Sylvain Guintoli set the pace on the first-ever day of World Superbike track running at Istanbul Park.

World Superbike Championship title hopeful Sylvain Guintoli has led the way on the opening day of track running at Turkey’s Istanbul Park Raceway.

Guintoli registered a 1m56.190 lap aboard his Aprilia Racing Team RSV4, considerably faster than second-placed BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK’s Marco Melandri, who was over six-tenths off the pace.

Guintoli’s teammate Eugene Laverty was third-fastest and the final rider in the 1m56 bracket. Kawasaki Racing Team’s Tom Sykes followed in fourth, while fifth belonged to Toni Elias, who impressed upon his WSBK with Red Devils Roma Aprilia.

Jules Cluzel ran sixth from Chaz Davies, Davide Giugliano and Leon Haslam, with replacement Honda rider Michel Fabrizio rounding out the top 10.

It was another solid showing for Australian Mark Aitchison in 11th, who continues to prove his worth in the field as he subs for Team Pedercini.

The Superbike field was depleted even further with a range of incidents on day one.

Suzuki’s Leon Camier broke a number of bones in his right foot in practice, and has been ruled out. Alstare Ducati pairing of Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini both crashed and didn’t participate in qualifying, while fellow Ducati rider Max Neukirchner also suffered injury.

World Supersport points leader Sam Lowes was up to speed quickly on the new circuit, leading free practice and the first qualifying.

Yakhnich Motorsport’s Lowes set a 2m00.00 lap to go fastest from rival Kenan Sofuoglu, with Kawasaki’s Florian Marino third, Honda’s Robert Tamburini fourth and Kawasaki’s David Salom fifth.

Damian Cudlin was solid on debut with PTR Honda, setting the 27th fastest time as he replaces fellow Aussie Matt Davies for the round.

World Superbike Championship
Round 11 – Istanbul Park, Turkey

Superbike qualifying one:
1. Sylvain Guintoli 1m56.190
2. Marco Melandri 1m56.749
3. Eugene Laverty 1m56.949
4. Tom Sykes 1m57.170
5. Toni Elias 1m57.206
6. Jules Cluzel 1m57.222
7. Chaz Davies 1m57.391
8. Davide Giugliano 1m57.649
9. Leon Haslam 1m57.699
10. Michel Fabrizio 1m58.340
11. Mark Aitchison 1m58.588
12. Federico Sandi 1m58.817
13. Vittorio Iannuzzo 2m00.944
14. Tolga Uprak 2m03.008
15. Yunus Ercelik 2m04.231

Supersport
1. Sam Lowes 2m00.000
2. Kenan Sofuoglu 2m00.678
3. Florian Marino 2m00.798
4. Roberto Tamburini 2m00.802
5. David Salom 2m00.834
6. Lorenzo Zanetti 2m00.872
7. Raffaele De Rosa 2m00.982
8. Michael Vd Mark 2m01.147
9. Kev Coghlan 2m01.156
10. Luca Scassa 2m01.165
11. Roberto Rolfo 2m01.258
12. Fabio Menghi 2m01.273
13. Ronan Quarmby 2m01.376
14. Alex Baldolini 2m01.454
15. Fabien Foret 2m01.491
16. Jack Kennedy 2m01.566
17. Mathew Scholtz 2m01.722
18. Christian Iddon 2m01.770
19. Danny Webb 2m01.837
20. Massimo Roccoli 2m01.892
27. Damian Cudlin (AUS) 2m03.892

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