The Isilon MSS Discovery Kawasaki team suffered two crashes in today’s qualifying for the last round of the British Superbike series, but still show plenty of promise for raceday.
Michael Rutter was looking good for a position on the second-row of the grid before he crashed out of the qualifying session while on a hot lap. He managed to get back from the outside of Clearways with minutes to spare but was unable to register a faster time on his second machine and the 34-year-old from Kirkby Mallory was bumped back to the third-row of the grid.
James Webb once more made his mark on the MAXXIS British Supersport series by recording the 7th fastest time at his ‘home’ track and securing a second-row grid slot. James too suffered a crash – this time at Graham Hill Bend – while on his qualifying tyre. The Kent rider will be hoping that he can make it to the end of the 28-lap race around the 1.2-mile circuit tomorrow, following two DNFs at Cadwell Park and Donington.
Michael Rutter, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R (12th – 46.082s)“We were on it today… then really off it! I feel sorry for the team, as there was quite a bit of damage done to the bike, so it’s a shame really. There are plenty of positives though, as we were looking for a second-row grid slot before the crash. Hopefully tomorrow I can get away well and stick with the boys and see what we can do. We decided not to run the electronics package here, which I think is the right choice as it needed a bit more work doing to it.”
James Webb, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R (7th – 47.373s)“The crash was one of those things. I’m gutted but I can’t dwell on it: it’s onwards and upwards for tomorrow! I want to get off the line well and hang with the boys. I’ve been setting top three race pace times, so I’m pretty happy with the way things have gone despite the crash. Tomorrow I want to give the boys the result they want and shine at next weekend’s Race of the Year on the ‘big’ bike, too! I want to impress both the team and Kawasaki as much as I can, as I would love to stay with the team for next year.”
Jack Valentine, Race Team Manager“It’s been a difficult day with the crashes again, but the positives are there to be seen. James was pushing hard and we were confident we would have had a front-row start, but he lost the front at Graham Hill Bend and down he went. Just a little lack of experience and maybe he was pushing too hard. We’ve no complaints though as every time he goes out he’s there in the top six or four immediately. With Michael we’ve carried on the consistency of the chassis set-up from Donington and made some small changes to the balance of the bike. He was going for a quick time – all he had to do was exit Clearways and he would have been on the second-row but he held on a little too much front brake into Clearways and he went down. Even with this crash, he’s in a good position on the third-row so we are all optimistic for tomorrow. Despite these two crashes there’s a very upbeat mood in the team.”
Nick Morgan, Team owner“Qualifying has been a little bit of a nightmare as everything was looking very good until the crashes! Both were going very well and with Michael you could see that his ideal time was going to put him on the second row. That’s where he would have been if he had completed that lap! Michael’s riding the bike well though, so let’s see what will happen in the race. His number one machine had the front-end completely ripped off it, so that’s a little expensive at the end of the year! James was looking good for a front-row start all weekend but then the crash at Graham Hill pushed him down to the second-row. Let’s hope he gets a good start and can register his first points finish with us.”
Bennetts British Superbike Championship (Saturday qualifying)1. Gregorio Lavilla
2. Tom Sykes
3. Jonathan Rea
4. Shane Byrne
5. Ryuichi Kiyonari
12. Michael Rutter, ISILON MSS Discovery Kawasaki
MAXXIS British Supersport Championship (Saturday qualifying)1. Dennis Hobbs
2. Billy McConnell
3. John McGuinness
4. Tom Grant
5. Joe Dickinson
7: James Webb, ISILON MSS Discovery Kawasaki
