Disturbed and frequently changing weather conditions held back the Superpole push of local man Tom Sykes and teenage rider Loris Baz at Silverstone, with Sykes eighth and Baz ninth after Superpole.

Superpole was declared wet and both official KRT riders were caught out by the slippery conditions on some parts of the track, with other sections offering more outright grip, even in wet conditions.

Sykes fell in Superpole two, and had to settle for a second row start, not his more regular place on the front row, after his previous seven Superpole wins in 2012. He had headed combined qualifying as fastest man, before the wet Superpole rules came into play.

Baz will start Sunday’s races from row three, in ninth place, but still in with a good chance on raceday, no matter the conditions, as good set-up work was done in wet, dry and intermediate conditions. Loris had been an impressive seventh quickest in combined qualifying.

Kawasaki Team Pedercini Superbike rider David Salom found it hard to get a good set-up on the ever-changing track surface and qualified 21st overall. David Johnson rode the second Pedercini Kawasaki machine at this meeting and qualified 22nd.

Superstock 1000 FIM Cup rider Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki) was second fastest in combined qualifying, while Mathieu Lussiana (Team ASPI Kawasaki) was fourth. Bryan Staring (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) was 14th in qualifying.

Tom Sykes:

“It was a strange track today because yesterday in the wet initial grip felt better but today it felt greasy and it does not help when it is wet, dry, wet, and generally very inconsistent. We were unfortunate in Superpole but in the dry the bike is working well, so I feel confident. We put 15 laps in this morning in one go and I was on a personal best in the last of those laps, but then the rain came. So it was pleasing to see that we could have good pace so far into a simulated race. If it is a dry race day we should be OK. Superpole was wet and we have changed the balance of the bike quite a lot so we are having to learn and try to do things a bit differently, but when the track is not wet for long enough it limits our track time. It was unfortunate to fall in Superpole 2 but I had only put two laps on the tyre and I was just slowly trying to build up speed. Tomorrow is another day and we have good guys in the garage so we will make some improvements and hopefully things will be a bit more straightforward, especially with the weather.”

Loris Baz:

“I am confident for the race at Silverstone and we have been in the top ten most of the time in practice, no matter the conditions. That is another step forward for us. In my crash in Superpole I touched the white line a little. Not a big mistake but a big consequence. It is a shame but sometimes these things happen. We had a good pace in the wet and at least I did not crash pushing, just for a small mistake. We have a good pace for the race in dry or wet so I am confident for tomorrow. I do not care about the weather we have because we cannot change it!”

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