Qualifying three

Shane Byrne 1’26.017

Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne was under lap record pace to bag pole for the first MCE British Superbike race at Cadwell Park. The triple-champ was five tenths under the lap record set by Leon Haslam seven years ago .

Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari was nearly one second off the time clocked by the championship leader who put down a super quick 1’26.017. Milwaukee Yamaha’s Tommy Bridewell completed the top three, with a last lap dash which definitely paid off, with a 1’27.681.

The same couldn’t be said for his team-mate Josh Brookes. The Bringelly rider was massively on the pace during Q1 and Q2, but a technical problem meant he missed most of Q3 and narrowly missed out on a flying lap, and has to settle for a fourth row start.

Row two will be headed up by GBmoto Kawasaki’s Chris Walker who was only a tenth off the pace of Bridewell, with local lad, RAF Reserves Honda’s Peter Hickman and Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Waters joining the veteran racer.

Halsall Racing’s Jon Kirkham, Tyco Suzuki’s John Hopkins and Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Dan Linfoot complete the third row of the grid for the first of two races tomorrow afternoon.

Qualifying two

Shane Byrne 1’26.566

Ryuichi Kiyonari 1’27.170

Byrne on his fourth lap put down a stunning 1’26.566 to go one tenth quicker than the lap record, and firmly secured his place in Q3. Brookes and Kiyonari completed the top three.

Anvil Hire Tag Racing’s substitute rider Scott Smart was tenth overall, but a crash with five minutes remaining at Charlies meant he wasn’t able to make it into the final qualifying outing, and fell back to twelfth.

The World Superbike technical director was not the only rider not to progress into Q3 – Mainwaring, Easton, Jessopp, Rutter and Wilson also didn’t clock times that were fast enough to battle for a front row start. Burrell also just missed out on going through, and was pushed out of contention by the Tyco Suzuki duo of John Hopkins and Josh Waters.

Buildbase BMW’s James Westmoreland is still recovering from a thumb injury and put in a stellar effort, but unfortunately didn’t set a time quick enough to go through to the final qualifying outing.

Eliminated

Burrell

Smart

Mainwaring

Easton

Jessopp

Westmoreland

Rutter

Wilson

Qualifying one

Shane Byrne 1’27.066

Josh Brookes 1’27.472

With six minutes remaining to the opening qualifying session the red flags appeared at the side of the track as Bathams BMW’s Patric Muff high-sided at the bottom of Mansfield bring a halt to proceedings. Before the stoppage it was Byrne who topped the sheets, with Kiyonari and Brookes two tenths behind.

Teetering on the edge of the drop zone was crocked Westmoreland, crashing Muff, and his team-mate Michael Rutter. The Swiss rider missed the rest of the qualifying session, and was taken to the medical centre for an assessment.

When the session restarted the top three remained the same. Further down the field Easton and Smart were dangerously close to being eliminated from the qualifying session, but just scrapped in to Q2. Anvil Hire Tag Racing’s Glen Richards couldn’t emulate his veteran team-mate, Smart and his last lap dash failed to pay off.

The Aussie was joined in the drop zone by Muff, Tsingtao’s Gary Mason, Ingram, Ponsson, Zanotti and Lo Turco. GBmoto Kawasaki’s James Ellison is still suffering from a serious leg injury, and even though he tried his best to put down some competitive laps it was too much of a struggle for him, and he ended the day 22nd, and has subsequently retired from the rest of the race weekend.

Eliminated

Richards

Muff

Mason

Ellison

Ingram

Ponsson

Zanotti

Lo Turco

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