Shane Byrne takes Brands pole by a whisker over Josh Brookes
Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne snatched the pole position by just 0.001s from fierce title rival Josh Brookes in an incredibly close Datatag Extreme qualifying session on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit ahead of the sixth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship.
Milwaukee Yamaha’s Brookes had been instantly fast out of the blocks, firing in a time immediately inside the lap record of the Kent circuit on his first flying lap. The Australian was pushing hard but Byrne retaliated and he edged ahead on the PBM Kawasaki as the closing minutes ticked down.
Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) – “I’m happy to be pole position, but we always, always, always aim just to be on the front row. We’ve worked hard this weekend on the race package and try to be consistent on lots of laps, that’s going to be a key factor and something we’re still chipping away at.
“On my lap time that got pole I had a bit of a moment coming out of Sheene Curve – I flicked my feet of the pegs just a tiny bit and got me all a bit in a tangle. I just about missed the apex at Stirlings and didn’t get the best of runs out of there. The last sector has been good for the bike this weekend and to lose that little bit was a bit disappointing, so I thought right, if that could be a 1m25.3s, then for sure I could go faster but I pushed the envelope just a little bit too much into Paddock Hill the following lap and went a tiny bit wide and thought okay, abort, abort – cool down and then we’ll go again.
“I did another really good lap time but it was just a tenth off what I’d already done before and fortunately, there was plus 0.001s, but it was pole, it doesn’t really mean a great deal. There are no prizes for pole position; it just gives us a good start for tomorrow. Hopefully we’re going to have two great races and there will be a big crowd here and we’ll see what we’ve got tomorrow.”
Brookes was not prepared to be outdone without a fight and he made a hard-charging last gasp effort to reclaim the top position, crossing the line agonisingly close as the pair were separated by just 0.001s, but the four-time title winner held the position.
Josh Brookes – “It’s still second, it doesn’t matter how close – it’s still second. My first flyer was quite good and then when I came into the last two corners I ran wide and missed the apex and again the last turn. I knew I could improve on the lap that I did but the next two or three laps I made similar mistakes in other areas and I couldn’t piece the lap together properly.
“I was quickly running out of time and the tyre was starting to move around too much, and really hanging it out, so I got one last lap together and I felt like I pieced it together quite smooth and fast but the tyre didn’t really have a lot left. For one qualifying lap, you need to use it when it’s at its best, so four flying laps wasn’t ideal, but it turned out to be a pretty good lap time anyway.
“I am quite pleased to do the lap time, but disappointed to get second. It puts us in a good position for tomorrow’s race though and I look forward to that. I think our pace and consistency is quite good. I feel like we’ve got a good race package and to start from the front row of the grid should give us a good chance to fight with whoever’s going for the lead.”
Michael Laverty, who last Sunday raced in the German round of MotoGP, completes the front row of the grid on his Tyco BMW, running only 0.385s adrift of Byrne to claim his best qualifying performance in three years.
Richard Cooper aboard the Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki heads the second row in fourth as he achieved his best qualifying performance of his season, edging out Stuart Easton on the second PBM Kawasaki and James Ellison on the JG Speedfit Kawasaki.
Broc Parkes was another rider to up his game this weekend with his best qualifying of the season in seventh on the Milwaukee Yamaha, ahead of the former three times title winner Ryuichi Kiyonari on the Buildbase BMW. John Hopkins on his return to the series with the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati team was ninth after an impressive start whilst Luke Mossey on the Quattro Plant Kawasaki completed the top ten qualifiers who are separated by a 0.903s margin.
Broc Parkes – “It went pretty good today to be honest. I’m quite happy with the feeling on the bike – I can go back to Tuesday this week and I went to see the doctor after I had arm pump surgery and I was a little bit concerned about this weekend.
“Friday morning it was a bit restricted on movement but I felt quite good on the bike, the most positive thing is that I haven’t got the arm pump at all and I feel really good over more laps I can pull the brake really hard and that’s been my problem so far this year during races.
“I got my best qualifying of the year here – P7 on the grid, third row – normally I make a good start and get away so hopefully I can fight at the front. I think the two – Shakey and Josh – have got a little bit better pace than everybody else, but it’s been quite warm here, great conditions so far. I like it like that, and I like this track, so hopefully tomorrow we can get some good points and show again that I can run at the front. I’m probably feeling the most confident and comfortable on the bike that I’ve felt all year – looking forward to the race tomorrow!”
Jason O’Halloran qualified 12th on the Honda Racing Fireblade while countryman Billy McConnell was 24th on the Smith’s BMW.
Further highlighting the competitiveness of this year’s championship, Josh Waters struggled to a 25th placed classification in qualifying, despite lapping the Brands Hatch GP circuit nearly half a second faster than his best times from last season on the GSX-R1000.
Josh Waters – P25 – “We’ve made lots of changes to the bike over the weekend to try and find the missing piece of the set-up puzzle, but it’s made so much harder by how competitive the lap times are around here and you don’t get many laps in qualifying to get a time in. If you don’t get the times in early then sadly you miss out on Q2 as we did today. We have some other ideas to try for warm up and I’ll try my hardest in the races.”
