Virgin Media Yamaha Supersport rider, Billy McConnell claimed his second pole position of the British Supersport season at a wet Mondello Park near Dublin in Ireland today (16 June). McConnell topped the time sheets early into the first qualifying session only momentarily slipping back to fifth. However, Billy fought back with a lap time two seconds faster than his competitors to put his Yamaha YZF-R6 back in provisional pole position. Billy continued to improve on his blisteringly fast pace to leave him as the only rider in the 1:50's and over a second faster than the rest of the field.
Tom Grant made the most of a drying circuit with a massive leap from 16th to a stunning 2nd place in the final minute. With the weather conditions expected to take a turn for the worse during the afternoon, both Tom and Billy had done enough and decided to sit out the second qualifying session.
The wet conditions at Mondello provided a good proving ground for Pirelli and the Virgin Media Yamaha Supersport bikes. Not only was it the team's first taste of Pirelli wets but it was the first time that Tom Grant had ridden on wets in his career. The combination proved successful with the fastest lap times from the morning more than good enough to occupy the first two slots on Sunday's grid.
Tommy Hill suffered the curse of another red flag incident whilst on his ‘hot lap' in the final stages of his qualifying campaign. With only two minutes left on the clock as the session recommenced Tommy was left in tenth place onboard his Virgin Media Optoma Loans Yamaha Superbike.
Team-mate Hudson Kennaugh struggled to get back to his fast pace of the morning's final Free Practice that had seen him sixth. Hudson ended up over a second off his morning pace with the changing track conditions, qualifying down in 19th place.
Billy McConnell:
"I'm really happy, we've been there or there about all weekend. The bike and the tyres were working great and I managed to knock a fair bit of time off my pole as the session concluded. I need to make sure that I convert this one into a podium in the race tomorrow."
Rob McElnea, Team Principal:"All of the guys have done well to get through two days of terrible track conditions with only a few minor crashes amongst them. Tommy's qualifying does not reflect his weekend so far. I feel sure that he could have been at least a row further up if the session had not been stopped. We definitely want to see our Supersport guys on the podium. Lets hope another great Saturday turns in to the great Sunday that I feel we deserve."
Superbike Qualifying:
1) Rea (Honda) 1:46.776,
2) Kiyonari (Honda) 1:46.867,
3) Haslam (Ducati) 1:48.534,
4) Harris (Honda) 1:48.883,
5) Crutchlow (Suzuki) 1:49.021,
10) Tommy Hill (Virgin Media Optoma Loans Yamaha) 1:50.274,
19) Hudson Kennaugh (Virgin Media Optoma Loans Yamaha) 1:53.178
Supersport Qualifying:1) Billy McConnell (Virgin Media Yamaha) 1:50.450,
2) Tom Grant (Virgin Media Yamaha) 1:51.506,
3) Hobbs (Honda) 1:51.576,
4) Easton (Kawasaki) 1:51.703,
5) O'Connor (Honda) 1:52.310
Related News
