John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) rocked the WSBK regulars with the Tissot-Superpole win at Silverstone. The American rider, a regular in BSB this season, took a new track best of 2’04.041 in the last of three superpole contests. He held off the challenge of Irish rider Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike), Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) and championship leader Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati).
Sylvain Guintoli (Effenbert Liberty Ducati) was fifth and Laverty’s team-mate Marco Melandri sixth. Max Biaggi had his worst qualifying of the year, taking his Aprilia Alitalia machine to 11th on the grid, having crashed in Superpole 1.
John Hopkins: “The Samsung Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 felt real good from the off and after setting the fastest time in FP1 we started to believe that we could do something special here this weekend. As we’re running just the one bike, I settled a little to make sure nothing silly happened and then pulled the pin in Q2 and just got my head down in that and Superpole. The bike feels great and I can’t thank the team enough for giving me the package to do this on: Let’s just hope we can turn this into something even more special come tomorrow.”
Northern Irishman Eugene Laverty, was flawless, being one of the fastest riders in the pack throughout the three sessions, earning himself a front row position on the grid for Sunday’s two home races.
Eugene Laverty “It was a great qualifying day, it was very close between me and John Hopkins. I’m really happy with the last superpole session, I did a perfect lap and was sure I was in pole position but John was a little faster, so he deserved it. I’m happy with second and a front row start for tomorrow’s races. I think it should be a good race day and the four of us on the front row will be very strong. Yamaha really suits this circuit, Cal won last year and I was also very strong, so it’s looking pretty good. Hopefully I can repeat Monza. I’m really looking forward to the races.”
Neither of Castrol Honda’s two replacement riders were able to qualify for today’s Superpole sessions. Alex Lowes, who is riding in place of the injured Jonathan, finished regular qualifying 18th fastest, while his team-mate for the Silverstone weekend, Fabrizio Lai, was 21st. American John Hopkins secured pole position for Sunday’s two 18-lap races. Lai is replacing Ruben Xaus, who sustained leg and back injuries in a crash at Brno in the Czech Republic last time out. Today’s qualifying and free practice sessions marked the Italian rider’s second day on the CBR1000RR and riding the 5.902km Silverstone circuit.
Kawasaki rider Tom Sykes had been in the mix until he crashed at turn six during the pre-Superpole free practice session. He had been 11th after regulation qualifying, but was unable to set even a single lap in Superpole as he received treatment for a swollen right ankle and various other bangs and bruises. He will undergo a fitness test on Sunday morning to determine whether he will race or not.
Qualifying results
1 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 2’04.041
2 Eugene Laverty Yamaha GBR 2’04.068
3 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 2’04.303
4 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 2’04.362
5 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati FRA 2’05.456
6 Marco Melandri Yamaha ITA 2’05.639
7 Michel Fabrizio Suzuki ITA 2’05.997
8 Noriyuki Haga Aprilia JPN 2’05.727
9 Leon Haslam BMW GBR 2’05.091
10 Ayrton Badovini BMW ITA 2’05.115
11 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 2’05.184
12 Mark Aitchison Kawasaki AUS 2’06.238
13 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 2’05.400
14 James Toseland BMW GBR 2’05.403
15 Maxime Berger Ducati FRA 2’05.709
