Tom Sykes took his official Kawasaki Racing Team Ninja ZX-10R to his third pole of the year and in the process lifted his career total of Superpole wins to 22, making him the third best ever pole setter in this class, in his own right.

With Sykes on pole his team-mate Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) continued his good 2014 form to go fifth and take a valuable second row starting position for Sunday’s 20-lap Superbike races.

David Salom (Kawasaki Racing Team SBK Evo) was the first rider in the Superpole one contest, before heading into Superpole two to join Sykes, Baz and the other top ten qualifiers. David ended up 12th on the grid and on the same fourth row of the grid as the only other Evo rider to make it into Superpole 2.

The circuit conditions at Portimao – with wind, some bumps and a track surface that has not yet delivered the same levels of grip as in previous years – ensured that Sykes’ existing track best would survive Superpole.

Sykes was still 0.281 seconds ahead of his nearest rival after working hard with his team to improve the qualifying and race settings on his Ninja ZX-10R. This was Sykes’ third straight Superpole win at Portimao, following his successes in 2012 and 2013.

For Baz some final fine tuning will be done in the pre-race Superpole session on Sunday morning, but he is already showing good pace after some incredibly close qualifying sessions at the 4.592km Portuguese circuit. In the combined qualifying times less than 0.2 seconds covered the top eight riders before the final free session and then Superpole got underway.

Tom Sykes:

“The Ninja ZX-10R is working well after we started quite steadily this weekend. We made some small changes to the bike every session and now I feel more comfortable on it. On the race tyre I was able to feel more comfortable and in Superpole, with the qualifying tyre, I just made it to the apexes a little bit easier. The circuit is missing a little bit of grip and of course the high winds are not helping, especially on the final section, but it is costing everybody some time. I am happy, especially after the changes we made today. I feel more comfortable and confident for the races tomorrow but I expect two difficult races. There are a lot of riders who are capable of running at the front but we will do the best we can.”

Loris Baz:

“Our pace is good but I am just missing a few tenths right now. We have improved a lot and we are not really far away but at this track it is very close. When you are two-tenths slower you can be seventh! I am have to say I am happy with qualifying because the second row is good for the race and to get on the front row was just too hard here. If you make a good start second row it is still good for the race. We will try to find our missing two or three tenths in warm up and I love this track, even if it is not the easiest one to ride. I am sure we can find something to make life easier over race distance, but overall our pace is good.”

David Salom:

“It was not so bad today even thought I have some difficulties here with my hand injury. We will see how it goes in the races on Sunday but in Superpole one I made good progress with the qualifying tyre and went into Superpole two. In the second one I could not take the best from the qualifying tyre and finished 12th. But at the end we made into Superpole two, I am happy with the work of the team and we will follow the path we have planned into the races. We are happy.”


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