Superbike: Melandri opens the hunt for Superpole

The game for access to this afternoon's Superpole is over: in Aragon in FP3 Melandri breaks through yesterday's delays, sets the best time and takes first place in the combined times.

Tom Sykes and Chaz Davies follow him by less than 3 tenths, ahead of their team mates Loris Baz and Davide Giugliano, who went off the track towards the end of the session, which prevented him from improving his lap time .
World championship leader Sylvain Guintoli was only sixth, while Jonathan Rea, after the excellent times recorded in the two sessions yesterday, had to settle for seventh fastest.
The two Suzukis are definitely behind, with Alex Lowes in eighth place and Eugene Laverty completing the top ten of the combined which, let's remember, allows direct access to the final heat of the Superpole.
Niccolò Canepa unfortunately didn't make it into the top 10 and will have to fight for access to SP1 together with Corti, Elias, Camier, Salom, Iddon, Fabrizio, Baldovini and Guarnoni.

Below is the combined ranking of the times of the 3 free practice sessions, valid for access to the Superpole of the second round of the Superbike world championship:

1. Marco Melandri ITA Aprilia Racing RSV4 1m 57.686s
2. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 57.932s
3. Chaz Davies GBR Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R 1m 57.936s
4. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 57.941s
5. Davide Giugliano ITA Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R 1m 57.985s
6. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 1m 58.149s
7. Jonathan Rea GBR PATA Honda CBR1000RR 1m 58.180s
8. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 58.367s
9. Leon Haslam GBR PATA Honda CBR1000RR 1m 58.376s
10. Eugene Laverty IRL Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 58.492s

These are the riders who directly access SP2, below are the riders from 11th to 20th position who will compete for entry into SP1:

11. Niccolo Canepa ITA Althea Ducati 1199 Panigale R 1m 59.623s (E)
12. Toni Elias ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 59.631s
13. Ayrton Badovini ITA Bimota Alstare BB3 1m 59.899s (E)
14. Claudio Corti ITA MV Agusta RC F3RR 2m 00.525s
15. Leon Camier GBR BMW Italia S1000RR 2m 00.565s (E)
16. David Salom ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 2m 00.663s (E)
17. Christian Iddon GBR Bimota Alstare BB3 2m 00.671s (E)
18. Jeremy Guarnoni FRA MRS Kawasaki ZX-10R 2m 00.736s (E)
19. Sheridan Morais RSA IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R 2m 00.801s (E)
20. Michel Fabrizio ITA IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R 2m 01.481s (E)

Not qualified for Superpole:

21. Fabien Foret FRA MAHI Kawasaki ZX-10R 2m 01.511s (E)
22. Luca Scassa ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 2m 01.037s (E)
23. Alessandro Andreozzi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 2m 02.507s (E)
24. Imre Toth HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR 2m 02.672s
25. Aaron Yates USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 2m 03.102s
26. Geoff May USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 2m 03.657s
27. Peter Sebestyen HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR 2m 05.570s (E)

Best lap: Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 56.339s (2013)
Race lap record: Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 56.973s (2013)