Ninja ZX-10R rider Tom Sykes will start the last two races of the 2010 season from 12th position on the Magny-Cours grid, after an incredible close period of Superpole qualifying.

After combined qualifying, and before the start of Superpole, Sykes had qualified only 0.565 seconds from provisional pole, and was second quickest in Superpole One. He is therefore confident he can have the pace to run near the front on raceday, if he makes good starts at this 4.411km circuit.

Ian Lowry, Tom’s team-mate once again, qualified into the Superpole sessions and went 18th on the grid. In only his third WSBK race meeting, Ian was just over two seconds from the fastest rider in pre-Superpole combined qualifying.

The threat of rains during qualifying at Magny-Cours proved to be false, and both days of practice were held in dry conditions, allowing the KRT technical staff to make progress with set-up and potential tyre choices for Sunday’s 23 lap races.

Tom Sykes:

“We made a 1’38.3 lap in Superpole and we are on the third row, close to the others on lap times, so we are still meeting our targets. We are only half a second off the front so I am happy enough. And I think we got the most out of the bike and tyre combination, and the team worked well. If we can make sure we have a good set-up for tomorrow we can get stuck in and have two good races. We are pretty much set on which tyres to use and we have not left many stones unturned. We have a lot of information now.”

Ian Lowry:

“We are coming closer and closer. I made it into Superpole and we got to use the qualifying tyres. They definitely have more grip but I could not use them to the full and I went 0.3 of a second faster on race tyres. I am well clear of the group behind me and I'm setting similar times to Max Neukirchner, then there is a group in front of us. If I can dice with Max in the race we will have made good steps. I want to have two good races and finish the season on a high.”