Qualifying three
Shane Byrne - 1’34.016
Leon Haslam - 1’34.200
Luke Mossey - 1’34.744
Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne bagged his first pole position of the MCE British Superbike season after lapping under lap record pace at Oulton Park during the final qualifying session.
Byrne set a 1’34.016 on only his second lap, but then the rain flags appeared at the side of the track and spots of rain started to fall in all of the sectors. The rider’s had to be a bit more cautious around the Cheshire circuit and many could have gone a bit faster, but because of the mixed conditions they were not able to put down an outright record.
Byrne will share the front row with the JG Speedfit Kawasaki pairing of Leon Haslam and Luke Mossey. Haslam appeared not to be fazed by the drops of rain and on his final lap he did his fastest time, of a 1’34.200 to go P2.
Mossey did not improve on his 1’34.744 time as he was blighted by the bad timing of the changing weather conditions, but he will still be on the front row for the opening race tomorrow.
Anvil Hire TAG Racing’s Josh Brookes will head row two, alongside Glenn Irwin on the Be Wiser backed Panigale. Young-gun Jake Dixon had a stellar session after qualifying in sixth, with a solid 1’34.969. Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran, Smiths Racing’s Peter Hickman and Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon complete the third row.
Qualifying two
Leon Haslam - 1’34.317
Shane Byrne - 1’34.643
Glenn Irwin - 1’34.668
McAMS Yamaha’s James Ellison had a strong pace during the official test last week, but during the outing today he was nearly one second off. The Cumbrian pushed hard but was unable to make it into the final qualifying session and will start race one from P15.
Another big name that was a casualty in Q2, was Bennetts Suzuki’s Sylvain Guintoli. The former World Superbike champion never made it into the top nine times during the session, and set the fourteenth quickest time.
Joining the Frenchman in the drop zone was Bridewell, McConnell, Hopkins, Ray, Smrz and Seeley. Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot was another racer who appeared off the pace and failed to set a time fastest enough to make it into Q3, and fight alongside his team-mate for a chance to clinch pole.
Meanwhile Iddon did not do many laps and retreated to the pits, and had to nervously watch the timing-screens to see if he would get bumped down. But luckily for him he was able to remain ninth fastest.
Eliminated
Bridewell
McConnell
Hopkins
Ray
Guintoli
Ellison
Linfoot
Smrz
Seeley
Qualifying one
Leon Haslam 1’34.651
Shane Byrne 1’34.798
Luke Mossey 1’35.022
Haslam and Byrne were the only riders to lap within the 1’34’s in Q1, and after a few rotations had already done enough to secure their places in Q1. Mossey was also on the pace and put himself on the provisional front row.
McAMS Yamaha’s Michael Laverty was in the drop zone for the majority of the session, but after spending time in the pits he was back out and on a hot lap, but he crashed spectacularly at Cascades. The R1 was in pieces, but the Wales-based rider was declared OK at the trackside.
Linfoot was dangerously close to not making it into Q2, and was lucky enough to go 0.2 seconds quicker than Smiths Racing’s Lee Jackson, who was 18th fastest and the youngster was so close of progressing into the second qualifying outing.
Joining Jackson and Laverty in the elimination spots were Westmoreland, who experienced a technical problem and retired to the pits, Jessopp, Mackenzie, Dunlop, Zanotti and Anvil Hire TAG Racing’s Shaun Winfield.
Eliminated
Jackson
Westmoreland
Laverty
Jessopp
Mackenzie
Dunlop
Zanotti
Winfield
