Silverstone BSB: Haslam bags pole position

Qualifying three

Leon Haslam 2’05.501
Jason O’Halloran 2’05.562
Christian Iddon 2’05.727

JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam will start the opening MCE British Superbike race of the season on pole position after a putting down the fastest lap of the weekend so far at Silverstone, a 2’05.501.

The former World Superbike star is joined on the front row by returning Honda Racing rider, Jason O’Halloran who was only 0.06s slower than Haslam. The Australian has been out of action since the Thruxton round last year and a 2’05.562 was good enough to go P2.

Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon completed the front row after being two twenths off the pace of pole-setter Haslam, making it a Kawasaki, Honda and BMW top three. Be Wiser Ducati’s Shane Byrne heads up row two, alongside the 2015 Riders Cup champ, Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey.

Iddon’s Tyco BMW team-mate Michael Laverty left his best lap until last and was able to push his S1000RR from seventh to sixth on the sheets. ePayMe Yamaha’s John Hopkins could not better his 2’06.130 rotation and starts the third row, alongside BSB rookie James Rispoli, who impressed on his first time out on the Anvil Hire TAG backed Yamaha.

Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot failed to go out in the final qualifying session because there appeared to be a technical problem with his Fireblade, meaning he will start race one from the third row.

Qualifying two

Luke Mossey 2’05.786
Leon Haslam 2’05.928
Shane Byrne 2’05.975

At the end of Q2 it was the Kawasaki of Mossey that landed the provisional pole spot with a 2’05.786. Haslam left it until his final rotation to land his quickest lap to go from fourth to second just as the flag appeared on the circuit. Byrne was leading the charge only to go back down to third on the timing-screens whilst he was residing in his garage.

With a handful of laps remaining rain started to fall in sectors four and five and most of the riders retreated go the pits. When the chequered flag appeared the Bennetts Suzuki duo of Ryuichi Kiyonari and Tommy Bridewell failed to make into the final qualifying session and missed out on the opportunity to challenge for pole position, with Kiyonari missing out on a spot by 0.03s.

They were not the only team that failed to progress into Q3, the Buildbase BMW pairing of Lee Jackson and Richard Cooper ended the second session in the drop zone, bring an early end to their track activities for the day.

Smiths BMW’s Jakub Smrz, JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Peter Hickman, Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin and RAF BMW’s Alastair Seeley also missed out on a chance to challenge for a front row start.

Eliminated

Kiyonari
Jackson
Bridewell
Smrz
Cooper
Hickman
Irwin
Seeley

Qualifying one

Shane Byrne 2’06.741
Luke Mossey 2’06.880
Michael Laverty 2’07.005

One of the biggest casualties of the opening qualifying session was JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Ellison, who fell at Farm. He was fortunately uninjured but his spill on the gravel means that he will start the first race right at the back of the grid on Sunday.

Meanwhile Byrne did not encounter any issues out on track and topped Q3 with a 2’06.741. Mossey was leading the charge, but the multiple champ was not giving up, and on his last lap put down his fastest rotation and went P1. Laverty completed the top three.

Ellison was not only the high-profile rider not to get into Q2, ePayMe Yamaha’s Stuart Easton could not make it into the top eighteen fastest times, and remained in the elimination zone throughout the opening session.

The Scottish rider was joined in the drop zone by Honda Racing’s Jenny Tinmouth, Smiths BMW’s Howie Mainwaring, and WD-40 Kawasaki’s Jack Kennedy.

Eliminated

McConnell
Jessopp
Kennedy
Mainwaring
Hornsey
Winfield
Tinmouth
Dunlop
Zanotti
Easton
Iannuzzo
Elliso