Cluzel fends off Kawasakis for Thai pole

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Jules Cluzel will start the second round of the World Supersport Championship from pole position after saving his best until last in a hard fought qualifying session at the Chang International Circuit.

In a session that would see several riders enjoy stints at the top of the timesheets as track conditions improved, Cluzel would shake out with the best time of 1min 38.383secs on the MV Agusta, the Frenchman well placed to make amends for a non-scoring opener.

He will be joined on the front row by the Kawasakis of Phillip Island race winner Randy Krummenacher, the Swiss rider getting the better of his four-time world championship winning team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu for the first time.

PJ Jacobsen heads up the second row on the best of the Hondas, ahead of Alex Baldolini and Kyle Smith, while Ratthapong Wilairot faces a task to emulate his brother's race winning exploits from 2015 as a botched final lap left him having to contend with seventh.

MV Agusta pair Nico Terol and Gino Rea start eighth and ninth, while Luke Stapleford rounds out the top ten, ahead of surprise SP1 graduates Kevin Wahr and Hikari Okubo.

Further back, local favourite Decha Kraisart was a surprise early casualty in SP1 as he starts down in 14th, while Phillip Island podium winner Federico Caricasulo and works MV Agusta rider Lorenzo Zanetti start down 15th and 16th.