Shane Bryne takes his first Pole at Oulton Park with Josh Brookes fourth
O’Halloran seventh, with McConnell taking 11th in Q2 – Supersport saw Currie sixth in Race 1
Superbike
Shane Byrne took his first Pole position of the 2017 BSB season at Oulton Park on the Be Wiser Ducati, holding off Leon Haslam by a narrow margin. Aussie Josh Brookes was fourth, 0.972 seconds off Bryne.
The nine riders headed out for the final session but Haslam and Byrne were both pushing with their first flying lap with the treat of rain looming. A few spots of rain at the start of the session saw Haslam unfazed and the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider instantly lapped with a best time of 1m:34.679s, but further down the track Byrne was focused on his lap and he edged ahead.
Byrne set his best lap of the weekend to edge Haslam, but the ‘Pocket Rocket’ gave it another go – improving his time but it wasn’t enough to push his Be Wiser Ducati rival from the top spot.
Shane Bryne
“I feel pretty happy, we have worked and chipped away with the bike. It is good at a certain lap time and then we wanted to push on a little more and that then changes the feel. We have gone through qualifying and it has got better and better because when you override the Ducati it punishes you. It started to spit with rain as I started my lap and I thought ‘oh no, now what do I do!’ I committed and there were spots of rain on my visor. Your heart says go but then your head says no not yet just in case. Either way it was a decent lap and it was good enough for pole position. I feel at the end we could have pushed and tried again but I knew I had a gap so the front row was enough.”
Luke Mossey completes the front row; he was left slightly disappointed after making a mistake on his fastest lap. It was just 0.199s that cost Josh Brookes a front row start for the Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha team; the Australian the only Yamaha rider to feature inside the top ten with the McAMS Yamaha duo of James Ellison in 15th and Michael Laverty crashing out unhurt in Q1.
Glenn Irwin qualified fifth fastest ahead of Jake Dixon who had his best qualifying of the season for the RAF Reserves Kawasaki team in sixth place.
Glenn Irwin
“I’m pleased with fifth and the boys in the team have worked hard all weekend so it’s the least they deserve. Despite missing the test last week, we’ve been on the pace right from the off and Glenn IrwinI’ve been able to give the team good feedback so that each time I’ve gone out on track, the bike’s been better. They have understood exactly what I’ve needed with the bike and although Q1 was a bit frustrating, the other two sessions went really well. It’s my best ever qualifying position in the dry and the SC0 tyre is working really well so I’m confident we have a good race pace to get two good results.”
Jason O’Halloran was the leading Honda Racing rider in seventh with Peter Hickman and Christian Iddon completing the top nine.
Billy McConnell (Quattro Plant F5-3 Racing Kawasaki) will start the race from 11th on the grid.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Qualifying
- Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) 1:34.016s
- Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.184s
- Luke Mossey (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.728s
- Josh Brookes (Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha) +0.927s
- Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.939s
- Jake Dixon (RAF Reserves Kawasaki) +0.953s
- Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing) +0.978s
- Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +0.997s
- Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +1.175s
…11. Billy McConnell (Quattro Plant F5-3 Racing Kawasaki) 1:35.070s (Q2)
Supersport
Dickies British Supersport Championship Oulton Park, Supersport R1
- Tarran MACKENZIE – McAMS Yamaha
- Andrew IRWIN – Gearlink Kawasaki
- David ALLINGHAM – EHA Racing
- Keith FARMER – Team Appleyard Macadam Racing
- Jack KENNEDY – GAC Logistics MV Agusta
- Benjamin CURRIE – Gearlink Kawasaki
- Joe FRANCIS – Halsall Racing
- Ross TWYMAN – EHA Racing
- Jamie PERRIN – Slidecodor – GO Racing Developments
- Keenan ARMSTRONG – Moto-Breakers Racing
Dickies British Supersport Championship standings after Oulton Park, R1
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 125
- David Allingham (EHA Racing Yamaha) 76
- Andrew Irwin (Gearlink Kawasaki) 70
- Keith Farmer (Team Appleyard Macadam Racing Yamaha) 70
- Benjamin Currie (Gearlink Kawasaki) 68
Superstock 1000
Bennetts Suzuki’s Richard Cooper has claimed pole position at Oulton Park for the Pirelli Superstock 1000 race, ahead of Adam Jenkinson and Danny Buchan. It was Buchan who led early on, however his bid for pole was thwarted when he crashed out half way through the session.
