Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) headed up the first two sessions of WorldSBK qualifying at Donington Park and now lead the top ten riders into automatic Superpole 2 qualifying positions on Saturday.
Local BSB rider and Donington wildcard rider Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was third at his home circuit, a popular position with the crowd for the recent World Superbike top level competitor.
Factory Panigale riders Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) worked hard to go fourth and fifth respectively.
Of the top five riders, only Melandri set his best time in the morning session, not the afternoon FP2 outing.
Under the strong sunshine Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) was sixth, despite a small crash this afternoon. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) was seventh.
Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) ended up the top RSV-4 rider today, eighth, and 0.8 seconds from the leading time.
Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was ninth after the first two hours on track, and Leandro Mercado (IodaRacing Team Aprilia) tenth. Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) placed 12th and Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Ducati) 13th.
