Sykes dominates Qualifying 1 at Silverstone

Blazing sunshine welcomed the eni FIM Superbike World Championship riders in today's Qualifying 1 at Silverstone. Despite a late crash at Turn 1, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) stole the show courtesy of an impressive 2'05.355 seconds lap-time, to lead the way until the chequered flag was waved on the finish line.

Apart from the leader, competition on track was very close: riders from 2nd to 12th place were all within 6 tenths of each other, while five of the British representatives took a spot in the top-6. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) ended up an impressive second followed by Moscow Raceway pole-sitter Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia) - who crashed at Turn 8 halfway through the session - and Pata Honda duo of Jonathan Rea and fresh Suzuka 8 Hours winner Leon Haslam.

Championship leader Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) was far back in ninth, behind team mate Eugene Laverty, Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet). Tough luck for for Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma Aprilia), as the rider from Rome lost control of his RSV4 at Turn 13 and finished 15th.

World Supersport Qualifying 1 took place today at Silverstone under dry track conditions and warm temperatures, as the sun popped out from behind the clouds to finally shine on the British track.

World Supersport

Kenan Sofuoglu (Mahi Racing Team India Kawasaki) was the fastest rider in Round 9 first qualifying. The reigning Champion broke into the 2'08 seconds barrier with few minutes left and improved his lap-time again to a final 2'08.823, to edge title contender and current Championship leader Sam Lowes (Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha) - who had a crash halfway through the session - and Riccardo Russo (Puccetti Racing Kawasaki), back on track after missing the Russian Round.

Sheridan Morais (PTR Honda) ended up fourth with almost a second gap from the top, ahead of one event Florian Marino and Intermoto Ponyexpres regular rider David Salom. Irishman Jack Kennedy (Rivamoto Honda) was 7th followed by Raffaele de Rosa (Team Lorini Honda) and Suzuka 8 Hours winner Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport).

The red flag was waved once during the session after the technical problem occurred to Eduard Blokhin's Rivamoto Honda CBR600RR. Alex Schacht (Racing Team Toth Honda) and Luca Scassa (Intermoto Ponyexpres Kawasaki) had the same fate as the Russian rider.

WSBK Series