Rizla Suzuki ace Cal Crutchlow blitzed his first ever front row starting position by taking pole position for tomorrow’s 10th round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Croft in North Yorkshire – the team’s first pole since Brand Hatch in October 2005 with James Haydon.
The Superbike rookie puts the success largely down to an inspired plan for the qualification session hatched by his Chief Technician, Pete Jennings, who insisted he use one pre-qualifying and two qualifying tyres. After three superb practice sessions when he found a competitive race setting and tyre, Cal rode with confidence and ability to deservedly head the field in qualification.
Chris ‘Stalker’ Walker left his fastest lap right until the end of qualifying and will start from the front of the third row in ninth.
Superbike racing starts at 1320 at the 2.13-mile long flat but twisty Croft circuit near Darlington in North Yorkshire on Sunday, August 12th. On the same day the Superbike racing will be aired on ITV1 at 1430 with highlights of the first race and live coverage of the second. Before that race coverage of select classes will be shown on ITV4 from 1230. All the race action will be broadcast on Sky Sports Xtra from 2300.
Cal:“Before the session I had a discussion with Pete (Chief Technician) about what tyres I should use during qualification. I wasn’t sure about his idea for one pre-qualifier and two qualifiers but I agreed it with him and I have to say it worked a treat – my first ever front row is a pole position and you can’t ask for any more than that. Well done to the whole Rizla Suzuki team and Dunlop, the hard work is starting to pay off.
“Pole position puts a lot of pressure on me for the races but this is what we have been working for all year. I’m hoping I can score a podium for Rizla Suzuki, the team deserves it and that’s my target.”
Stalker:“It’s been a tough weekend as we have worked to find a comfortable set-up for me at this circuit. On the first day we went too soft on my Rizla Suzuki and this morning we put that right and made pretty big strides this afternoon.
“Ninth is OK and I’ll be going for a trade-mark good start and see what we can achieve if I can get away with the front runners. Congratulations to Cal on his pole position, it was an awesome ride.”
Simon Buckmaster, Team Manager:“Congratulations to Cal Crutchlow and the Rizla Suzuki team on achieving pole position – it is something they have worked incredibly hard for and richly deserve it. Cal has not changed a setting on his Rizla Suzuki all weekend and has concentrated on making the most of the package and has reaped the rewards of a very fast motorcycle, professional preparation and his own undoubted talent.
“Racing is different from qualifying and although there is a lot of pressure on Cal for a good result tomorrow, it will not be coming from the team. We have already had a good weekend and if he converts to strong results that’ll be the icing on the cake.
“Chris and his crew have applied themselves tirelessly to find a competitive set-up for him and at the end of the qualifying session made a break-through. If he can get a good start then he should be targeting the top six.”
Qualification Times:- Cal Crutchlow (Rizla Suzuki) 1:19.108
- Jonathan Rea (Honda) +0.083
- Leon Haslam (Ducati) +0.101
- Tom Sykes (Honda) +0.161
- Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +0.265
- Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +0.348
- Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +0.354
- Leon Camier (Honda) +0.481
- Chris Walker (Rizla Suzuki) +0.812
- Karl Harris (Honda) +1.149
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