— WSBK 2013 – Round 13 – Magny Cours
— Tom Sykes takes eighth Superpole for the season
Tissot-Superpole for the French Round was held under mixed conditions and saw Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) claiming the front spot on the grid for the 8th time this year. The Brit will be joined on the first row by title contender Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team), who was able to elevate himself to second in the closing stages, and Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia).
By the start of the second “wet” session the track had started to dry, meaning most riders opted to use slick tyres. Times dropped considerably throughout the 20 minutes, with Sykes being the first rider to break into the 1’39s barrier with 9 minutes left, finally setting a blistering 1’38.592s in his last attempt for pole.
Other Championship contender Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) finished 4th ahead of Michel Fabrizio (Pata Honda World Superbike) and Ayrton Badovini (Team Ducati Alstare). Works BMW duo of Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies will move off – in tomorrow’s two races – from the third row on the grid, along with Vincent Philippe, substitute rider for injured Leon Camier in the FIXI Crescent Suzuki Team.
Both Michele Pirro (Team Ducati Alstare), tenth, and Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike), fifteenth, crashed out at Turn 12 during Superpole 1: the Italian high-sided at mid-turn, landing badly on his back but with no major consequences, while Leon Haslam low-sided while entering the corner, eventually crossing on foot the track to pick up his bike and successfully make it back to the pits.
— World Supersport
Kenan Sofuoglu (Mahi Racing Team India Kawasaki) has scored his fourth pole position of the season today after second qualifying for the World Supersport Championship at Magny-Cours. The Turk ended the session in a bad way, though, due to a heavy crash he suffered at Turn 3 in the final stages, that led to a Red Flag situation.
Championship leader Sam Lowes (Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha) ended up in second place, ahead of a competitive Christian Iddon (Parkingo MV Agusta Corse), who is showing some really good form with the MV Agusta F3 675 at Magny-Cours. Roberto Tamburini (Team Lorini Honda) will head the second row on the grid in tomorrow’s WSS race by finishing fourth ahead of Sheridan Morais (Team Goeleven Kawasaki) and Danny Webb (PTR Honda).
Pata Honda duo of Lorenzo Zanetti and Michael van Der Mark finished in seventh and eight place respectively, with Riccardo Russo (Puccetti Racing Kawasaki) to follow in ninth. Tough qualifying for Rivamoto Honda riders Jack Kennedy and Eduard Blokhin, and for WSS debutant Brodie Waters (AARK Racing Honda), all crashing out at turn number three.
— Aprilia Racing Report
Hometown favourite Sylvain Guintoli did not let his French fans down as they cheered him on from the Magny-Cours grandstands. At the end of a rousing Superpole Sylvain had the second best time which places him on the front row of the starting grid for the races tomorrow. Eugene Laverty also put in an excellent performance, finishing fourth at the end of the two sessions. Thanks to the third best time by Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) there will be three RSV4s in the top four spots.
Although the Superpole was declared “wet”, two thirds of it was actually held on asphalt dry enough to justify using slick tyres. In any case the wet procedure reduced the action to two 20 minute sessions with 15 riders in the first and nine passing through to the second to make a play for their spot on the grid. Aprilia riders Guintoli and Laverty chose to start, as did almost all their rivals, with wet tyres, later returning to the garage when the track began to improve to change them out. The timing allowed Sylvain and Eugene to come through the first session easily, saving their energy (and the two qualifying tyres) for the second, decisive 20 minute Superpole.
With the track basically dry, Sylvain took full advantage of his second Pirelli soft tyre, stopping the clock at 1’39.397 to earn the second spot on the starting grid for the two races tomorrow. The French rider, lying third in the Rider Championship standings, Will be able to count on the excellent work done over the past two days of practice on both a dry and wet track. No matter what conditions the weather brings tomorrow, Sylvain knows that he has what it takes to be a key player on his home track.
Sylvain Guintoli: “The conditions were difficult this afternoon with a lot of wet spots that were hard to see. It was a tricky situation but in the end we came away with an important second spot on the grid. In the last few laps I even broke the front fairing with my helmet and I’m sure that made me lose a bit of time. In any case my race pace is fast and I want to stay focused on riding as well as possible without making any calculations. I’m hoping for two dry races tomorrow. I was very fast in these conditions yesterday and I’d like to give my French fans something to cheer about.”
Eugene Laverty’s fourth place finish satisfied the Northern Irish rider who rode a good Superpole where he only lost a bit of ground with his second qualifying tyre. Being in the front two rows was the minimum goal for Eugene, well aware that starting out front on a track like this one is a huge advantage. The good progress demonstrated throughout the practice sessions prior to Superpole are a good indicator that Laverty, lying second in the rider standings, will be able set his sights on the top prize.
Eugene Laverty: “Today was a productive day. I struggled in the first wet session this morning but we made up for it in the second where I finished fourth, so I’d say I have a good race pace even on a wet track. Superpole was a “mixed” one and I’m pleased with my fourth place in the end. Starting from the front two rows is crucial. Tomorrow we’ll be pushing hard looking for a win and hoping for two dry races”.
— Kawasaki Report
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) won a wet Superpole contest at Magny Cours after a final fast lap laden with risk and eventual reward as he had to work his way past slower riders on the racing line.
Sykes was also fastest in the wet Superpole One session on a busy track with a narrow drying racing line along the 4.411km length of the French circuit. Sykes therefore entered the second and final wet Superpole session on a high and was fastest at the mid point before Eugene Laverty temporarily edged him out.
