Josh Owens bagged his first ever Dickies British Supersport pole position as he deposed James Westmoreland in the closing moments of qualifying this morning.

The former British 125GP champion’s fastest lap time also gave a GP2 bike its first outright pole since the series’ induction at the beginning of this season.

Brands Hatch winner Kyle Ryde opened the action with a quick lap that put his Kalex at the top of the order ahead of team-mate Owens.

But it wasn’t long before Integro Yamaha’s Kennedy, who’s still riding with wrist injuries, shot to the front ahead of title rival Ben Currie.

A quiet 10 minutes followed as most of the top runners tucked into the pits, but with six minutes remaining series returnee Alastair Seeley put the Tsingtao Racing MV Agusta into second, just 0.009s off Kennedy’s provisional pole time.

Moments later, however, Gearlink Kawasaki’s Westmoreland shot to the top with a 1’16.893 as Owens slotted into second, 0.009s adrift, pushing Kennedy down to third.

But Westy’s lead was short-lived and with less than 60s left, RS Racing’s Owens stormed to the front - a mere 0.015s quicker than the Yorkshireman - to snatch pole position.

Ryde completed the front row in third beside Westmoreland, while Kennedy, Seeley and Slidecodor / Go Racing Developments’ Jamie Perrin will start from row two.

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