2012 World Superbike Imola Friday provisional qualifying results—Smrz steals top spot

Ducati rider grabs provisional pole by 0.030 seconds from Kawasakis of Lascorz and Sykes; Biaggi fourth, Checa seventh, Hopkins 18th

March 30, 2012

Click to View Gallery Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing...        read full caption Effenbert-Liberty Racing Ducati’s Jakub Smrz grabbed provisional pole position at Imola during Friday’s qualifying session for the second round of the 2012 World Superbike Championship. The Czech WSBK veteran turned his quickest lap as time was running out, just slipping past the factory Kawasaki duo of Joan Lascorz and Tom Sykes, who have proven that the work Kawasaki has done during the winter is paying off in greatly improved performance. Aprilia’s Max Biaggi took fourth spot, with reigning WSBK champion Carlos Checa in seventh in a very competitive field that had the top 15 riders all within the same second.  Click to View Gallery Returning to the WSBK championship...        read full caption Crescent Fixi Suzuki’s John Hopkins made his return to World Superbike after having to leave the Phillip Island round due to fracturing a bone in his hand from a practice crash, and while the hand injury wasn’t posing any difficulties, the American was taking his time getting up to speed, and admitted in a Twitter post that he “made a lot of mistakes trying to achieve too much too soon.” Hopkins was in 18th spot at the end of provisional qualifying, and will be looking to move up the order to qualify for Superpole tomorrow. "Today was all about getting back in the groove and being comfortable on the bike and I am happy with what we did,” said Hopkins in the team press release. “The hand feels good and there were no problems with it at all. I lost some time in the morning session, but went one-and-half-seconds quicker this afternoon, so we're heading in the right direction for sure. Apart from a few laps in the Phillip Island tests, the last time I rode a bike was five months ago, so I took it prettily steadily today. We have a good base setting and now we need to push harder and see what we can achieve." World Superbike Imola Friday provisional qualifying results: 1. Jakub Smrz (CZE) Ducati 1:48.146 2. Joan Lascorz (SPA) Kawasaki 1:48.176 3. Tom Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki 1:48.246 4. Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia 1:48.247 5. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Honda 1:48.321 6. Leon Haslam (GBR) BMW 1:48.328 7. Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati 1:48.375 8. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Ducati 1:48.555 9. Eugene Laverty (IRL) Aprilia 1:48.555 10. Leon Camier (GBR) Suzuki 1:48.556 11. Davide Giugliano (ITA) Ducati 1:48.728 12. Ayrton Badovini (ITA) BMW 1:48.741 13. Lorenzo Zanetti (ITA) Ducati 1:48.762 14. Marco Melandri (ITA) BMW 1:48.773 15. Chaz Davies (GBR) Aprilia 1:48.959 16. Maxime Berger (FRA) Ducati 1:49.343 17. Niccolò Canepa (ITA) Ducati 1:49.617 18. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 1:49.790 19. Michel Fabrizio (ITA) BMW 1:50.031 20. David Salom (SPA) Kawasaki 1:50.085 21. Mark Aitchison (AUS) BMW 1:50.810 22. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Honda 1:51.511 23. Leandro Mercado (ARG) Kawasaki 1:51.645 24. Brett McCormick (CAN) Ducati 1:51.703 25. Lorenzo Alfonsi (ITA) Honda 1:52.993