Guintoli and Lowes the best in the SBK Warm up at Istanbul Park

The World Superbike and Supersport Championship have held their respective warm-ups at the Istanbul Park Circuit, where the races for both categories will soon take place, with Tom Sykes and Kenan Sofuoglu taking pole position for this eleventh round of the 2013 season.

The first riders to hit the track were the Superbike riders, with Sylvain Guintoli as the best in this warm-up, setting a lap time of 1’55.369, while behind him was Tom Sykes, 0.013s off the leader, so the times at the top are very close.

The rest of the top 10 was completed by Elías in 3rd, more than six tenths behind, but he is showing how quickly he is adapting to the championship, and his arrival on the Aprilia is proving very interesting. Fourth place for Melandri, 5th Cluzel, 6th Laverty, 7th Haslam, 8th Giugliano, 9th Davies and 10th Fabrizio. It was a fairly clean session, without scares, apart from Elías who went onto the gravel but returned to the track without problems.

Behind them, it was the turn of the Supersport riders, with Sam Lowes the fastest, setting a time of 1’58.674, leaving Kenan Sofuoglu in second place on his home track and 0.013s behind, so both the SBK and SSP categories have seen the same gap, a very interesting coincidence in Turkey.

The top 10 was completed by VD Mark in 3rd, Iddon 4th, Marino 5th, Coghlan 6th, Kennedy 7th, Tamburini 8th, Rolfo 9th and Zanetti 10th. Our riders finished 12th Salom, 14th Baldo and 28th Calero.

On to the races.

Photo | WorldSBK and teams