Qualifying three

Shane Byrne 1’25.672

Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne will start his home MCE British Superbike race from pole position after clocking the fastest time in Q3 at Brands Hatch with a 1’25.672.

Byrne will be joined by Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Brookes, who failed to clinch the first spot on the grid even after he dominated the first two qualifying sessions. He was two tenths of a second behind leader Byrne but will start from the front row.

Sandwiched between the two riders is Samsung Honda’s Alex Lowes, who will not be alone on the front row as his team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari also set a fast time of 1’25.956 to force himself on the front. The former triple champ was languishing between the second and third rows but on his final lap he pushed his way to join his younger team-mate.

Milwaukee Yamaha rider James Ellison starts off the second row and was not able to finish the session in the top three, like he did in Q2. Buildbase BMW’s James Westmoreland has had a solid weekend, and lapped a 1’26.042 to place him sixth fastest. Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Chris Walker failed to replicate his provisional front row start that he set a few minutes before, and makes up the second row alongside Tyco Suzuki’s PJ Jacobsen.

GBmoto’s Dan Linfoot and Bathams Honda rider Michael Rutter will start the first race on Sunday from ninth and tenth place respectively, and the pair were never in contention of a first or second row start.

Qualifying two

Josh Brookes 1’26.036

Chris Walker 1’26.313

Brookes once again found the good form from his previous session to go top in Q2 with his 1’26.366 lap. He only went round the GP circuit three times, but that was enough for the Aussie to progress into the final qualifying session.

Ellison was only one tenth of a second behind the Suzuki, followed by Walker, who gave the young riders a run for their money and clocked the third fastest time with a 1’26.313 to clinch a provisional front row. Lowes and Byrne rounded off the top five quickest times.

Veteran racer Rutter avoided being eliminated by only sixth one thousandths of a second, as he set the tenth quickest time in Q2. Padgett’s Honda rider Jakub Smrz was not so lucky and succumbed to the drop zone along with PR Racing’s Karl Harris and Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Keith Farmer. MH Kawasaki’s Howie Mainwaring Smart had smoke coming from his machine which ended his session prematurely meaning he was also eliminated with GBmoto’s Peter Hickman, Lee Costello, Aaron Zanotti and Buildbase BMW’s Jon Kirkham, who appeared to have suffered a technical problem as he never made it out of the pits.

ELIMINATED

Jakub Smrz

Karl Harris

Keith Farmer

Howie Mainwaring Smart

Peter Hickman

Lee Costello

Aaron Zanotti

Jon Kirkham

Qualifying one

Josh Brookes 1’26.366

Shane Byrne 1’26.420

Brookes stormed to the top of the timesheets on his tenth lap with a 1’26.366 time that safely secured his place into Q2. Lowes looked like he would bag the provisional pole spot after he kept setting continually fast lap times. His 1’26.414 was enough to place the Lincolnshire lad at the top, but then the Aussie ended the session one tenth of a second faster than the rest of the pack .

Byrne did lead with his first lap, but could not find the pace to keep up with the Honda and Suzuki, leaving him with the third fastest time, but a provisional front row start.

Rapido Sport Matteo Baiocco, Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Waters and Riders BMW’s Martin Jessopp were all eliminated, alongside Quattro Plant’s Danny Buchan, Two Wheel Racing’s Jenny Tinmouth and MH Kawasaki’s Michael Howarth.

Harris, Zanotti and Costello were all hovering around the drop zone, but were quick enough to make it into Q2.

ELIMINATED

Matteo Baiocco

Josh Waters

Martin Jessopp

Danny Buchan

Jenny Tinmouth

Michael Howarth

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