BJ Toal will carve a lone figure for Virgin Media Yamaha o the grid for Sunday's 16-lap Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport race (5 May).
The Omagh rider completed his most successful qualifying of the season so far during the first 35-minute session. BJ made excellent progress at the Cheshire circuit during the wet session, running inside the top ten for the majority. His lap time of 1:50.160s on his penultimate circulation saw him move up to second, before a last gasp provisional pole lap from Marty Nutt nudged BJ back to third.
It was all change for the second of the two qualifying sessions. With the track dry, every rider upped their game and the lap times tumbled. BJ rose to the challenge, rising to fourth during the early stages. Tenths of a second came into play during the closing minutes, with half a second the eventual difference between a top ten start and BJ in 15th.
Struggling to overcome a bug that has plagued him for the past few days, Nick Medd made solid progress to end the first qualifying period in 25th However, the 28-year old succumbed and fell victim to the war of tenths in the second session. A fastest time of 1:45.413s, gave Nick a finishing position down in 44th, missing out on the top 40 cut off by a matter of tenths.
The lights will go out on the 16-lap Supersport race at 14.40 on Bank Holiday Monday, 5 May.
BJ Toal:
"I've made some good progress this weekend and gained a lot of confidence in the wet The bike is working really well. It's just up to me to do the team justice."
Rob McElnea, Team Principal:
"I'm a bit disappointed with the results to be honest. We're still waiting to kick-start our Supersport season, but for some reason it's just not gelling together at the moment. BJ has made really good headway and put in a really confident performance in the wet. He struggled a little in the dry as the class is so tight on times. A matter of tenths can push you outside of the top ten. Nick, despite struggling with a bug all weekend rode maturely in the wet but again struggled in the drier conditions. We'll put this weekend down to experience and look ahead to Brands next time out."
Combined Qualifying Result:
1. Martin (Kawasaki)
2. Richards (Triumph)
3. Kennaugh (Yamaha)
4. Lowry (Suzuki)
5. Young (Triumph)
6. Fitzpatrick (Yamaha)
7. Brogan (Honda)
8. Westmoreland (Honda)
9. Neate (Kawasaki)
10. Hutchinson (Yamaha)
15. BJ Toal (Virgin Media Yamaha)
British Eurosport Live TV Broadcast Window, 12.30 - 16.30 (Monday 5th May)
Channel 525 Virgin TV
