JG Speedfit Kawasaki Team Manager Jack Valentine has said he and the team will crack on with tomorrow’s first race as normal despite having to start from the back of the grid.

But he admits it will be a difficult task for the squad’s championship leader to get on the podium from so far down the field.

Series front-runner Leon Haslam, who arrived at Oulton Park this weekend fresh off a five-race win streak that started at Cadwell Park last month, suffered a mechanical problem in the very first qualifying session of the day today.

And with no lap times set in the session before he had to pull into the pits, the current points leader start from 24th place on the grid tomorrow in dead last.

But Valentine told Bikesport News that although engine woes were just part of racing sometimes, it wouldn’t change the team’s plan to be near the front in tomorrow’s races.

“We lost a cylinder so it was probably a dropped valve or something like that,” he said. “The engine was sealed from the last round so we’ll have to strip it down anyway.

“We’re meticulous with our engines, they’re all run to a certain mileage and we’re not pushing beyond the usual service schedule. It happens at the wrong time, but it also happened at the right time because it could have been in the race.

“It doesn’t change anything. We just get on with it, try and put in a quick lap in the first race and push hard through. There’s no reason Leon can’t still be on the podium from the back of the grid.

“It’ll be a tough as but if he pushes through we can get a handful of points, get higher up the grid for the second race and go from there.”

Haslam admits that while he can’t do anything about the ‘disaster’ of today’s qualifying, he’ll still be pushing and feels confident with the mixed weather forecast for tomorrow.

“We had a real big disaster there before qualifying, a mechanical problem - first one of the year - so I didn’t get any laps in qualifying,” he said.

“Starting P24 on the grid is going to make the races fun tomorrow but I’m feeling confident wet or dry. We’ve just got a bit of work to do with the disappointing stuff today, but fingers crossed we can still do the job from there.”