Although he has yet to win a race this season, Yamaha Sterilgarda’s Cal Crutchlow showed that he is the man to beat by grabbing his fifth Superpole of the year in final qualifying for the Silverstone UK round of the World Superbike Championship. The former World Supersport champion turned in a scorching lap of 2:04.091 that was not only nearly seven-tenths of a second quicker than second-placed Jonathan Rea (the only other rider to dip into the 2:04 range), but also only .763 seconds behind the MotoGP lap record set by Jorge Lorenzo earlier this year, which would have put Crutchlow fifth on the MotoGP grid. Filling out the front row of the WSBK grid was Ducati Xerox’s Michel Fabrizio and Pata B&G Racing’s Jakub Smrz, who impressively outqualified the factory Aprilias on his privateer customer RSV4 superbike.
Alstare Suzuki’s Leon Haslam will head the second row with hopes of staying ahead of the rider next to him, Aprilia Alitalia’s Max Biaggi, who leads the championship standings with a healthy 68-point cushion. Filling out the rest of the second row are the factory BMW pairing of Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus, with Corser unable to improve on his grid position after running off the track during the final Superpole 3 qualifying session.
˝It is nice to have pole again, especially here at our home race,” exclaimed Crutchlow. “I had it last year at Donington as well. Coming back to the new Silverstone circuit is really good, it is a little but bumpy but not too bad. The lap time in Superpole was pretty good, I was absolutely desperate to do a 2.03, that was the target and the whole team were pumping me up to try it as it is the MotoGP pole time. Unfortunately I made a mistake coming out of the fast left-handers so it was not to be. I think there are a lot of fast people here this weekend so it should be close exciting racing tomorrow. All credit to the Yamaha team they have delivered a really good package this weekend so I am looking forward to the racing.˝
World Superbike Silverstone UK SuperPole qualifying results:
1. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha 2:04.091
2. Jonathan Rea (IRL) Honda 2:04.763
3. Michel Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati 2:05.083
4. Jakub Smrz (CZE) Aprilia 2:05.168
5. Leon Haslam (GBR) Suzuki 2:05.595
6. Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia 2:05.682
7. Troy Corser (AUS) BMW 2:05.740
8. Ruben Xaux (SPA) BMW 2:06.787
9. Shane Byrne (GBR) Ducati (did not make Superpole 3)
10. Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati (did not make Superpole 3)