Qualifying three
Ryuichi Kiyonari – 1’29.455
James Ellison – 1’29.484
Shane Byrne – 1’29.659

Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari will start from pole for the first MCE British Superbike race of the year at Donington Park after dominating the qualifying session this afternoon. A 1’29.455 was enough to place him on the coveted number one spot on the grid, lapping a time that was two tenths under the lap record.

He was challenged by JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Ellison who also reached the low 1’29’s and missed out on pole by a miniscule 0.03 seconds. Reigning champion PBM Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne rounded off the front row with his best lap – a 1’29.659.

Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes missed out on a front row start by only one tenth of a second, and is joined on the second row by PBM Kawasaki’s Stuart Easton and Be Wiser Kawasaki’s Danny Buchan.

RAF Reserves BMW’s Peter Hickman only sat on his bike last week, but still managed to make it into Q3, and heads row three, alongside Milwaukee Yamaha’s Broc Parkes and Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot. Motorpoint British Supersport champion, Smiths BMW’s Billy McConnell completed the top ten.

Qualifying two
James Ellison – 1’29.464
Ryuichi Kiyonari – 1’29.577
Stuart Easton – 1’29.969

Ellison had a solid qualifying outing onboard his Kawasaki, and a 1’29.464 was enough to place him in the provisional pole position, and two tenths of a second under the lap record. In a repeat of Q2 Kiyo was at the sharp end for the majority of the session, with PBM rider Stuart Easton matching the pace of the three-time champion.

Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey fell at Redgate while teetering on the edge of the relegation zone in tenth with a handful of minutes remaining to Q2. But with him out of action it left the way for other riders to go even quicker, and Mossey dropped out of the top ten and failed in his bid to challenge for pole.

Joining Mossey was the lap record holder, JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Westmoreland, Howie Mainwaring, Be Wiser Kawasaki’s Chris Walker, Lee Jackson and Richard Cooper. It was not a strong session for the Tyco BMW and Bennetts Suzuki garage, as both of their riders failed to make it into Q3.

Experienced team-mates Michael Laverty and Tommy Bridewell were denied a chance to fight for the number one spot on the grid, and so were the Suzuki pairing of Christian Iddon and Josh Waters.

Eliminated

Mossey
Westmoreland
Iddon
Mainwaring
Laverty
Walker
Bridewell
Jackson
Cooper
Waters

Qualifying one
Ryuichi Kiyonari – 1’29.691
Danny Buchan – 1’30.306
Stuart Easton – 1’30.476

Kiyonari was the quickest rider in Q1, and was the only rider to reach the dizzy heights of the 1’29 barrier. Buchan and Easton completed the provisional front row with only 0.1 seconds separating the pair of Kawasaki riders.

Milwaukee Yamaha’s Broc Parkes did not have the best of starts to his first BSB qualifying session as he crashed unhurt at Redgate. He was able to get back on his bike to carry on to bag 18^th fastest.

Parkes was not the only rider to succumb to the perils of Redgate. Buildbase BMWs Lee Jackson crashed in exactly the same spot that he did in FP3, even after the tumble the youngster still managed to stay inside the top twenty times to go into Q2, by the skin of his teeth after a
1’31.196.

With ten minutes left to Q1 the red flags appeared after a crash involving Victor Cox at Goddards. The rider was unhurt, but there was significant debris on the circuit causing the session to come to a temporary halt.

Robbin Harms missed out on Q2 by nearly a tenth of a second, and was joined in the drop zone by Jessopp, Hutchinson, Backlund, Kennedy, Cox, Johnson, Winfield and Burns. One of the biggest casualties that missed out on Q2 was Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran. The Aussie’s fastest lap was only good enough to place him 23^rd on the starting grid for race one on Sunday.

Only the fastest 30 rider from the earlier free practice sessions were able to take part in Q1. Missing from qualifying this afternoon were Honda Racing’s Jenny Tinmouth, Rhalf Lo Turco, Aaron Zanotti, Team WD-40’s Taylor Mackenzie and David Johnson. Moto Rapido Ducati’s Jakub Smrz did not make it out for the final FP outing, due to technical difficulties and starts race one tomorrow from 31^st on the grid.

Eliminated

Harms
Jessopp
O’Halloran
Hutchinson
Backlund
Kennedy
Cox
Johnson
Winfield
Burns

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