American Patrick Jacobsen peeled off a brilliant late flyer to claim pole position for tomorrow’s round one of the Supersport World Championship at Phillip Island.

Jacobsen’s third pole position in the WorldSSP ranks continued his excellent form all weekend on the factory MV Agusta, with his 1:33.128 pole lap proving too string for fellow front row starters Jules Cluzel (Honda, 1:33.23) and Italian Federico Caricasulo (Yamaha, 1:33.250). Cluzel is a two-time WorldSSP winner at Phillip Island.

Briton Kyle Ryde (1:33.483), holding up the fortunes of the Kawasaki factory team after the withdrawal of Kenan Sofuoglu with injury, sat at the top of the timesheets with two-and-a-half minutes to go before he was swallowed up by the top three in the late flurry.

Still, he will start from the head of the second row, with Lucas Mahias (Yamaha, 1:33.669) and Alex Baldolini (MV Agusta, 1:33.729) alongside him.

Aussies Aiden Wagner (Honda), Lachlan Epis (Kawasaki) and Anthony West (Yamaha)will fill spots 20-22 on the 24-bike grid.

The 15-lap WorldSSP race will be held at 1:30pm on Sunday. Coverage on Fox Sports 505.

The 2017 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship kicks off at Australia’s Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit with the Yamaha Finance round from February 24-26, and is set to be a scorcher. Go to www.worldsbk.com.au for event information. 

Tickets are available at the gate 

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