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Brands BSB: Brookes takes pole in wet crash-fest

Qualifying one

Josh Brookes 1’37.078

Shane Byrne 1’37.525

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Alex Lowes 1’37.745

Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Brookes will start from pole for the first MCE British Superbike race at Brands Hatch this afternoon. It is the Aussie rider’s first pole of the year and he was able to go five-tenths of a second quicker than title challenger, Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne with his best lap of 1’37.078.

Samsung Honda’s Alex Lowes completes the front row after a solid session in mix conditions. The rain did not fall throughout the whole final qualifying outing, which made conditions slightly easier for the riders, compared to the ‘crash-fest’ that occurred in Q1.

But there will be a distinctively Halsall Racing-esque second row, headed up by Josh Waters. His team-mate Lee Costello had an impressive qualifying and will start from sixth on the grid, with PR Racing’s Karl Harris sandwiched between them.

GBmoto’s Dan Linfoot and Buildbase BMW’s James Westmoreland were setting similar also times and make up row three, with Tyco Suzuki’s PJ Jacobsen. Rapido Sport Racing’s Matteo Baiocco rounded off the top ten after his best lap of 1’53.532.

Qualifying two

Josh Brookes 1’38.509

Lee Costello 1’38.815

Shane Byrne 1’38.832

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Brookes left it till his final lap to set the quickest time in the second qualifying outing at Brands Hatch, followed by Costello, who put in another stellar performance, just three-tenths of a second slower than the Aussie.

Championship leader Byrne clocked the third fastest time with a 1’38.832. he was leading the way, but that was until Brookes put in a super fast time. The session did start off in the rain, but towards the end  of Q2 the rain stopped, leaving a very damp track.

It was not a good outing for the Milwaukee Yamaha team, as both riders failed to progress through into Q1. Title contender James Ellison experienced some issues with his bike and retired to his garage while in fifteenth with a minute to go, and ended the session in sixteenth. Bridewell attempted to better his fourteenth place but failed, prematurely ending his qualifying campaign.

The two Milwaukee bikes were joined in the elimination spots by Padgett’s Jakub Smrz, Bathams Honda Michael Rutter, Buildbase BMW's Jon Kirkham, Walker, Hickman and Foray.

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ELIMINATED

Jakub Smrz

Michael Rutter

Jon Kirkham

Tommy Bridewell

Chris Walker

James Ellison

Peter Hickman

Freddy Foray

Qualifying one

Alex Lowes 1’40.124

Josh Brookes 1’40.466

Lee Costello 1’40.724

Lowes stormed to the top of the timing screens in a wet opening free practice, followed by Brookes who only needed to compete a handful of laps to go second quickest. But it was a brave performance by Costello who had his best qualifying result to date and placed his bike on a provisional front row for the first time.

The slippery weather conditions meant that may riders succumbed to the gravel. The first to fall was former World Superbike stalwart Noriyuki Haga. He crashed unhurt at Graham Hill Bend. But his lap time was not enough to go through to Q2 as he fell down the timesheets into 22nd place.

Tsingtao WKbikes rider Howie Mainwaring Smart was languishing near the drop zone but a crash at the Cooper Straight ended all hope of progressing through this afternoon. Motodex Spearmint Rhino’s David Linortner also fell at the Cooper Straight, with Two Wheel Racing’s Jenny Tinmouth falling just as the chequered flag came out at Graham Hill Bend.

All three riders were eliminated, along with Bathams Honda Danny De Boar, STEL Suzuki, Aaron Zanotti, Riders BMW’s Martin Jessopp, Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Barry Burrell and Jamie Poole.

Samsung Honda stand-in rider Freddy Foray and GBmoto’s Peter Hickman made it through to Q2 by the skin of their teeth. Kirkham was also fortunate not to fall into the drop zone, after he crashed at Clark Curve but had already done enough to set the 17th quickest time.

ELIMINATED

Danny De Boar

Howie Mainwaring Smart

Aaron Zanotti

Noriyuki Haga

Martin Jessopp

Barry Burrell

Jenny Tinmouth

David Linorter

Jaime Poole

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