With high track and air temperatures the first ever Tissot-Superpole at the Sepang International Circuit has been won by Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team).

Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) and David Salom (Kawasaki Racing Team) were the first 2 classified riders in Superpole 1, progressing to the final shootout with the already seeded top ten from the combined free practice sessions. Ayrton Badovini (Team Bimota Alstare) had been on course for one of the coveted top two places before the Italian fell, thankfully without injury.

At the end of a hot and humid 15 minutes on track it was Sylvain Guintoli who secured his second Tissot-Superpole of the year, winning the grid deciding battle by a margin of 0.106s.

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Davide Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team) complete the front row with Toni Elias (Red Devils Roma Aprilia), Marco Melandri (Aprilia Racing Team) and an unlucky Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team), who crashed whilst on a potential Pole Position lap making up row two in both of tomorrow’s 16 lap encounters.

The trophies for today’s Tissot-Superpole were presented to the top 3 riders by 5 time 500cc World Champion and motorcycle racing icon Mick Doohan. 

In the EVO category, the accolade of being the first classified competitor went to David Salom who qualified 12th overall on his Kawasaki.