Aragon WSBK: Haslam bags second-ever pole position

Leon Haslam secured just his second ever World Superbikes pole position during Superpole at Aragon this afternoon.

Haslam edged out Chaz Davies by 0.033s with the Derbyshire rider’s peerless 1’49.664 giving the Red Devils Aprilia team a surprising pole position.

The session began with Jonathan Rea quick out of the blocks and his 1’50.740 was the fastest anyone had gone all weekend, but it wasn’t long before Davies was on the case.

The Welshman produced a smooth ride around the 5.344km circuit to take his Aruba Ducati onto the top spot with a 1’50.299 and with the times continuing to drop it looked as though Tom Sykes would have a say in proceedings.

That he did, as the Yorkshireman flew around the twisty Spanish track, but in the last sector his pace went missing and 1’50.333 sat him second between Rea and Davies.

It looked as though those three would complete the front row, with Xavi Fores, Jordi Torres and Haslam on the second row but the latter had other ideas.

As Davies blitzed around and onto pole with a staggering 1’49.697, Haslam produced an even better time with an astonishing 1’49.664 giving the 30-year-old the second superpole of his career.

Indeed, earlier this week Haslam had told reporters that Aragon and Assen, the next two rounds, would prove more difficult than the opening rounds for his RSV4 but there were no signs of difficulty during his masterful ride to pole.

Sykes became the third man to break the 1’50 barrier with a 1’49.863 just as the session ended but he had to settle for third place, and being on the front row.

Championship leader Jonathan Rea could only finish with a 1’50.053, leaving him on the second row along with Xavi Fores and Superpole one victor Ayrton Badovini, who did himself plenty of favours with a superb showing in both sessions on the BMW.

Badovini held off Alex Lowes by 0.152s during Superpole one with a 1’51.215 and it was a similar result in the second session as Lowes finished a creditable eighth with a 1’50.924.

Sandwiched between Lowes and Badovini was Jordi Torres in seventh as Nicolas Terol and Leandro Mercado rounded out the top ten.

Michael Van Der Mark and David Salom will start from row four along with Mercado ahead of tomorrow’s races.

Results from Superpole one meant Sylvain Guintoli will start on the fifth row after he failed to beat Badovini or Lowes, despite looking in decent fettle during the session.

Guintoli will be joined on row five by Matteo Baiocco and Leon Camier, who emerged from Superpole one with some joy after a frustrating couple of days marred by electronic issues.

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