Assen WSBK: Sykes dominates qualifying, Guintoli takes runner-up

The Briton dominated the early proceedings of the session, leading by five and then seven tenths with his first two flyers.

Although Jonathan Rea cut the gap to two tenths before the mid-session tyre changes, Sykes lowered his benchmark by 1.7s with his final attempt and secured pole position.

Yamaha's Sylvain Guintoli and Ducati's Davide Giugliano took the remaining front row positions, six and nine tenths off the pace respectively.

The Italian was just a hundredth ahead of Jonathan Rea, who had to settle for fourth despite being the last rider to improve.

Local rider Michael van der Mark took fifth, followed by championship runner-up Chaz Davies and Superpole 1 pacesetter Markus Reiterberger.

Spaniards Xavi Fores and Jordi Torres secured eighth and ninth respectively, followed by Honda's Nicky Hayden, Aprilia's Lorenzo Savadori and Alex Lowes, who fell during the final minutes.

Full times:

Pos.	Rider	Bike	SP1	SP2
1	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki		1:35.440
2	Sylvain Guintoli	Yamaha		1:36.073
3	Davide Giugliano	Ducati		1:36.391
4	Jonathan Rea	Kawasaki		1:36.401
5	Michael van der Mark	Honda		1:36.643
6	Chaz Davies	Ducati		1:36.940
7	Markus Reiterberger	BMW	1:37.688	1:37.300
8	Xavi Fores	Ducati		1:37.351
9	Jordi Torres	BMW	1:38.375	1:37.413
10	Nicky Hayden	Honda		1:37.449
11	Lorenzo Savadori	Aprilia		1:37.587
12	Alex Lowes	Yamaha		1:38.214
13	Leon Camier	MV Agusta	1:38.375
14	Josh Brookes	BMW	1:38.754
15	Matteo Baiocco	Ducati	1:39.305
16	Alex de Angelis	Aprilia	1:39.327
17	Lucas Mahias	Kawasaki	1:39.459
18	Roman Ramos	Kawasaki	1:41.339
19	Matthieu Lussiana	BMW	1:41.743
20	Pawel Szkopek	Yamaha	1:42.443
21	Josh Hook	Kawasaki	1:43.957
22	Karel Abraham	BMW	No Time