MAGNY-COURS, France – The afternoon practice session at the 11th and penultimate round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship at Magny-Cours finished with Italian Davide Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team) setting the fastest time in 1:37.866s to head the combined classification after FP1 and FP2 on Friday.
With only Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) and Claudio Corti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) failing to improve out of the top 20 riders in the overall standings, the 45-minute session was fast and furious with five manufacturers represented in the first six places.
Behind Giugliano, Eugene Laverty (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) was second ahead of Friday morning’s pace setter Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team).
Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team), Marco Melandri (Aprilia Racing Team) and reigning champion Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) completed the top six with Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team), Chaz Davies (Ducati Superbike Team), Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) and Haslam filling the remaining places inside the top 10.
Niccolò Canepa (Althea Racing Ducati) made a huge step forward, moving into 14th overall and in doing so becoming the best classified EVO rider.
As it stands Fabien Foret (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) would be the final rider to take part in Tissot-Superpole Saturday, but with one final session to come to decide the participants anything can still happen.
After topping FP1, newly crowned World Supersport Champion Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda) continues to dominate World Supersport, ending the opening day of action at Magny-Cours on top of the standings after improving his morning time on his final lap of FP2.
Roberto Tamburini (San Carlo Puccetti Racing Kawasaki) elevated himself to second in the final minute ahead of the sensation of the day, wildcard rider Lucas Mahias (MG Competition Yamaha), who finished a very impressive third overall.
Florian Marino (Intermoto Kawasaki Ponyexpress) was fourth on combined times ahead of Kev Coghlan (DMV-Panavto Yamaha), who had been ruled out of FP1 early because of a technical problem.
Massimo Roccoli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) also improved in the final seconds of FP2 to move into the top six. His team mate Jules Cluzel, who is aiming to secure second overall in the standings, crashed in the final part of FP2, thankfully without injury. The Frenchman ended the day 12th.
World Superbike Practice Results
1.Davide Giugliano (Ducati) 1:37.866 (162.259km/h)
2. Eugene Laverty (Suzuki) 1:38.138
3. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) 1:38.152
4. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1:38.157
5. Marco Melandri (Aprilia) 1:38.451
6. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 1:38.518
7. Loris Baz (Kawasaki) 1:38.647
8. Chaz Davies (Ducati) 1:38.747
9. Alex Lowes (Suzuki) 1:38.888
10. Leon Haslam (Honda) 1:39.040
11. Fabien Foret (Ducati) 1:39.265
12. Max Neukirchner (Ducati) 1:39.308
13. Toni Elias (Aprilia) 1:39.439
14. Niccolo Canepa (Ducati) 1:39.548
15. David Salom (Kawasaki) 1:40.022
16. Sylvain Barrier (BMW) 1:40.170
17. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) 1:40.256
18. Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki) 1:40.677
19. Claudio Corti (MV Agusta) 1:40.924
20. Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) 1:40.961
21. Jeremy Guarnoni (Kawasaki) 1:41.217
22. Alessandro Andreozzi (Kawasaki) 1:41.647
23. Bryan Staring (Kawasaki) 1:41.980
24. Geoff May (EBR) 1:42.701
25. Gabor Rizmayer (BMW) 1:43.023
26. Imre Toth (BMW) 1:43.432
27. Aaron Yates (EBR) 1:43.590
NC. Nicolas Salchaud (MV Agusta) 1:45.484
–From World SBK Press Office
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