Despite his crash, he held on to top spot for much of the session before Cooper was able to set a number of fastest laps to claim his first pole position of the season. James Rispoli heads the second row, where he is joined by Rogers and Hedger.
Aussie Brayden Elliot (PacedayZ Trackdays) will start from 22nd on the grid.
Richard Cooper
“Today’s been decent enough. We’ve made some good changes to the bike, and changes we’ve not made before that have really helped. We’ve improved the bike on corner entry massively, which was an area we have been working on. We’ve got a lot more support on the brakes and it’s a lot easier to make an apex. And hopefully the work we’ve done – and my feedback – can help the guys in Superbike. But I’m happy to be on pole. Even though I’m pole by 0.4 of a second, tomorrow will still be a challenge. But our bike should comfortably do 18 laps as we’ve massively improved our speed and our consistency. Today has been good, but I’ll be happier when the job is done.”
MCE BSB Championship, Oulton Park, SSTK1000 Qualifying
- Richard COOPER – Bennetts Suzuki 1:37.161
- Adam JENKINSON – Northern Escalator Installations +0.417
- Danny BUCHAN – Morello Racing Kawasaki+0.479
- James RISPOLI – Quattro Plant FS-3 Racing Kawasaki +0.558
- Fraser ROGERS – Morello Racing Kawasaki +0.722
- Luke HEDGER – EHA Racing Aprilia UK +0.726
- Michael RUTTER – Bathams SMT +0.868
- Chrissy ROUSE – Mission Racing +0.938
- Ashley BEECH – Jones Dorling Racing +0.981
- Ian HUTCHINSON – Tyco BMW Motorrad +1.231
…22. Brayden ELLIOTT – PacedayZ Trackdays +2.294
Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup
Joe Collier took victory in a shortened opening Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup race at Oulton Park, finishing 1.1s ahead of Rob Guiver. With a red flag bringing the first attempt to a stop after three laps, the race became a five lap sprint.
Just as he did in the opening encounter it was Collier who grabbed the holeshot and steadily pulled away from the pursuing pack to claim his fourth win of the season.
Championship leader Guiver claimed second place with Sean Neary taking his first podium of the season in third. Aussie Levi Day took a clean fifth with a significant gap to the next rider in sixth place.
Levi Day
“I was running fourth today before a red flag stopped play. On the restart it didn’t quite come together but I took another fifth place finish. This fifth compared to fifth at Brands’, I’m much happier with, as our pace is with the front guys and things are coming together. Not too far away. “
Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup Race 1 Results
- Joe COLLIER – Boast Plumbing
- Rob GUIVER – Ducati Romford / Hyside Racing
- Sean NEARY – Zoek Racing Team
- Phil ATKINSON – Highsparks Motorsport
- Levi DAY – Boast Plumbing
- David FERNS – Team DFR
- Ben GRINDROD – Hollins Strategic Land
- Craig CURRIE – Zoek Racing Team
- Nicky WILSON – Nicky Wilson Racing
- Daniel SHAW – FML Motorsport
HEL Performance British Motostar
Having set the pace yesterday City Lifting RS Racing’s Tom Booth-Amos has taken pole position for the Hel Performance British Motostar race.
Leading from early on, Booth-Amos continued to set fastest laps throughout the session, setting his fastest on his final circulation. Joining him on the front row of the grid is Eugene McManus in second and Taz Taylor third.
HEL Performance British Motostar Qualifying, Oulton Park
- Tom BOOTH-AMOS – City Lifting RS Racing 1:44.690
- Eugene McMANUS – RS Racing / E15 Racing +0.442
- Taz TAYLOR – GA Competition +0.548
- Jake ARCHER – City Lifting / RS Racing +1.224
- Elliot LODGE – Spike Racing / SP125 +1.329
- Edmund BEST – SymCirrus Motorsport +2.609
- Edward RENDELL – Banks Racing +2.732
- Liam DELVES – Stauff Connect Academy / Dr-Moto +2.915
- Mike BROUWERS – TEC7-Joma / Brouwersracingteam +2.922
- Lee HINDLE – JH Motorsport +3.163
