Broc Parkes has taken pole position for the latest round of the World Supersport Championship at Magny-Cours after a superb effort on the Yamaha.
The Aussie rider was second quickest in provisional qualifying behind Jonathan Rea, but the two riders swapped positions in the deciding session when Parkes produced a lap of 1min 41.543secs, almost half a second up on the Honda rider.
Indeed, Parkes and Rea were the class of the field, with Andrew Pitt a further half a second back in third place, although the Brit has confidence the Ten Kate Honda will prevail in the race.
“The team deserves the credit for doing such a good job this weekend. We know from the test what our race pace can be, but Broc managed to take pole again today. The bike and engine are really strong and I'm in position to get a good start and, hopefully, fight at the front until the end of the race. I'm confident in what I can do and it's always exciting when you have the possibility to win.”
Defending a slimming 11 point lead heading into the penultimate race of the season, Pitt was start alongside Rea in third, with the front row being completed by Didier Van Keymeulen.
His Hoegee Suzuki team-mate Barry Veneman leads the second row, with Joan Lascorz, Robbin Harms and Joshua Brookes just behind ensuring that the first two rows will be made up of five Hondas. Italian pairing Massimo Roccoli and Gianluca Nannelli round out the top ten.
Elsewhere, Mark Aitchison flew the flag for Triumph in 11th, while Katsuaki Fujiwara was the best of the Kawasakis down in 21st. His British team-mate Chris Martin, meanwhile, will start a disappointing 28th out of the 31 runners.
