Tom Sykes the fastest in QP2 Superbikes in Australia

The World Superbike Championship got going this Saturday at the Phillip Island Circuit, as the moment has come for the first Superpole of the season. But first came the second qualifying session, the battle for the front-row positions on the grid, since remember that only 16 riders go on to fight in the three rounds of Superpole.

The second qualifying session has left the fastest rider as Tom Sykes. The Kawasaki rider is in top form and has once again been the best in QP2, with a lap time of 1:31.323, dominating almost the entire training session. So watch out for the 66, who is very strong and has been showing it since the private tests last week at this same track.

Behind Sykes came the two big names of the World Superbike Championship: the former champion, Max Biaggi in 2nd, and the current champion, Carlos Checa in 3rd. The Italian set a 1:31.477, 0.154s behind Sykes, while the 7 managed a 1:31.621, that is 0.298s from the QP2 leader.

Completing the top 5 were Jakub Smrz and Sylvain Guintoli, followed by Leon Camier in 6th, Canepa in 7th, Rea in 8th, Berger in 9th and Fabrizio in 10th, all of them except Michel Fabrizio riding in the 1:31s. So, good times and several riders making their presence felt, although Sykes is a step ahead of the rest.

But if today we have to marvel at someone, those are Eugene Laverty and Leon Haslam. The riders are from another world; as I always say, they are made of different stuff. Both are almost freshly out of surgery and went out in QP2 at full throttle, with Laverty taking 11th place and Haslam 12th, so both will contest the Superpole at Phillip Island. These riders are from another planet.

For the rest of the Spanish riders it has been a bit more complicated. Apart from Checa, who was 3rd, we have Joan Lascorz, who squeezed into the fight for Superpole from 16th place, while David Salom is still hampered by the injury he suffered this week in the official training sessions, so he cannot ride well and finished 19th.

As for crashes, Jonathan Rea went down at Turn 10, Chaz Davies at Turn 2, and Canepa and Smrz ran wide. The worst outcome of the incidents was Davies, who apparently fractured his left wrist, so he will not be racing in SBK tomorrow.

Also, the riders who failed to make it through to the Superpole were Aoyama in 17th, Starin in 18th, Salom in 19th, Badovini in 20th, Zanetti in 21st, Brookes in 22nd, Aitchison in 23rd, De Rosa in 24th and Johnson in 25th.

Below you can see the SBK QP2 Australia times: