Britain's Craig Jones secured a strong fourth place on the front row of the grid during first qualification for the eighth round of the World Supersport Championship at Brno in the Czech Republic today.

The challenging 5.403Km circuit has been completely resurfaced since last year and the team is literally getting to grips with the new tarmac. Lap times have improved but the new surface is very abrasive making tyre choice more difficult.

Jones tested tyres and worked on his race set-up before putting in a series of fast laps and taking his front row position. Yamaha’s Broc Parkes took provisional pole position.

Miguel Praia, Jones’ Parkalgar Honda team-mate, had a tough qualifying with a crash early in the session losing him valuable track time. Praia was not hurt and his Parkalgar Honda sustained minimal damage in the fall at turn five and he knows there is a lot more to come.

Craig Jones: “I got a good run this morning and I have improved my time a lot from there. We struggled a little bit with set-up but once we got that sorted I was happy. Brno is a good track but the resurfacing has made it a lot faster and it is really taking its toll on the tyres. I’m happy with my provisional front row start and maybe tomorrow I’ll be able to grab pole.”

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