JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey continued his consistent good form at Knockhill as he soared to pole position with a 48.297 lap, and was only 0.04s shy off lap record pace during the MCE British Superbike qualifying session.
Joining him on the front row is RAF Reserves Kawasaki’s Jake Dixon, who bagged his best qualifying result and grid start to date. The Essex lad lapped a 48.398, going only a tenth slower than Mossey this afternoon.
But Dixon did have a small crash going into the Hairpin with one minute left to the session, but he had already done enough on his ZX-10RR to remain in P2. McAMS Yamaha’s James Ellison makes up the front row after his 48.464 time. But the entire session was so close between the riders, as the top 16 were only separated by 0.6 seconds.
It was quite an eventful qualifying for the Cumbrian, as after only five minutes out on track Ellison had a small off going into the last corner, whilst leading the timesheets and retreated back to the pits. He soon made it back out to finish third fastest.
There were three riders missing from the qualifying session, and they were JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam, Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin and Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon.
The trio all crashed in separate incidences during the opening free practice session on Friday. Haslam is out with some cracked vertebrae and has to miss the weekend’s races due to concussion protocol regulations, as he was knocked out for a short time. Irwin is recuperating from dislocating his shoulder and elbow, and Iddon is having a wound on his left arm treated in hospital today.
The usual three part qualifying system was scrapped today due to a lengthy delay. There was an oil spill in the British Sidecar race, which happened before BSB qualifying. A big clean up ensued as the spillage was on the racing line and nearly went the length of the Fife track, and after another two free practice outing’s the 30 minute session got underway.
Reigning champion, Shane Byrne heads up row two with Honda’s Jason O’Halloran and Anvil Hire TAG Racing’s Josh Brookes at his side. The third row consists of former World Superbike champion, Sylvain Guintoli, Smrz and local boy, Taylor Mackenzie. Linfoot, McConnell and Hickman complete row four.
There were a few riders who were blighted by technical issues or crashes. Moto Rapido Ducati’s John Hopkins appeared to have a problem with his Panigale, but managed to get the bike restarted. But he was continued to be blighted by stop-start technical problems and only completed a total of four laps.
Ellison was not the only McAMS bike to take a tumble at the Hairpin, as his team-mate Michael Laverty crashed in the same spot with 15 minutes left on the clock. Both McAMS Yamaha’s made it out on track once again and at the flag Laverty finished fifteenth. Team WD-40’s Tommy Bridewell was also another faller and he crashed at turn 3. He is joined on the fifth row alongside Laverty and Bradley Ray, with Hopkins P18.
