Shane Byrne left it late to secure his second successive pole start in this year’s Bennetts British Superbike Championship and the former title winner admitted that a late gamble of tyre choice had been crucial to him bettering the time of his rival Leon Haslam.
Rain earlier in the afternoon, coupled with a strong wind, combined to make conditions difficult at Thruxton and with less than four minutes remaining it seemed that Haslam, with a lap of 1m 19.872secs, had done enough to put his HM Plant Honda on top of the leaderboard.
Byrne, encouraged by his team took up the challenge and won the Swan Comb 50 Roll for Pole: “It was their decision that we should give it a go, and we used a ‘soft’ wet tyre – it was a last minute gamble and we put it all on the line. It was quite tricky out there and I am both really surprised and delighted to take pole.
“I had pole for Brands Hatch but didn’t have the chance to race there because of the snow so it will be good to race here,” added the 31 year old who took a winning double at this Hampshire circuit during his 2003 title winning term. “A repeat of that would be really good.”
He powered in a time of 1m 19.704secs, an average speed of 106.41mph, to underline his credentials for a victory bid.
Michael Rutter, also riding a Ducati 1098R, in NorthWest 200 colours, claimed his first front row start in two years with a lap of 1m 19.949secs: “It’s good for us, a new team with a new bike and a lot of learning to do. It is a dream to be back on the front row after so long and I am really happy.”
The front row was completed by Cal Crutchlow aboard the second HM Plant Honda with Karl Harris, riding the lone Rob Mac Racing Yamaha, edged back into a fifth place, a third of a second down. Leon Camier, Airwaves Ducati; Adam Jenkinson aboard the SMT Honda and Relentless Suzuki’s Michael Laverty completed the second row.
The Ulsterman’s brother John, ran ninth best, and the fastest of the independent riders, battling for the Daily Star Cup. He put in a lap of 1m 21.205secs to be ahead of AIM Yamaha rider Sean Emmett and the Rizla Suzuki duo of Atsushi Watanabe and Tom Sykes, who escaped with a bruising after high-siding off midway through the session.
Chris Burns, riding the STP MV Agusta, running five places and six tenths of a second down on John Laverty, was the second best Cup runner, with Tom Tunstall third up on the Hardinge/Ice Valley Honda.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Thruxton, Top Ten Qualifiers:
1. S Byrne - Airwaves Ducati 1m 19.704s
2. L Haslam - HM Plant Honda +0.168
3. M Rutter - NorthWest 200 Ducati +0.245
4. C Crutchlow - HM Plant Honda +0.322
5. K Harris - Rob Mac Yamaha +0.668
6. L Camier - Airwaves Ducati +0.787
7. A Jenkinson - SMT Honda +1.138
8. M Laverty - Relentless Suzuki +1.154
9. J Laverty - BuildbaseNW200 Ducati +1.501
10. S Emmett - AIM Yamaha +1.652
Bennetts British Superbikes on track:
Sunday 20th April:
10.50-11.05: Warm-up practice
13.00: Race one 20 laps
15.30: Race two 20 laps
Bennetts British Superbike Championship on TV:
Sun 20th April:
BritishEurosport 2(Sky411, Virgin Media 525)
12.30 - 16.30: LIVE raceday
19.30 - 21.00: Highlights
Wed 23rd April - Channel 4:
01.10 - 02.00: Highlights
