Superbike: Sykes stands out in the first free practice sessions in Jerez

The third to last round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship began this morning, with the first free practice at the Circuito de Jerez: in the lead we find Tom Sykes, who set the time at 1'41.957.

His teammate, and now on the verge of becoming 24 Superbike World Champion, Jonathan Rea, is just 2015 thousandths of a second behind, while with the third fastest time we have Chaz Davies, with a delay of just a tenth of a second.
Behind the trio in the lead we find a surprising Niccolò Canepa, riding the satellite Panigale R of the Althea Racing team.
Fifth and sixth position for the official Aprilia pair of Jordi Torres and Leon Haslam, with the home rider having a crash, without consequences, at the end of the session.
Matteo Baiocco and Michele Pirro also performed well, replacing Davide Giugliano, fifth in his second outing of the season with the official Ducati Superbike.
Closing out the top 10 are Sylvain Guintoli and Michael van der Mark, ahead of Alex Lowes, who was however stopped by technical problems at the start of the session, and Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia), the last rider within a second of the lead.
Good performance for the Spanish rider Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven), thirteenth despite a fall and ahead of his compatriot and brandmate David Salom (Team Pedercini Kawasaki).

Next appointment at 15pm with the second free practice session of the Pirelli Spanish Round, valid for access to tomorrow's Tissot-Superpole.

Below is the time ranking at the end of the First Free Practice:

1. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 41.957s
2. Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 41.981s
3. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 42.056s
4. Niccolò Canepa ITA Althea Ducati 1199R 1m 42.125s
5. Jordi Torres ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 42.249s
6. Leon Haslam GBR Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 42.254s
7. Matteo Baiocco ITA Althea Ducati 1199R 1m 42.341s
8. Michele Pirro ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 42.408s
9. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Honda CBR1000RR 1m 42.643s
10. Michael van der Mark NED PATA Honda CBR1000RR 1m 42.784s
11. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 42.886s
12. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia S1000RR 1m 43.128s
13. Roman Ramos ESP GO Eleven Kawasaki ZX-10R1m 43.242s
14. David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 43.319s
15. Randy de Puniet FRA Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 43.445s
16. Leon Camier GBR MV Agusta F4 RR 1m 43.620s
17. Leandro Mercado ARG Barni Ducati 1199R 1m 44.105s
18. Christophe Ponsson FRA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 44.133s
19. Gabor Rizmayer HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR 1m 46.273s
20. Alex Phillis AUS Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 47.246s
21. Imre Toth HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR 1m 47.492s
22. Gianluca Vizziello ITA Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 48.073s