Niki Tuuli secured a maiden World Supersport pole position after qualifying was ended early at Magny-Cours due to a crash for championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu.
Kallio Racing rider Tuuli was one of only a few riders to remain on the same slick tyre throughout the entirety of Superpole 2 as the track continually improved, and he traded top spot with Sofuoglu for much of the 15 minutes.
The Puccetti rider set the benchmark at 1m45.251s, before improving to a 1m44.922s. Tuuli responded with a 1m44.606s with five minutes to go, though was demoted again by Sofuoglu with a 1m43.994s.
Tuuli hit back with a 1m43.833s, though Sofuoglu was on course to beat the Finnish rider when he suffered a highside exiting the 180 corner with just over a minute of the session remaining.
With the Turk requiring medical attention and his Kawasaki stricken in the middle of the circuit, the session was halted, giving Tuuli his first pole in the class and Kallio Racing its second of the year.
Tuuli‘s team-mate Sheridan Morais put his R6 second on the grid ahead of Sofuoglu, while Federico Caricasulo put his GRT Yamaha at the head of the second row from Britain’s Gino Rea and SP1 pacesetter Kazuki Watanabe.
Jules Cluzel – who is expected to announce a switch to Yamaha machinery with the incoming GMT team for 2018 this weekend – will start his home race from seventh, with Chris Bergmann coming through the first part of Superpole to qualify a respectable eighth.
PJ Jacobsen and MV Agusta team-mate Alessandro Zaccone completed the top 10, with Michael Canducci and Lucas Mahias – who suffered a technical issue early in the session – rounding out the top 12.
Christian Gamarino was set to go through into the second session with his 1m52.295s, but was pipped at the flag by late laps from Watanabe and Bergman.
The Evans Bros Honda rider will start from 13th ahead of European Supersport Cup runner Rob Hartog, while Australian Lachlan Epis secured his best qualifying result of the year in 15th.
Alex Baldolini took his Yamaha to 16th on the grid ahead of early SP1 pacesetter Kyle Smith. Stefan Hill slots in behind his compatriot in 18th, with Zulfhami Khairuddin and Luke Stapleford completing the top 20.
Puccetti Kawasaki’s Kyle Ryde has endured a tough weekend at Magny-Cours, and things failed to improve in qualifying as the Briton struggled to a lowly 29th.
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