Imola WSB: Fabrizio takes maiden pole

Xerox Ducati rider Michel Fabrizo has taken his first pole position at Imola ahead of rookie Ben Spies.

It looked like championship leader Ben Spies had pole position wrapped up, but Fabrizio managed to get in one final lap and beat the American by four hundredths of a second.

Ten Kate Honda rider Jonathan Rea will start from third position tomrrow ahead of Xerox Ducati rider Noriyuki Haga.

WSB wildcard Marco Simoncelli pleased the Italian fans with a tremendous ride to claim eighth place on the grid.

Britons Shane Byrne, Leon Haslam and Tom Sykes will start from seventh, tenth and 16th respectively.

1. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098R 1min 47.735s
2. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 1min 47.778s
3. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 47.834s
4. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1098R 1min 47.885s
5. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 1min 48.156s
6. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1min 48.665s
7. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 1min 49.092s
8. Marco Simoncelli ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1min 49.338s

9. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 48.971s
10. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 1min 48.992s
11. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 1min 49.060s
12. Fonsi Nieto ESP DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 1min 49.105s
13. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 49.168s
14. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 49.340s
15. Matthieu Lagrive FRA Althea Honda CBR1000RR 1min 49.641s
16. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 1min 49.681s

17. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 1min 49.906s
18. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R 1min 50.012s
19. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 50.152s
20. Karl Muggeridge AUS Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 1min 50.414s
21. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 1min 50.908s
22. Matteo Baiocco ITA Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 1min 50.929s
23. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 51.256s
24. Luca Conforti ITA Barni Corse Ducati 1098R 1min 51.551s
25. David Checa ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 1min 52.477s
26. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 52.567s
27. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR 1min 52.821s