Front row for Rea at Imola

[totalmotorcycle]

Front row for Rea at #Imola


Jonathan Rea will start tomorrow’s two seventh-round World Superbike championship races from the front row of the grid after setting the second fastest time in Superpole this afternoon at Imola in Italy.



Rea, 26, who was fastest in both second qualifying and free practice earlier today, had set a sizzling time of 1m46.556s in Superpole 3 before red flags halted the session after another rider crashed. The Northern Irishman had one Pirelli qualifier in reserve but he was unable to improve his time as British rider Tom Sykes took pole position.



Leon Haslam, Rea’s Pata Honda team-mate, qualified for Superpole in spite of his ongoing rehabilitation from his double leg-break at Assen in April. The 30-year-old Brit progressed to Superpole 2 to set the eleventh-fastest time and a third row start.



The first of tomorrow’s two 21-lap races around the challenging and historic 4.936km Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari is scheduled to go at 12.00 local time, with race two starting at 15.30.



Jonathan Rea – P2, 1m46.556s



I’m delighted to be on the front row because that’s always the target for the weekend, as I said yesterday. I was feeling really strong in second qualifying and free practice earlier, making good set-up changes with the bike. I’m really enjoying riding the bike and I’m happy with our set-up for two 21-lap races tomorrow. It’s never easy but I feel more comfortable with the bike here and I think we’ve put ourselves in a position to be able to challenge at the front. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to win, but I think we’ve got a race package that will allow us to challenge for that so I’ll hope for good starts and two good races tomorrow.



Leon Haslam – P11, 1m48.096s



I’m feeling OK but I’m frustrated that I’m still struggling to change direction, and Imola is one of the worst tracks for that with about five chicanes per lap. It’s hard work but we’re making progress. We’ve had a few issues over the weekend but we’re making the right steps with the bike and it’s working OK now. It’s doing everything I want it to do but I can’t weight the pegs the way I want and that’s my biggest issue. My leg is getting stronger every day but it’s something I need to keep working and pushing to build the strength back up. We’ll just have to see how things go tomorrow.



Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator



Leon got to the third row and had a better day than yesterday. But he’s clearly lacking some pace so we will have to see what we can improve for him tomorrow. Jonathan is on the front row and that’s really good. His race pace is looking especially strong and we are quite excited because we think he can fight for victory here in Imola.



2013 World Superbike championship, round seven – Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy

Final qualifying results and first two rows:

1. Tom Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki 1m45.981s

2. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Pata Honda 1m46.556s

3. Davide Giugliano (ITA) Aprilia 1m46.713s

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4. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Aprilia 1m46.857s

5. Eugene Laverty (IRL) Aprilia 1m46.931s

6. Leon Camier (GBR) Suzuki 1m47.165s



14. Leon Haslam (GBR) Pata Honda 1m48.096s