
Tom Sykes: “We’ve done a good job over the race weekend, we’ve got a good consistent race pace, and hopefully it’ll be dry. Today it wasn’t to be; we got outpaced by the ‘snails,’ but I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Obviously it’s great for the Kawasaki to be so fast, I had fantastic drive from the exit of the Parabolica and who better but Max to be directly in front, I had a lot of help from him! Setting a new record is just a little bit extra for the books!”
Marco Melandri: “For sure it’s a good result, it’s been such difficult weather. I’m happy now because after Assen I was a bit worried about the wet conditions. BMW made a good job, the bike is working better and it’s nice to be on the front row. We got a new engine one month ago and it’s working pretty good here. I hope the weather will be a bit more stable. I hope to give a good race to Silvano (Galbusera) who is not here today.”
The second row of the grid for Sunday’s races will be headed by Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) with Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing), Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) and Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Ducati) alongside him. John Hopkins (Crescent FIXI Suzuki) and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing) completed the top ten after just missing out on qualification for Superpole 2, but the most disappointed rider on the day was local man Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia Gold Bet) who had been fastest in combined qualifying but only 11th after Superpole. The last place on the third row was taken by Leon Camier (Crescent FIXI Suzuki).
Times: 1. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'54.276; 2. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'54.990; 3. Melandri M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'55.971; 4. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'56.793; 5. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'57.630; 6. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'58.666; 7. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'59.718; 8. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2'00.645; 9. Hopkins J. (USA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'59.489; 10. Laverty E. (IRL) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'59.680; 11. Fabrizio M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'59.681; 12. Camier L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'59.845; 13. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'59.978; 14. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 2'00.093; 15. Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 2'00.602; 16. Davies C. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2'01.772; etc.
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