It was all about Italy in France. The front row of the provisional grid is made up of all Italian riders, and is led by Lorenzo Lanzi. Lanzi scored his first podium finish in two years at Imola, and he looks determined to further his winning ways.
Lanzi claimed the provisional pole in a qualifying session that saw the top 16 riders finish within .7 seconds of one another. Lanzi scored a 1'38.856 around the Magny Cours track in France, beating out Michel Fabrizio by less than a tenth of a second.
Max Biaggi, the season leader and soon to be World Superbike Champion, finished third, while Luca Scassa completed the front row in fourth.
Cal Crutchlow, Noriyuki Haga, and James Toseland all took falls during the first qualifying session at Magny Cours. Crutchlow and Haga were still able to accomplish respectable finishes with fifth and sixth place.
Leon Haslam finished in 10th place. Haslam lost the chance at the World Superbike title at Imola, but still wants to take victory from Max Biaggi this weekend.
World Superbike – Magny Cours - 1st Qualifying
1 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'38.856
2 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'38.927
3 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'38.972
4 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'39.000
5 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'39.058
6 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'39.091
7 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'39.119
8 7 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'39.138
9 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'39.207
10 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'39.238
