With Qualifying One declared a wet session after some light rainfall overnight, the British Supersport riders took to a damp Brands Hatch GP circuit for their first qualifying session of the season.
The current R6 Champion, BJ Toal lead the early session on wet tyres onboard his Virgin Media Yamaha, posting some impressive times comparative to the weather conditions. With just 30 seconds to go he posted a pole time of 1:32.81 only to be pipped to third as the chequered flag dropped.
Qualifying Two provided a completely dry track, dictating a different running order. BJ elevated himself up to 7th place before the session was red flagged due to oil at Surtees. Although posting a slightly faster time once the session was underway his final time of 1:30.593 was only good enough for 14th place.
Team-mate, Nick Medd made some good progress during the two qualifying sessions, at his first outing at the Brands Hatch GP circuit since 2003. Medd finally posted a time of 1:33.819 qualifying in 34th place.
The debut race of the 2008 Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship kicks off at 15.30, with live TV coverage on Eurosport 2.
BJ Toal: "I was running well in the top ten before the session was red flagged, I just couldn't get back in to the flow after the flag and got caught up in loads of traffic. It's made my job harder for tomorrow but I think I can work my way back through the pack to salvage a good result tomorrow."
Rob McElnea, Team Principal: "Qualifying was frustrating, we'd been running a good pace through practice and to be honest we expected a bit more from everybody. It's a busy track out there and the riders need to find a bit more space when they need it. I'm sure we can turn it around for tomorrow and set our stall out for the race."
Qualifying 1 - Classification:1) Richards (Truimph)
2) Kennaugh (Yamaha)
3) BJ Toal (Virgin Media Yamaha)
4) Brogan (Honda)
5) Hobbs (Honda)
6) Joe Dickinson (Trucklinks Yamaha)
7) Webb (Honda)
8) Owens (Honda)
9) Beech (Yamaha)
10) Cooper (Honda)
27) Nick Medd (Virgin Media Yamaha)
Qualifying 2 - Classification:1) Kennaugh (Yamaha)
2) Richards (Triumph)
3) McGuinness (Honda)
4) Fitzpatrick (Yamaha)
5) Martin (Kawasaki)
6) Brogan (Honda)
7) Hobbs (Honda)
8) Lowry (Suzuki)
14) BJ Toal (Virgin Media Yamaha)
15) Joe Dickinson (Trucklinks Yamaha)
34) Nick Medd (Virgin Media Yamaha)
Live British Eurosport 2 Broadcast window, Sunday 6 April 13.15-15.15