Selecting a qualifying rear tyre as the track slowly dried out, Sykes went for another Superpole win to add to his career total of 18. He achieved his ambition despite finding other riders cruising on the racing line on two occasions, forcing Tom to adapt his approach but still come out on top, by 0.805 seconds, from his championship rival Sylvain Guintoli. Sykes’ best time was a 1’38.592.
Tom is now on a total of 19 Superpole wins, making him the fourth best qualifier in the history of the championship. 
David Salom (Kawasaki Racing Team) completed one Superpole session finishing 13th fastest, meaning he will start Sunday’s races off the fifth row of the grid. He overcame the affects of an earlier fall and his team did great work to get his machine ready for Superpole qualifying.
Aussie Mark Aitchison qualified 16th and his team-mate Federico Sandi took his Kawasaki Team Pedercini Ninja ZX-10R to 17th place.
Tom Sykes: “I am happy because we have proved again that we can do it and that the bike works well here. This is a great place to get pole position, especially in these conditions. Three riders in two corners made it very difficult for me in the fast lap so I am sue it was very exciting for those watching on TV! From where I was sitting it was quite dangerous. I hope it is dry tomorrow because if we have good conditions everybody will be fighting and putting on a good show for the crowd. The Ninja ZX-10R is working well but we can still improve it even more in wet conditions. In dry conditions we know what to expect. Overall we will go and relax now, get a good sleep and come out ready to race tomorrow.”
David Salom: “The track conditions were very difficult. I crashed yesterday but today I had a big crash and I have a lot of pain on my lower back. The bike was damaged but the team worked very well to change the bike and fix it, but in Superpole it was something of a lottery. I am happy because I was three positions higher on the grid than last week in Laguna Seca; even with these conditions. Now we will look at the telemetry and work for a set-up tomorrow. I hope the weather is good but maybe it will be wet, dry or something in the middle!”
— WSBK 2013 – Round 13 – Magny Cours
— Guintoli tops Magny Cours QP1
The rain falling down minutes before the start did not prevent the eni FIM Superbike World Championship riders from getting up to speed in Qualifying 1. All the protagonists of the series went immediately on track to set a fast lap-time before a possible worsening of conditions, which fortunately did not happen.
Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team), one of the three home WSBK riders for the round, was able to edge Championship leader Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) for first position by breaking into the 1’38s barrier and set a 1’38.709s lap-time, with few seconds left in the session.
Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) ended up in third place, ahead of Jules Cluzel (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team), who was able to elevate himself to fifth in the closing stages after spending most of the session around tenth place.
Encouraging first day for 8-time World Endurance Champion Vincent Philippe, who finished in seventh place on his very first day onboard the FIXI Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000, as the Frenchman stepped in for injured regular rider Leon Camier for this round.
A good WSBK debut for Michele Pirro (Team Ducati Alstare), tenth at the flag behind fellow Italians Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) and Michel Fabrizio (Pata Honda World Superbike).
Sam Lowes (Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha) was the quickest rider in World Supersport Qualifying 1. The Championship leader, who is very close to his first-ever World Title, set a competitive 1’42.144s lap-time in the second part of the session to edge Kenan Sofuoglu (Mahi Racing Team India Kawasaki). The Turk, three time WSS Champion, suffered a technical problem with 4 minutes to go and was forced to lean his ZX-6R against the fence at Turn 5 and walk back to the pits.
Pata Honda Lorenzo Zanetti proved to be in good form by finishing third ahead of Christian Iddon (Parkingo MV Agusta Corse), Vladimir Leonov (Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha), Kev Coghlan (DMC-Lorenzini Kawasaki) and team mate Michael van der Mark.
Local rider Florian Marino (Intermoto Ponyexpres Kawasaki) had a crash at Turn 12 halfway through the session, while he was pushing to improve his position. The young Frenchman ended up first qualifying in thirteenth place.
— Aprilia Report
The weather, always a key factor at Magny-Cours, had an impact again this year on the first day of World Superbike practice today. The damp track in the morning allowed the riders to go out on slicks only in the last portion of the free practice sessions where home star, Sylvain Guintoli, put in the second best time despite only taking a total of six laps.
Ninth best time, on the other hand, went to his team mate Eugene Laverty, fresh off of his victory at Laguna Seca but encountering a few difficulties on the French track with his RSV4 settings.
In spite of threatening clouds, the afternoon qualifiers were held on a basically dry track. Times dropped drastically although nothing close to the best potential of the category. At the end of the 45 minute session Sylvain Guintoli was at the top, consistently fast and putting in excellent times even on a used tyre. Once the electronics on his RSV4 had been fine tuned Eguene Laverty also took a big step forward, stopping the clock with the fifth best time at less than a tenth of a second from a virtual podium finish for the day.
For both Aprilia standard bearers, who theoretically could take the Manufacturer Title early by the end of the Magny-Cours round, tomorrow promises to be a decisive day. First of all for Superpole, given the poor chances of overtaking on the French track, and also because of the usual work they will be doing on sharpening race pace.
Sylvain Guintoli: “Today was a good day for us, not only because of the best time in the qualifiers but above all because of the feeling I have with my RSV4 here at Magny-Cours. I did my fast lap on a ten-lap old tyre and that means that we are definitely moving in the right direction. I want to focus on riding and being fast in every session. The first day went well, but what happens on Sunday is what counts!”
Eugene Laverty: “We lost half of the first session because of the weather and then we had some problems with the engine brake and traction control settings. Toward the end of the qualifiers we managed to close the gap on the front runners, but we still have a lot of work to do if we want to be consistently fast. We’ll analyse the data this evening so we can come out for tomorrow’s sessions in the best possible shape”.
