Airwaves Ducati man Shane Byrne has repeated his glorious Brands Hatch qualifying form at Thruxton by sneaking pole position away from Leon Haslam in the dying minutes - but the big shock from the Hampshire circuit is Michael Rutter’s third ahead of Cal Crutchlow.
Karl Harris, who was quickest this morning, heads the second row with Leon Camier and SMT’s Adam Jenkinson, who clearly likes the wet conditions, next along with Michael Laverty finishing up the top eight.
Haslam set the early pace and held pole for the whole session in the 1m 19s until Shakey rocked up with a 1’19.704s with three minutes to go. No-one had an answer to it. Haslam’s team-mate at HM Plant Honda Cal Crutchlow was just behind his team leader for most of the session until the bitter end when Rutter stormed into third with a 1’19.949s.

The session was red flagged after just 15 minutes as Tom Sykes crashed his Rizla Suzuki and left it in the middle of the track. After a cautionary check at the medical centre he returned to the fray for the last 15 minutes to claim a final position of 12th, for the first time behind his team mate Atsushi Watanabe in 11th, his best position from the whole weekend.

A couple of riders were seen to be making some bike alterations early on in the session, which including Tom Tunstall and Luke Quigley who was having a particular problem with his rear suspension.

MSS Kawasaki’s Billy McConnell didn’t improve on his 16th position due to taking a gamble by using a slick tyre at the end of the session, which turned out to be a bad choice. And Michael Howarth had to settle for 24th after a crash at Seagrave’s with only a minute to go.

John Laverty took a positive ninth, being the leading cup rider just behind his brother Michael. Jenkinson continued to make his mark by qualifying seventh with a 1’20.8s, the noticeable man of the day.

The wet qualifying didn’t start dull with Sean Emmett was delayed due to a problem with his tyre sticker. Once out on track he qualified with a time of 1’21.35s in 10th.

Steve Mercer, who crashed out in morning practice pulled back in after a couple of laps to look at the bike. He said: ‘I think the forks may be bent, as it just won’t go round corners.’ He managed to finish the session in 24th, disappointing for him after all his work.

Surprises of the session came from Scott Smart, who has won BSB races in the rain, and Co-ordit Yamaha’s Dean Ellison who are both languishing at the back. Smart is suffering from a lack of confidence in his front end, and when we find out what’s up with Dean, we will let you know.a

Click here for times
Free practice three
By the time the BSB boys came out this morning the track was very wet and the start of the session had a slight delay following a couple of bikes crashing in the Supersport practice, dumping oil on the track.

Being wet the session was no doubt going to add a few surprises and change of order, fortunately only one rider crashed. Ten minutes into the session Steve Mercer came off and he briefly explained to track commentator Fred Clark that he didn’t know what happened.

The times obviously increased from yesterday, but improved throughout the session as the track dried. Karl Harris topped the table with a 1m 19.963s, followed closely by Shane Bryne with a 1m 19.978s. Cal Crutchlow continued his good form and again finished ahead of Leon Haslam by half a second with a time of 1m 20.300s. Tom Sykes rounded off the top five after being pushed down from fourth by Haslam on his final lap.

Adam Jenkinson put in an unusual appearance at the top of the table to take sixth ahead of Michael Rutter. Atsushi Watanabe finised 15th, his highest position so far this weekend, showing great strength compared to other riders who have also been to this track before. Michael Howarth banged in a quick time of 1m 23.6s after having one of his laps disqualified due to missing the chicane midway through the session.

With Steve Mercer crashing out, the cup was led by Chris Burns on his MV Agusta. He was consistently leading, but by the end of the session John Laverty had found what he needed to finish slightly behind him showing he is confident in these conditions.