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Brands BSB: Bridewell bags pole in damp conditions as Haslam crashes

Qualifying three

Tommy Bridewell - 1’38.165
Christian Iddon - 1’38.882
Luke Mossey - 1’39.181

JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam had to jump off his ZX-10R during the MCE British Superbike qualifying session at Brands Hatch when his right handlebar snapped at Stirlings in qualifying two and he will now start from 17th on the grid while title rival Shane Byrne is on the second row.

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It was a dramatic few moments for the championship contender, but he managed get clear of the bike and walked away from the crash. Meanwhile at the start of the final qualifying session rain started to fall out on the GP track and many riders opted for intermediate and wet compounds.

Haslam’s title rival, Be Wiser Ducati’s Byrne was cautious of the damp condtiions and opted for the dry front and rear Pirellis. At the flag he went P5 and is sandwiched between fellow Showdown rider, Jason O’Halloran and Richard Cooper on the second row. But Haslam will have work to do from 17h on the grid for race one.

Bennetts Suzuki’s Tommy Bridewell snatched pole with a 1’28.165, using an intermediate rear. The Devizes man lines up alongside Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon and Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey. The new dad opted for full wets to both the front and back of his ZX-10R.

Qualifying two

Broc Parkes - 1’24.769
John Hopkins - 1’25.140
Shane Byrne - 1’25.162

From out of nowhere Broc Parkes soared to the top of the timesheets and set the fastest ever lap around the GP track with an impressive 1’24.769, going one tenth under the existing outright lap record.

His team-mate, Hopkins was also on the pace and went P2 with title challenger, Byrne clocking a time that placed him third fastest in Q2. But with 30 seconds remaining rain started to fall in sectors 1 and 3 out on the Kent track, and the rider’s retreated to the pits.

Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot was just pipped to the post by his team-mate Jason O’Halloran with the Northerner failing to make it out of the elimination spots, with the Australian going 0.01 seconds quicker than his garage buddy. Joining Linfoot and Haslam in the drop zone were Smrz, Seeley, Jackson, Hickman, McConnell and Jessopp.

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Eliminated

Linfoot
Hickman
Smrz

Irwin
Seeley

Jackson

McConnell

Haslam
Jessopp

Qualifying one

Shane Byrne - 1’25.104
Dan Linfoot - 1’25.375
Leon Haslam - 1’25.458

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It was Byrne who drew first blood in the opening qualifying session, with Linfoot and Haslam completing the provisional front row. Byrne lapped a 1’25.104 going two tenths quicker than the Fireblade.

The biggest causality of Q1 was Tyco BMW’s Michael Laverty. The Riders Cup challenger tried hard to make it out of the drop zone but even his final fast lap he was unable to progress up the timesheets and remained nineteenth.

All the Northern Irishman needed was an extra 0.05 seconds to better the lap set by Martin Jessopp, but to no avail. The S1000RR racer was not the only one who did not make it into Q2, joining him was three-time champ, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Iannuzzo, and Backlund.

It was not the best of sessions for the Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha team, as all three of their rider’s failed to set a time quick enough to be in with a shot of fighting for pole. Moto Rapido Ducati’s newest rider, Alex Polita was 20th overall.

The session was red flagged after a huge crash from Honda Racing’s Jenny Tinmouth with ten minutes remaining at Dingle Dell. She managed to walk away from the incident but was taken to the medical centre for further assessment.

Eliminated

Laverty
Polita
Kiyonari

Iannuzzo
Backlund

Mainwaring
Rispoli

Hook
Tinmouth

Zanotti
Wainwright

Winfield

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