Mar-Train Yamaha's Stuart Easton will start the Motorpoint British Supersport race at Donington from pole position, after going only two one-thousandths of a second quicker than Smiths Triumph’s Glen Richards in qualifying.
Richards was leading the charge and looked a sure bet to start from the number one spot on the grid after lapping a 1’32.343. But with three minutes remaining to the session Easton went faster on his twelfth lap to clock a 1’32.341.
The battle for the final place on the front row went down to the wire, and both Appleyard Macadam Doodson rider Graeme Gowland and Oxford TAG Triumph’s Richard Cooper were both in contention for a third place start. When the chequered flag appeared it looked like Gowland would head the second row, but a last lap dash was enough to place the Geordie in third with a 1’32.542, three one-hundredths of a second faster than Cooper.
Smiths Triumph’s Billy McConnell starts from fifth on the grid. The Australian did top the timesheets after 30 minutes, but crashed at McLeans, but was unhurt. Samsung Honda’s Jason O’Halloran completes row two after a 1’33.198. Oxford TAG Triumph’s Sam Hornsey’s last lap of 1’33.536 pushed him to seventh on the grid, followed by team-mate Scott Smart and Profile Racing’s Luke Stapleford.
It was not a good Supersport qualifying session for the Gearlink Kawasaki team. Ben Wilson was in with a shot of a front row start, but crashed at Craner Curve and even though his bike was repaired before the end of the session the Boston rider could only manage one lap before the chequered flag appeared, and was unable to improve on his 1’34.246 lap. He now starts the race this afternoon from fourteenth on the grid.
Crocked team-mate Alastair Seeley is still recovering from an elbow injury, but did manage to push himself into the top ten with a 1’33.884.
