Qualifying three
Josh Brookes 52.887
Jon Kirkham 53.155
Shane Byrne 53.361
Tyco Suzuki's Josh Brookes has taken the first British Superbike pole position of the season, grabbing top spot at a wet Brands Hatch this afternoon ahead of Samsung Suzuki's Jon Kirkham and Shane Byrne, who was in the gravel at Paddock Hill at the start of the session.
"Sometimes these conditions suit me and here the Suzuki worked really well and that fills me with confidence for the races if they are run in the wet," said Brookes.
"It was tough out there and the tyres were squirming around; you could really feel the bike moving. I was not the fastest for a number of laps, but then pushed on, got pole, and that was the best I could get as I was riding close to the limits."
GBmoto's Tristan Palmer completes the front row with Frenchman and former World Endurance Champion Freddy Foray in fifth, slightly less than a second in arrears. Noriyuki Haga made up for Swan Yamaha team-mate Tommy Hill's early exit (see below) taking sixth place with Tommy Bridewell and Michael Rutter completing the second row. Stuart Easton and Luca Scassa finished in ninth and tenth.
Qualifying two
Josh Brookes 53.359
Jon Kirkham 53.547
Michael Rutter 53.626
In a frentic final couple of minutes, Padgett's Honda man Ian Lowry found himself dumped into the relegation zone along with Quattro Kawasaki's Gary Mason after his team-mate Foray jumped into sixth place late on alongside fellow imports Scassa and Haga.
It was squeaky-bum time for Easton as he was left in tenth place with one a minute to go but he made it through with less than half a tenth to spare. Kirkham led for most of the session until Brookes put in a run of laps which saw him take charge towards the end and then confirm top spot with his final circuit.
ELIMINATED
Ian Lowry
Gary Mason
Alastair Seeley
Graeme Gowland
Peter Hickman
Chris Walker
Patrick Muff
Luke Quigley
Barry Burrell
Florian Marino
Qualifying one
Tristan Palmer 48.862
Michael Rutter 49.176
Jon Kirkham 49.382
In a first session of high drama, reigning British Superbike Champion Tommy Hill crashed out with 13 minutes left trying to get in a banker lap, squirted past a slower rider and hit a damp patch. He limped back for his team to try and repair the single YZF-R1 he runs but it was too badly damaged to continue while title rival Michael Laverty also missed the cut as it began to rain as soon as he started his second run of laps.
Palmer set the top time with only a few minutes left to go and was chased hard by Rutter and Laverty's team-mate Kirkham. Muff bagged fourth place on the Supersonic BMW with Lowry in fifth. None of the Ducati Panigales made it through, with Scott Smart the fastest in 23rd.
ELIMINATED
Michael Laverty
James Westmoreland
Scott Smart
Dan Linfoot
James Hillier
Alex Lowes
Aaron Zanotti
Alex Polita
Tommy Hill
John Laverty
Jenny Tinmouth
Tom Tunstall
Abdulaziz Binladin
