Qualifying three
Luke Mossey 45.275
James Ellison 45.303
Shane Byrne 45.389
Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey bagged his debut MCE British Superbike pole position during qualifying at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit this afternoon. The ZX-10R rider was able to out-pace both JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Ellison and Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne with a 45.275 lap.
Mossey was only 0.06s shy off the lap record set by Ellison last year, but the Cumbrian will start race-one from P2, with Byrne completing the front row, after 45.303 and 45.389 times respectively.
Tyco BMW’s Michael Laverty heads up row two, and is joined by Buildbase BMW’s Richard Cooper and Bennetts Suzuki’s Tommy Bridewell. JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam tried to make it on to the front row but however hard he tried he could only managed a time that placed him at the front of row three.
But the session was so close and only five tenths of a second separated the top eight riders today. The former World Superbike star will start race-one alongside, ePayMe Yamaha’s John Hopkins, with Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran, managing to make it back on track onboard his Fireblade after an earlier Q2 crash, to end the day ninth fastest on the timing-screens.
Qualifying two
Luke Mossey 45.474
John Hopkins 45.537
James Ellison 45.550
In a repeat of the first qualifying session it was once again Mossey who led the way, but this time it was the Yamaha of Hopkins who went up to P2 with Ellison third fastest.
Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran crashed for the second time this weekend, at Graham Hill Bend but was fortunately uninjured, but managed to cling on to his ninth quickest time to make it into Q3.
Championship leader, Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon failed to make it into the final qualifying session and missed out on the chance to challenge for pole. The Stockport rider was joined in the drop zone by Hickman, Buchan, Linfoot, Irwin, Jackson and Seeley.
Billy McConnell crashed at Graham Hill Bend and was declared OK at the trackside, and ended the day P14 for tomorrow’s first race. Team WD-40 Kawasaki’s Jack Kennedy did not make it back out on the bike after his Q1 crash and after medical checks he sustained a broken left ankle, and a broken right hand.
Eliminated
Hickman
Iddon
Buchan
Linfoot
McConnell
Irwin
Jackson
Seeley
Kennedy
Qualifying one
Luke Mossey 45.574
Richard Cooper 45.588
James Ellison 45.645
Mossey was the quickest rider out on track in the opening qualifying session, with Cooper going 0.1s slower than the Kawasaki man. Ellison ended Q1 completing the provisional front row.
There was a red flag with twelve minutes to go after Anvil Hire TAG Racing’s James Rispoli crashed at Clark Curve and was taken to the medical centre for further assessment.
Team WD-40’s Jack Kennedy was also another faller and the red flag’s came out once again at the Kent track after a big high-side at the Cooper Straight, four minutes after the opening stoppage occurred.
Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Filip Backlund fell at the Cooper Straight too, but managed to walk away from the incident. ePayMe Yamaha’s Stuart Easton could not make it into the top eighteen fastest times, and will start P21 in race-one on Sunday.
The Scot is joined by both Smrz brothers, Tinmouth, both Anvil Hire bikes, Iannuzzo, Zanotti and Mainwaring.
Eliminated
Winfield
Rispoli
Easton
Iannuzzo
Zanotti
Backlund
Tinmouth
Mainwaring
Smrz
Smrz
