Sykes bettered his previous circuit record lap with a 1’27.071 in the final minutes of the session. The finish is Sykes’ 26th career Superpole win, tying him with Troy Bayliss as the second most successful qualifier in the sport’s history. 

“We have made some good steps here, so I am happy,” said Sykes. “I am very impressed with the lap time, although I came over the line and saw 1’27.0 – and then kicked myself because it should have been a 1’26! Our race set-up seems acceptable as well. I have now gone joint second with Bayliss in Superpole wins now and that is nice. We definitely used the potential of our rear qualifier and for that I am happy. We did enough to make it count but tomorrow is another day and we have changing weather forecasts all the time. But we are in a good position.” 

Aprilia Racing’s Leon Halsam will start from fourth on the grid followed by Voltcom Crescent Suzuki’s Alex Lowes in fifth. Giugliano’s teammate, Chaz Davies, finished sixth followed by MV Agusta’s Leon Camier in seventh and Althea Racing Ducati’s Matteo Baiocco in eighth. 

World Superbike Donington Park Superpole Results 2015 
1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’27.071 
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) 1’27.308 
3. Davide Giugliano (Ducati) 1’27.344 
4. Leon Haslam (Aprilia) 1’27.535 
5. Alex Lowes (Suzuki) 1’27.554 
6. Chaz Davies (Ducati) 1’27.710 
7. Leon Camier (MVAgusta) 1’28.011 
8. Matteo Baiocco (Ducati) 1’28.188 
9. Sylvain Guintoli (Honda) 1’28.370 
10. David Salom (Kawasaki) 1’28.620 
11. Ayrton Badovini (BMW) 1’28.701 
12. Michael van der Mark (Honda) 1’28.715 
13. Jordi Torres (Aprilia) 1’28.689 
14. Nicolas Terol (Ducati) 1’28.827 
15. Leandro Mercado (Ducati) 1’28.991 
16. Roman Ramos (Kawasaki) 1’29.436 
17. Christophe Ponsson (Kawasaki) 1’29.668 
18. Randy de Puniet (Suzuki) 1’29.686 
19. Niccolo Canepa (Kawasaki) 1’29.783 
20. Santiago Barragan (Kawasaki) 1’30.839 
21. Imre Toth (BMW) 1’32.647 
22. Gabor Rizmayer (BMW) 1’33.466