Qualifying three

Shane Byrne 1’34.557

James Ellison 1’34.938

Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne will start the first MCE British Superbike race at Oulton Park from pole position after clocking a lap that was only one four-hundredths of a second off the best ever lap record set by a certain Karl Harris back in 2006 - a 1'34.557.

At first it seemed that Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes would clinch the number one spot on the starting grid after his best lap of the afternoon – a 1’34.884. The Northern Ireland based lad kept improving by a tenth of a second throughout the three qualifying sessions but even though he was on provisional pole throughout Q1 and Q2, the Kawasaki of the triple champ was too strong in the final outing, leaving Byrne to lead the charge tomorrow.

GBmoto Kawasaki’s James Ellison completes the opening row, and the Kendal rider was never outside the top three times. He was another racer who kept improving and ended the day in a solid third spot on the grid with a 1’34.938.

Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Stuart Easton did benefit from a bit of a tow from his older team-mate Byrne but heads up row two, followed by Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Dan Linfoot and Milwaukee Yamaha’s Tommy Bridewell.

Anvil Hire Tag Racing’s Richard Cooper was only one one-hundredths off a seventh place start, but just pipped to the post by Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari who starts row three.

The GBmoto Kawasaki’s team successful re-built Chris Walker’s bike (after it burst into flames during FP3) in time for qualifying and their hard work paid off as the veteran racer made into Q3, and completes row three, with Millsport Ducati’s Jakub Smrz rounding off the top ten.

It was a case of déjà vu as the top three riders remained the same as in the opening qualifying outing, but Brookes was able to improve and was the first rider to lap inside the 1’34 bracket this afternoon and went one tenths of second faster than his time in Q1 with a 1’34.917.

Kiyo was hovering around the top ten for all the session and even a last lap charge by Tyco Suzuki’s John Hopkins was not enough to displace the triple champ from progressing to Q3. The American ended the morning thirteenth, and will start from the fifth row of the grid. He’s not the only Tyco rider not to go through to Q3 – his team-mate Josh Waters never made it out of the drop zone.

One of the biggest shocks, apart from Hopkins was Buildbase BMW’s James Westmoreland. Last year’s Showdown rider couldn’t match the pace of his Japanese team-mate and even after a handful of laps stayed sixteenth overall, ending his hopes of a possible front row start.

RAF Reserves Honda Simon Andrews and FFX Yamaha’s Ian Hutchinson were never in with a chance of making it inside the top ten times, and stayed nineteenth and twentieth respectively on the time-sheets. The pair are joined by PR Racing’s Keith Farmer, Tsingtao’s Jon Kirkham, Ridersmotorcycles’s Martin Jessopp and Patric Muff, and Bathams BMW’s Michael Rutter.

Eliminated

Keith Farmer

Jon Kirkham

John Hopkins

Michael Rutter

Josh Waters

James Westmoreland

Martin Jessopp

Patric Muff

Simon Andrews

Ian Hutchinson

Qualifying one

Josh Brookes 1’35.023

James Ellison 1’35.667

Brookes was the fastest rider in Q1, and as much as he tried Byrne could not find the added speed to topple the Aussie from the top of the timing screens, with Ellison completing the top three.

Hopkins was in the drop zone for most of the session, but did go up to seventeenth, but did could not improve and slipped down to nineteenth, and was teetering in the elimination places, but a last lap dash paid off to push him fifteenth, and out of danger for the time being.

Hutchinson was on the edge of dropping out on the session, but clocked a 1’37.409 to push him to nineteenth, with one minute remaining, but Andrews pulled a lap out of the bag that was one tenth quicker to take the place back.

Gearlink Kawasaki’s Ben Wilson was not so lucky and could not improve on his 1’37.610 lap and remained 21st on the timing screens, meaning he missed out on a chance to challenge for a front row start and does not progress into Q2. He was joined by Halsall Kawasaki’s only rider this weekend – Harry Hartley. The youngster could not find the speed to challenge with the likes of Hutchinson and Andrews and stayed behind Wilson in the standings.

WD-40’s Barry Burrell was another rider who could not pull himself into Q2, and was never really in contention for a place in the next round of qualifying. Tinmouth, Zanotti, Winfield, Baker and Lo Turco also failed to make it out of the drop zone.

Eliminated

Ben Wilson

Harry Hartley

Barry Burrell

Aaron Zanotti

Jenny Tinmouth

Shaun Winfield

Peter Baker

Rhalf Lo Turco

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