Qualifying three
Josh Brookes 1’26.433
Danny Buchan 1’26.892
Tommy Bridewell 1’27.010
Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes set his fastest time of the weekend so far; a 1’26.433 going two tenths under lap record pace to bag the MCE British Superbike pole position at Cadwell Park this afternoon.
The Bringelly rider was nearly half a second faster than Be Wiser Kawasaki’s Danny Buchan during the third qualifying session, but the young Essex lad did enough to cement his place on the front row going into race-one in P2 tomorrow.
But one of the biggest shocks of the afternoon was that current champion, PBM Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne will start from the fourth row after failing to make it through to Q3.
Tyco BMW’s Tommy Bridewell completed the front row with a 1’27.010, and was only 0.01 seconds off a time inside the 1’26’s. The Devizes Swearbox confidently made his way around the Lincolnshire track and in the dying moments of Q3, pushed Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey out of contention for a front row start.
The Cambridgeshire rider was only 0.004s slower than Bridewell and missed out on P3 by only the narrowest of margins. Mossey is joined on the second row by last year’s race winner, RAF Reserves BMW’s Peter Hickman and Smiths Racing’s Billy McConnell.
Buildbase BMW’s Michael Laverty heads up row three, and a consistent pace from JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Westmoreland and Riders Motorcycles BMW’s Martin Jessopp placed them eighth and ninth respectively for the opening race on Sunday. The remaining Team WD-40 bike belonging to Jack Kennedy completed the top ten.
Qualifying two
Danny Buchan 1’26.996
Josh Brookes 1’27.049
Luke Mossey 1’27.061
Buchan was the only rider to lap inside the 1’26 barrier in Q2, and in a repeat of the first qualifying session set the fastest lap, but he wasn’t as quick as his Q1 rotation.
Moto Rapido Ducati’s John Hopkins will have to start from eighteenth on the grid for race-one, after his team found themselves in a race against time to fix his Panigale after a Q1 crash at Charlies.
The American’s team tried in vain to get the Ducati back out on to the Lincolnshire track, but time was against them and the former MotoGP star will start on the sixth row tomorrow.
Buildbase BMW’s newest recruit, Richard Cooper will start on P12, just ahead of his new team-mate Lee Jackson after not lapping a time quick enough for a spot in Q3.
The BMW pair are joined by Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot and Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Howie Mainwaring. Bennetts Suzuki’s Christian Iddon did take a tumble at Park, but was able to get back out on to the bike, but he couldn’t improve to fight for a possible pole position. Be Wiser Kawasaki’s Chris Walker was another rider who did not make it to the final qualifying session.
Eliminated
Byrne
Cooper
Jackson
Linfoot
Mainwaring
Iddon
Walker
Qualifying one
Danny Buchan 1’26.701
Josh Brookes 1’26.766
Shane Byrne 1’27.559
It was Buchan who came out of the starting blocks with a bang with a 1’26.701, with Brookes and an in-form Byrne hot on his heels, to round up the provisional front row.
Moto Rapido Ducati’s John Hopkins crashed unhurt at Charlies with twelve minutes remaining, but his time was fortunately good enough for him to cling on to eighteenth fastest and a place in Q2.
Anvil Hire TAG Racing’s Filip Backlund experienced a technical problem at Hall Bend and came to an abrupt stop, and was unable to get back out on to his Kawasaki which meant he dropped back down the pecking order and into the elimination spots.
The rider was not the only one who failed to set a time quick enough to progress into the second qualifying outing; Waters Metcher, Zanotti, Winfield, Ingram, Tinmouth and Lo Turco will all start near the back of the grid.
Byrne was languishing in the drop zone, but with three minutes remaining pulled his ZX-10R up to third. Kiyonari was another big name casualty in Q1. The triple champ was in the drop zone for the majority of the session, but on his final lap set a 1’28.539 to go into twentieth, but it was still not good enough.
Eliminated
Waters
Kiyonari
Backlund
Metcher
Zanotti
Winfield
Ingram
Tinmouth
Lo Turco
