Smiths of Gloucester Triumph’s Glen Richards stole the Motorpoint British Supersport pole position with less than five minutes remaining, in a session that saw Championship leader Jack Kennedy crash out in similar style to that at Assen, and the Dubliner is a serious doubt for this afternoon’s Sprint Race.
Mar-Train Yamaha’s Kennedy tucked the front at Farm corner in excess of 120mph, leaving his R6 Yamaha looking fairly second-hand. Team Manager Tim Martin told bikesportnews.com after the crash that he is unlikely to be on the grid for this afternoon’s race and could even miss tomorrow’s race, which could see a deja vu from last year, when Ben Wilson failed to finish in both races here at Silverstone, handing the championship advantage over to Alastair Seeley.
Christian Iddon will line up alongside Richards on the front row of the grid after his early flying lap held off the pressure of fellow Triumph rider’s Billy McConnell and Richard Cooper.
Kennedy is due to head the second row, if he can make it out, ahead of Luke Jones and Seton Yamaha’s Graeme Gowland on his return to the middleweight series. Newly crowned Cup Champion Glenn Irwin will round out the second row, just over a second off of Richard’s pole lap.
Appleyard Macadam’s Nikki Coates took his best qualifying of the year in ninth, with Ben Wilson 0.153 seconds behind the Irishman in tenth. Mar-Train Yamaha’s Taylor Mackenzie took eleventh ahead of Finnish rider Pauli Pekkanen.
