Qatar World Supersport: Rea takes impressive second in Supersport qualifying

Jonathan Rea made his intentions clear for his debut World Supersport season by setting the second fastest time in today’s first qualifying session – 0.346 seconds behind Yamaha mounted Fabien Foret.

Onboard the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR, the 20-year-old continued his impressive transition to life in Supersport after three years in British Superbikes and despite a lack of track knowledge compared to his rivals was a front runner all session.

Craig Jones turned around his fortunes by setting the sixth fastest time after missing virtually all of free practice following two oil leaks. Jones set a string of consistently fast laps and on his final run looked on schedule for a top three finish until a mistake at the final turn dropped him to sixth.

Whilst Jones suffered poor luck in the morning, it was Chris Walker’s turn in the afternoon. Walker began the session well and was on a fast lap when he suffered and engine failure on his Gil Motorsport Kawasaki.

He went back on track using his number two bike but an electrical problem prevented him from completing any further laps which left him way down in 27th place having only completed three flying laps.

Honda’s Graeme Gowland continued to impress first time at the track. The 22-year-old slashed his morning lap time by over 2.5 seconds to finish in 21st spot.

World Supersport first qualifying results:

1 99 F. FORET FRA Yamaha World Supersport Yamaha YZF-R6 2’03.495
2 65 J. REA GBR Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR600RR 2’03.841
3 14 M. LAGRIVE FRA Intermoto Czech Honda CBR600RR 2’04.017
4 26 J. LASCORZ ESP Glaner Motocard.com Honda CBR600RR 2’04.343
5 69 G. NANNELLI ITA Hannspree Honda Althea Honda CBR600RR 2’04.446
6 18 C. JONES GBR Parkalgar Racing Team Honda CBR600RR 2’04.766
7 44 D. SALOM ESP Yamaha Spain Yamaha YZF-R6 2’04.858
8 77 B. VENEMAN NED Ressoftware Hoegee Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R600 2’04.
9 88 A. PITT AUS Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR600RR 2’04.996
10 47 I. CLEMENTI ITA Triumph Italia BE1 Racing Triumph 675 2’05.211
11 8 M. AITCHISON AUS Triumph Italia BE1 Racing Triumph 675 2’05.217
12 105 G. VIZZIELLO ITA Berry Racing Honda CBR600RR 2’05.264
13 23 B. PARKES AUS Yamaha World Supersport Yamaha YZF-R6 2’05.301
14 24 G. MCCOY AUS Triumph – SC Triumph 675 2’05.349
15 31 V. KALLIO FIN Benjan Racing Team Honda CBR600RR 2’05.445
16 32 M. GIANSANTI ITA Berry Racing Honda CBR600RR 2’05.495
17 61 A. ANTONELLI ITA Hannspree Honda Althea Honda CBR600RR 2’05.586
18 55 M. ROCCOLI ITA Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni Yamaha YZF-R6 2’05.715
19 21 K. FUJIWARA JPN Kawasaki Gil Motor Sport Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’05.742
20 121 A. VINCENT FRA Gil Motor Sport – Solution F Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’05.941
21 81 G. GOWLAND GBR Benjan Racing Team Honda CBR600RR 2’06.007
22 38 G. LEBLANC FRA CRS Grand Prix Honda CBR600RR 2’06.033
23 127 R. HARMS DEN Hannspree Stiggy Motors. Honda Honda CBR600RR 2’06.139
24 4 L. ALFONSI ITA PMS Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’06.406 2
25 25 J. BROOKES AUS Hannspree Stiggy Motors. Honda Honda CBR600RR 2’06.468
26 17 M. PRAIA POR Parkalgar Racing Team Honda CBR600RR 2’06.751
27 9 C. WALKER GBR Kawasaki Gil Motor Sport Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’06.
28 57 I. DIONISI ITA Triumph – SC Triumph 675 2’07.246
29 37 W.DE ANGELIS RSM Intermoto Czech Honda CBR600RR 2’07.327
30 51 S. BARRAGAN ESP Glaner Motocard.com Honda CBR600RR 2’07.
31 83 D. VAN KEYMEULEN BEL Ressoftware Hoegee Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R600 2’07.935
32 75 L. NEDOG SLO CRS Grand Prix Honda CBR600RR 2’08.761
33 15 G. TALMACSI HUN Factory Racing Honda CBR600RR 2’09.165
34 199 D. DELL’OMO ITA HP Racing Team Honda CBR600RR 2’10.891
35 72 A. MAGDA HUN Factory Racing Honda CBR600RR 2’11.246 7.751 0.355 16 147,570 250,3
36 888 J. PEDRO SUBIRATS ESP Yamaha Spain Yamaha YZF-R6 2’12.619