Jed Metcher qualified 29th on the PR Racing Kawasaki.
Datatag Extreme Qualifying
1: Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) 1m:25.331s
2: Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.001s
3: Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +0.385s
4: Richard Cooper (Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki) +0.538s
5: Stuart Easton (PBM Kawasaki) +0.617s
6: James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.651s
Supersport
Luke Stapleford claimed his fifth win in the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship to regain his lead in the title stakes after the opening Sprint race of the weekend.
Stapleford, eager to make amends after a tough time in the previous round at Knockhill, hit the front initially with Glenn Irwin chasing him hard, only for the Gearlink Kawasaki rider, who had started the race as series leader, to crash out at Stirlings.
Kyle Ryde who had made a poor get-away on the PacedayZ Trackdays Yamaha, took over in second place but as he began to challenge, Stapleford was able to ease to victory by a little over three seconds.
Stapleford said: “We struggled last time out at a circuit we thought we would go well at, but we have comeback from that well, we have worked really hard on the bike and it was spot on for this race.”
Ryde had to settle for second, three points down on Stapleford, and reflected: “I got a rubbish start, caught Luke but then started having a few problems and when I tried to catch him I nearly crashed.”
Third place was taken by Andy Reid who sealed the position with an audacious last lap move on his Team Traction Control Yamaha team-mate James Rispoli. Joe Collier, ninth overall, won the Supersport EVO category on the Haribo Starmix Triumph ahead of Bjorn Estment on the NFB Financial Service Triumph.
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship, Brands Hatch, Sprint race result
1: Luke Stapleford (Profile Triumph)
2: Kyle Ryde (PacedayZ Trackdays Yamaha) +3.515s
3: Andy Reid (Team Traction Control Yamaha) +12.003s
4: James Rispoli (Team Traction Control Yamaha) +12.215s
5: Sam Hornsey (Profile Triumph) +17.247s
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship standings
1: Luke Stapleford (Profile Triumph) 194
2: Kyle Ryde (PacedayZ Trackdays Yamaha) 191
3: Glen Irwin (Gearlink Kawasaki ) 172
4: Jake Dixon (Smiths Triumph) 130
5: Joe Collier (Haribo Starmix Triumph) 90
Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship qualifying
Aussie Ben Currie took pole start on his PacedayZ Trackdays Yamaha but he was pushed hard by Knockhill race winner Tarran Mackenzie who closed within 0.052s of him on the Stauff Connect Academy Kawasaki while Andy Irwin completes the front row on the MWR Kawasaki. Series leader Mason Law ran fourth fastest on his NMT No Limits Kawasaki.
Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship qualifying
Josh Elliott is well placed to stretch his lead in the title stakes after powering his Morello Kawasaki onto pole start with a time of 1m 27.894s, though Alastair Seeley ran him close on the Tyco BMW, closing within 0.310s with Hudson Kennaugh completing the front row aboard his Trik-Moto Bahnstormer BMW.
HEL Performance British Motostar Championship qualifying
Series leader Taz Taylor, fastest in the opening session, improved his time with a late flyer next time out to secure pole start for RS KTM with a lap in 1m 34.180s, 0.317s up on Repli-Cast UK’s Charlie Nesbitt with Scott Deroue and Ed Rendell in close contention. Josh Owens, riding the JPL Honda, looks set to increase his lead in the 125GP category having comfortably outqualified his rivals.
Honda Moriwaki 250 Junior Cup qualifying
Victor Sleeman starts from pole position, with a time of 1m 41.238s, with Quentin Koers and 13 year old Thomas Strudwick, the leader in the KTM Junior Cup ,and “wild-carding” into this series, completing the front row. Series leader Kevin Orgis starting from the third row, seventh fastest, 1.215s down.
Moriwaki 250 Junior Cup Championship Saturday race
Leon Orgis held off the close advances of 13 year old wildcard rider Thomas Strudwick to take the victory by a quarter of a second after some epic duelling which had seen the lead change several times. Series leader Kevin Orgis ran third ahead of Victor Steeman.
HEL Performance British Motostar Championship Saturday race
Taz Taylor dominated the action, taking the flag five seconds clear of the rest, led by his nearest rival in the title stakes Scott Deroue who snatched second place by inches from Charlie Nesbitt. Josh Owens added to his already sizeable lead in the 125GP category as he took a comfortable win ahead of Cameron Horsman.
FIM World Sidecar Championship/Hyundai Heavy Industries British Sidecar Championship qualifying
Five times World Sidecar racing champion Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze stamped their authority on qualifying taking pole starting in dominant style, heading off the threat of British series leaders Ricky Stevens/Ryan Charlwood by 1.176secs. Andy Peach/Charlie Richardson, despite missing the second session through a machine problem, head the second row, third fastest 1.752secs down with John Holden/Ashley Hawes alongside. Stephen Kershaw/Rob Wilson set fifth best time, a third of a second up on the second best World Championship regular crew Pekka Paivarinta/Kirsi Kainulainen.
