Qualifying three
Shane Byrne 48.153
Stuart Easton 48.205
Josh Brookes 48.219
PBM Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne will start the opening MCE British Superbike race tomorrow from pole position, after putting down a lap which placed him firmly on the number one spot on the grid at Knockhill.
But on his fifth rotation Byrne crashed, unhurt at Clark’s. But the reigning champ had already done enough to bag pole with a 48.153, from his team-mate Stuart Easton and rival, Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes.
All the top three riders were under lap record pace at the Scottish circuit, with only two tenths separating the trio. Easton was the quickest rider in Q1, but couldn’t find that extra tenth to edge away from Byrne at his home track.
Brookes left it till his final rotation to put down his fastest lap of the day, and even though he was under Kiyonari’s lap record, it was still 0.2s off Byrne’s best time. Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran, Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari and crocked rider, JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Ellison make up the second row.
Tyco BMW’s Michael Laverty was just pipped to the post by Ellison, who is nursing two broken ribs, as the Cumbrian’s last lap dash paid off, demoting Laverty to the third row by the narrowest of margins - 0.02s to be exact.
The Tyco rider is joined on the third row by Be Wiser Kawasaki’s Danny Buchan and Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot. Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey heads up row four.
Qualifying two
Shane Byrne 48.175
Stuart Easton 48.356
Dan Linfoot 48.462
Byrne took the spoils in the second qualifying session from his Scottish team-mate, Stuart Easton. Linfoot put down a hot lap which placed his Fireblade on the provisional front row, after a 48.462.
Bennetts Suzuki’s Christian Iddon slid off his bike at the Hairpin, whilst fifteenth fastest bringing an abrupt end to his Q2 session, and was joined in the drop zone by Aussie garage buddy Josh Waters.
They were not the only riders who failed to get through to Q3, one of the biggest surprises was Tyco BMW’s Tommy Bridewell, who couldn’t push his S1000RR into the final qualifying outing to be in a position to fight for a possible pole.
RAF Reserves BMW’s Peter Hickman tried a last lap dash to put him in contention for Q3, but he had to settle for eleventh fastest, and will start from the fourth row in race one tomorrow.
JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Westmoreland, Buildbase BMW’s Lee Jackson, Cooper, Mainwaring and Rutter were also outside the top ten quickest times.
Smiths BMW’s Billy McConnell is suffering from a bout of chicken pox, and the poorly rider was another one who found himself in the drop zone, and lost out on a spot in Q3. The Australian will start the opening race on Sunday, eighteenth on the grid.
Eliminated
Hickman
Bridewell
Westmoreland
Waters
Iddon
Jackson
Cooper
McConnell
Mainwaring
Rutter
Qualifying one
Stuart Easton - 48.609
Shane Byrne - 48.684
Josh Brookes - 48.693
It was a PBM Kawasaki one-two in the opening qualifying session with Easton edging ahead of team-mate, Byrne by 0.07 seconds, with Brookes third quickest after a 48.693 rotation.
Honda Racing’s Jenny Tinmouth made it to her first qualifying session of the season, after setting a time that was quick enough in the free practice outings. But unfortunately the only lady rider in the class could not lap a time that was fast enough to pull her through to Q2.
Team WD-40’s Jack Kennedy appeared to be safe, and even though he was teetering on the edge of the elimination zone he looked like he was able to go though to the second qualifying outing. But a last lap dash by veteran racer, Michael Rutter was fast enough to put him nineteenth fastest, pushing the Dubliner out of contention
Kennedy was joined by team-mate, Scotland-born Taylor Mackenzie in the elimination spots, alongside Anvil Hire TAG Racing’s Filip Backlund, Metcher, Winfield and Zanotti. Milwaukee Yamaha’s Broc Parkes tried in vain to pull his R1 into the top twenty, but the circuit rookie couldn’t find that added pace to progress this afternoon.
One rider that was missing from proceedings was Be Wiser Kawasaki’s Chris Walker, who had a low side during the free practice session yesterday afternoon.
Eliminated
Kennedy
Backlund
Parkes
Metcher
Mackenzie
Burns
Winfield
Tinmouth
Zanotti
