Tom Sykes dominates Qualifying 1 on home soil
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.
