Smiths Triumph's Billy McConnell snatched the first pole position of the Motorpoint British Supersport season this afternoon at Brands Hatch, getting the better of team-mate Glen Richards in the final moments of the qualifying session.
Fellow Adelaide man, Richards, was the early pace setter in the single qualifying session before Mar-Train Yamaha's Stuart Easton took provisional pole position with under five minutes remaining. The Scotsman was unable to hold on to pole position though, with McConnell posting the quickest time of 46.750 seconds.
Reigning Champion, Richards, looked to challenge that time after posting quickest sectors through both one and two, but he encountered traffic through the last corner of Clearways, meaning he was unable to take pole position but move ahead of Easton to take second on the grid. Gearlink Kawasaki new-boy Alastair Seeley rounds out the front-row of the grid, just over a quarter of a second behind pole.
Gearlink Kawasaki's Ben Wilson, was able to overcome an early electrical problem, which saw him miss the first ten minutes of the session, to head to second row of the grid ahead of the Yamaha duo of Glenn Irwin and Graeme Gowland. Samsung Honda's Jason O'Halloran will line up eighth on the grid for this afternoon's sprint race.
Profile Triumph duo of Luke Mossey, who suffered a big high-side at Graham Hill Bend with minutes remaining in the session, and Luke Stapleford will line up tenth and eleventh, in between the Appleyard Macadam Yamaha twosome of Deane Brown and the best of the cup competitors, Bjorn Estment.
