2011 Silverstone World Superbike Superpole Results: Updated

Results and summary of Superpole from Silverstone

Superpole 1

Two early crashes marred the start of Superpole, Max Biaggi being the first to go down, followed seconds later by Ayrton Badovini, allowing Leon Haslam to rocket to an early lead in the standings, ahead of Marco Melandri and John Hopkins.

Things got serious in the second half of the brief session, with Eugene Laverty rocketing to 1st with the first lap under 2'05 of the weekend, a lap of 2'14.919., keeping Haslam and Melandri behind him. Biaggi redeemed his session once he returned to the pits and went back out on this second bike, leaping up to 4th and securing his place in the next session of Superpole.

The final seconds of Superpole 1 saw a frantic burst of activity, with everyone putting in a last-gasp attempt to secure their spot in the next session. Michel Fabrizio was the first to avoid relegation, leaping up to 2nd place in the session, and then Carlos Checa leaving it until the final possible second to secure his spot in Superpole 2, putting him into 3rd.

Out after Superpole 1: Jakub Smrz, James Toseland, Maxime Berger, Tom Sykes

Results:

Superpole 2

The second Superpole session started off with 12 World Superbike riders behaving like 125cc riders, all looking back over their shoulders and looking for someone to latch onto for a tow. It was John Hopkins who broke the spell, dropping the hammer for the first flying lap, with Nori Haga and Sylvain Guintoli profiting in his slipstream, soon trumped by Leon Camier and Carlos Checa, the Althea Ducati rider putting in a mid-2'04 entirely on his own.

After a brief trip to the pits for more tires, everyone outside of the top three - Checa, Camier and Laverty - went back out for a second shot at Superpole. John Hopkins profited most from his trip down pit lane, shooting up to 4th with a very fast lap in the final seconds. The biggest surprise of Superpole 2 was the man in 2nd place in the championship, Max Biaggi. The Italian fell well short of the pace, ending the session in 11th and out of Superpole. Checa's other championship rival Marco Melandri was a little more lucky, just scraping through in 8th.

Out after Superpole 2: Leon Haslam, Ayrton Badovini, Max Biaggi, Mark Aitchison

Results:

Superpole 3

Superpole 3 also started off with a crash, Noriyuki Haga crashing out at Maggots, but the real action started off shortly afterwards. Eugene Laverty kicked off the action with a strong lap just off the lap record time, but his fastest lap lasted just a few seconds, before John Hopkins then blitzed past Laverty with a lap of 2'04.041, just under the lap record set last year by Cal Crutchlow.

With the final session of Superpole so short, there was no time to pit for another qualifying tire, and the order was settled with a couple of minutes left in the session. Hopkins' time was untouchable, as was Laverty's 2nd place, while Leon Camier and Carlos Checa grabbed the final spots on the front row. Sylvain Guintoli heads up the second row, ahead of Marco Melandri and Michel Fabrizio, with Nori Haga not posting a qualifying lap, but still securing the final spot on the second row.

Final grid