Yamaha World Superbike Team riders Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri impressed on the British track at Silverstone today, completing the afternoon’s Superpole qualifying heats in second and sixth places respectively. Northern Irishman Laverty, was flawless, being one of the fastest riders in the pack throughout the three sessions, earning himself a front row position on the grid for Sunday’s two home races. Melandri was enjoying a much better day than yesterday having clearly improved his set up, resulting in better grip. The Italian managed to knock over a second off his lap times from yesterday’s first qualifying session which led him to qualify for today’s Superpole in fifth place.

The afternoon’s Superpole sessions were held on a warm track and under pleasant sunshine. Laverty and Melandri, the two Yamaha World Superbike rookies used a set of race tyres to see them comfortably through the first heat in first and sixth places. Laverty was equally impressive in the second heat which he completed in third place. Teammate Melandri was sitting in eighth position before deciding to use a qualifier in the attempt of producing a flying lap. The Italian was unable to improve his time but still held position to qualify for the third and final heat of the day. Laverty was spectacular once again in the final heat immediately producing a fast lap, beating the previous fastest lap ever recorded by Crutchlow in 2010, also powered by a Yamaha R1. World Superbike wildcard, John Hopkins proceeded to better this lap time by just 0.027 seconds and set the new fastest lap record. Melandri, having used all his qualifiers in the first two sessions, couldn’t improve on his time but held on for sixth place and a second row start on tomorrow’s grid.

Eugene Laverty - Yamaha World Superbike Team - 2nd, 2'04.068

"It was a great qualifying day, it was very close between me and John Hopkins. I’m really happy with the last superpole session, I did a perfect lap and was sure I was in pole position but John was a little faster, so he deserved it. I’m happy with second and a front row start for tomorrow’s races. I think it should be a good race day and the four of us on the front row will be very strong. Yamaha really suits this circuit, Cal won last year and I was also very strong, so it’s looking pretty good. Hopefully I can repeat Monza. I’m really looking forward to the races."

Marco Melandri - Yamaha World Superbike Team - 6th, 2'05.639

"It was a very good day today, especially considering the difficulty we had yesterday. We improved the race pace quite significantly. Unfortunately I struggled a lot with the qualifiers having difficulty turning with the front of the bike and finished in sixth place. We have to improve a little, especially for the beginning of the race, but I’m confident that we can do this and I can get off to a strong start and be up there at the top, battling for victory."

Andrea Dosoli - Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager

"I’m very satisfied with both riders and their teams today. They improved on their performance since yesterday, not just on a fast lap but also with the race set up. Marco knocked over a second from yesterday’s lap time in the second qualifying session. There is still some fine tuning to be done in order to be 100% for tomorrow’s races. Unfortunately he had some difficulty with the qualifiers and didn’t get to improve his lap time much and had to settle for sixth place. Second row start certainly won’t prevent him from getting good results. Eugene was on top form in Superpole, delivering an impressive lap time, improving on Cal’s fastest lap from last year. He demonstrated to be a very mature rider, coping well under pressure at his home round and deserves two good races in front of his numerous fans. His race pace is fast and consistent so I expect both riders to be in the top pack leading the races tomorrow."



The Yamaha ParkinGO team completed the second Qualifying day on the British track at Silverstone, content with having successfully improved the R6 race set ups ahead of tomorrow’s race day.

Chaz Davies concluded the session in eighth place and faces his home race tomorrow determined to battle for victory in front of his British fans. The Welshman made the most of the second day at the British circuit to work through some chassis set ups and improve his race pace. Unfortunately Davies was unable to produce a fast lap towards the end of the session and settled for a second row position on tomorrow’s grid, but is confident to have made the progress necessary to be strong and consistent for the 16 lap race. Teammate Luca Scassa closed the day in 11th place overall and with a third row position on the race grid. Despite the result, the Italian is confident that he has made solid improvements on his R6 race set up today and will be in a position to fight for a podium tomorrow and climb back up the championship standings.

Chaz Davies - Yamaha ParkinGO Team - 8th, 2'09.405

" We have worked hard and made progress. I have a better feeling with the front of my R6 than yesterday and I have improved the race pace also. I’ll start from the second row tomorrow but I’m sure I can be strong and push through to the front of the pack. At Silverstone there are plenty of opportune places to overtake, so I’ll do my best. It’s my home race and in front of my fans I just want to do my best to deliver good results for them."

Luca Scassa - Yamaha ParkinGO Team - 11th, 2'09.700

" Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get in a hot lap today and improve my qualifying times. I got caught up in traffic that slowed me down. We worked hard yesterday and were heading in the right direction. I could definitely see the results today and the track temperature was also hotter. The bike feels quite good and it adapts quite well to my riding style so I’m feeling quite confident. I’m not concerned that I’m on the third row, I’ll be doing my best to fight for a podium anyway."