MV Agusta’s PJ Jacobsen took the WorldSSP pole at Phillip Island today, setting 1’33.128 for top spot as Britain’s Kyle Ryde fought his way through Superpole one to sit at the head of row two on his Puccetti Kawasaki.
American Jacobsen was a tenth quicker than Jules Cluzel’s CIA Honda and the GRT Yamaha of Federico Caricasulo but the Italian crashed out late on and was unable to mount another challenge.
“Today was a great day, I am very happy with the MV Agusta Reparto Corse team and the guys are working really hard on my bike, doing a great job. But doing good on Sunday is what really count and tomorrow I will do my best to get the podium and the points,” said Jacobsen.
Ryde lines up fourth on the grid ahead of Lucas Mahias and Alex Baldolini with Gino Rea (Kawasaki Go Eleven), Roby Rolfo (Factory Vamag) and Kyle Smith (GEMAR Team Lorini) comprising row three.
“That improvement was down to the team; trusting in what they want to do with the bike. This morning the set-up was not how I liked it but I had Jonathan Rea, the Superbike champion, telling me to just ride it and ride it. And then I had Andrew Pitt, who was a Supersport champion, telling me just to ride it and ride it,” said Ryde.
“That is what I did this morning and it felt a little bit better. I went into Superpole with a new front and a new rear tyre - and it just clicked. A 1’33.4 today is a brilliant achievement compared to yesterday, and put us on the second row. I still feel that I have got a little bit left in me. That is a good sign as it was not a perfect lap but for my first race with Kawasaki Puccetti Racing it is a brilliant outcome. Where I was on Monday and Tuesday at the test I was devastated to be down the order. Yesterday, in 16th place, I was also down in the dumps. I knew I could do well today, but I did not quite expect this. An awesome job from the team.”
Hikari Okubo (CIA Honda), Luke Stapleford (Profile Triumph) and Michael Canducci (Puccetti Racing) are on row four.
