Jon Kirkham stole pole position and £250 from Ben Wilson's clutches as a dramatic qualifying session for the third round of the The Henderson Yamaha R1 Cup drew to a close at Oulton Park (4 May).
Gary Mason headed the timing sheets at the end of the earlier 25-minute Free Practice session. Veteran Superbike rider, Sean Emmett had stolen into an early lead posting a successive string of laps in the 1:54s bracket. However, with the rain diminishing, and a relatively dry line forming, Mason upped the ante to post a time of 1:50.862s on the ninth of his ten laps.
Brandan Clarke, on his fourth ride in three classes this season, stole through for third, just behind Jack Kennedy. Sam Warren rounded out a provisional front row, forcing Emmett back to the middle of row two. With Coates, local rider Stu Wilson, Ben Wilson, Marty Nutt and John Ingram rounding out the top ten the scene was set for an electric early evening qualifying session.
The real work started late in the day, as the 21 riders took to the Cheshire track for the 25-minute qualifying session. Jon Kirkham, riding high after winning at Thruxton, made the early running. Ben Wilson, determined to make amends for missing out on the points last time out, nicked in by 0.052s on his third lap. Two laps later, Kirkham was up in the first two sectors to take pole back from the Boston rider by almost half a second.
With Wilson, Mason, Coates and Nutt piling on the pressure, Kirkham stepped up to the mark yet again on his sixth lap to head the chasing pack by almost a second. With seven mintes to go, Marty Nutt elevated his Yamaha into third, only to be deposed by Adrian Cotes and Gary Mason. Behind them, Brandan Clarke and Sam Warren were displaying a glimpse of future talent as the pair solidified mid-second row starts ahead of Sean Emmett on their first visit to Oulton Park.
The clock was ticking down as Ben Wilson produced his quickest lap of the day (1:40.729s) to eke out a lead of 0.024s over Kirkham. With a minute remaining on the clock, Wilson pulled into the pits only to see his provisional pole stolen at the last knocking with a scintilating last lap from Jon Kirkham.
Kikham's lap time of 1:40.531s was just six tenths outside of the Derby-based rider's own National Superstock Championship pole time, proving the calibre of this exciting new series.
Joe Henderson, the head of title sponsor Henderson Insurance will be on hand at Oulton Park on Bank Holiday Monday to experience first hand the excitement and raw telent of the series that he has been instrumental in creating this season.
Sandwiched between the two British Superbike races, live British Eurosport TV coverage will give an added dimension to the firece compeitiveness of the 14-lap race round the circuit that has a little of everything. The lights will go out on 14-laps of fast-paced Pro-Am action at 13.50 on Bank Holiday Monday, 5 May.
Jon Kirkham: "I was there or there about for the whole session but with only a few minutes left on the clock my pit crew put out a lap board with me in 5th! I was actually in 2nd and none the wiser but I thought I'd better be on the front row. It was enough to knock Ben off of pole in the final seconds."
Rob McElnea, Team Principal: "Another brilliant qualifying for the Henderson Yamaha R1 Cup. We are getting a little worried about Kirkham's dominance! I say that tongue in cheek as the series is full of variety and surprises. We have the guys that we expect running up the front but we also have our amazing Œrookies' like Sam Warren and Brendan Clarke, neither whom have raced at Oulton before. It sets itself up for another good show, Joe Henderson is here for the first time this weekend to see his Œbaby' live, we know that it will be a phenomenal show for him."
Qualifying Result:1. Kirkham
2. Wilson
3. Coates
4. Mason
5. Nutt
6. Clarke
7. Warren
8. Emmett
9. J.Kennedy
10. Ingram
British Eurosport Live TV Broadcast Window, 12.30 - 16.30 (Monday 5th May)
