Tom Sykes tops the Superbikes QP2 at Misano, with Checa 2nd

Rider Tom Sykes has amazed in the World Superbike Championship QP2 at the Misano Circuit, as he managed to lap in 1:35, being the only one on the entire grid to do so, although Carlos Checa has come very close, so the Kawasaki rider enters the Superpole fight with a blistering pace and as the big favourite if he repeats this lap time.

Sykes lapped in 1:35.935, leaving the second-placed rider in this official practice session 0.163s behind, so Carlos Checa is not far off, and we also saw the Ducati rider with good pace on this San Marino track, so we can expect a very interesting Superpole battle. Meanwhile, Davide Giugliano closed out the top 3, confirming that the Althea Racing team is strong at this circuit.

Behind them, Jonathan Rea with his Honda and Leon Haslam with his BMW closed out a top 5 in QP2 that gave us an intense finish, so plenty of excitement. Completing the top ten, we have Jakub Smrz 6th, Baiocco 7th, Leon Camier 8th, Sylvain Guintoli 9th and Max Biaggi 10th.

Baiocco’s pace is surprising, as is Camier’s final burst to slip into the top 10, or the problems Biaggi appears to be having, as he is not managing to set the times he is looking for, so he needs to keep working.

The other Spanish rider in this event is David Salom, who did not have much pace in this QP2 and finished 22nd, unable to continue the progress we saw from him yesterday at Misano, so we will see whether there is some problem for the 44.

As for crashes, there has not been much movement, luckily, just a scare for Sandi who went down without consequences and got back up quickly, and also a crash for Canepa at turn 1, which also seems to have no physical consequences, luckily.

Now on to the Superpole.

Photo | WorldSBK