Brookes sets fastest ever lap of Silverstone to claim pole position
Josh Brookes claimed pole position by annihilating the existing lap record to set the fastest ever Superbike lap of Silverstone during Datatag Qualifying ahead of tomorrow’s MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship races.
The championship leader had the edge on all of his Title Fighter rivals, upping the pace in each of the three stages before dipping into the 2m:03s window to smash his previous best time, but John Hopkins was only 0.297s adrift for the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati team.
Hopkins had fired in his lap in the closing stages of the session to close the deficit whilst Christian Iddon delivered his best qualifying performance of the season to score Bennetts Suzuki their first front row start of the season as the Showdown spoilers mixed up the Title Fighters.
John Hopkins said: “It’s a track that I really enjoy and the bike is working really well around here. Up until today I held the Superbike lap record until Josh [Brookes] came along and beat it, and he did an amazing lap.
“I gave it everything I had and I spun it up and made a couple of mistakes here and there which cost a bit of time – but that’s what happens when you give it one hundred and ten percent and that’s what I did. I feel really good with the race pace and we have been doing some set-up changes, and now I just want to get away [in the races].
“We have had a bit of bad luck throughout the year when it comes to race-day but hopefully we can repay the team and get this thing on the podium hopefully.”
Iddon meanwhile secured the Bennetts Suzuki team their first front row start of the season and he believes the team have the pace to go the distance to battle for a podium finish in the two races tomorrow.
Christian Iddon said: “To be honest the weekend started this morning and we made a break through with the bike. We found something that has made the bike more ride-able for me and I can be more consistent with it – and I feel more comfortable.
“Big thanks to the team who have worked so hard and have been good with me all year. Hopefully we can start to repay them, and I am feeling pretty good for the race to be fair.”
James Ellison heads the second row on the leading Kawasaki; the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider held off Luke Mossey and the second Milwaukee Yamaha of Jakub Smrz to claim fourth position on the timesheets.
Peter Hickman forced his way into the final stage of qualifying and he held seventh place to be the top BMW contender for the RAF Reserves squad ahead of Michael Laverty on the Tyco BMW. Dan Linfoot held eighth for Honda Racing to make it all six manufacturers inside the top ten.
It was a nightmare session though for defending champion Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne he will start tenth on the grid for tomorrow’s opening race, but the PBM Kawasaki rider is confident that the team will have resolved the issue ahead of the two crucial races.
Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) – Championship leader: 553 points – Datatag qualifying position: Pole position – “I kind of changed my character a bit during qualifying as normally I will do two, three or four laps and ride to the chequered flag, but in Q2 I did a really nice lap and I felt there wasn’t a lot more I could achieve and I thought that it would be enough to get into the final qualifying. I wanted to leave that good thought in my head going into the last run.
“When I went out in Q3, on our dash when you do a personal best lap a light comes on and when you drop below your personal best the light goes out, and my first flying lap I went into the first turn and I made a mistake and I rolled the throttle and immediately the light went out on the dash and I was devastated. But I kept the gas and the light came back on so whatever I lost I made back and that meant game on again and I kept everything as good as I could and raced right to the finish.
“I saw ‘03.9 on the dash and I thought to myself could I go for another lap? Which was my normal strategy, and I thought if someone could beat that lap then they deserve it because I laid everything fairly well on the line on that lap. I didn’t really believe I could make a better lap without another fresh pair of tyres so I just pulled off and rode it into the pits.
“The team have done a really good job with the bike to give me that confidence and I looked at my pit board and saw a 0.2 and I thought who the hell is that close to me, as I was expecting to see a bigger gap, and it was Hopper. He was the previous track record holder – and it shows he’s feeling good on his bike.
“I am still focusing on my own situation and just working on your bike and tyre conservation. I am trying to maintain that same focus – if you do the same thing you should be able to achieve the same results.”
Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) – Second in the standings: 551 – Datatag Qualifying position: 10th – “Today actually, despite ending in a really negative way, was a really good day for us at PBM Kawasaki. It has been a tough weekend so far and they always seem to be just lately, but the team has dug deep today. We tried something this morning and then into qualifying Q1 we made another improvement and then for Q2 we made a big step and the lap time was really, really good and I was really happy with the lap time. I did that lap on the back of the Buildbase BMW guys and I actually caught them a bit faster than I had anticipated and perhaps just lost a tiny bit of time because of it.
“We then made another small change to the bike for Q3 in the same direction that we had gone in from Q1 to Q2 so I was feeling really confident of another little step in lap time, but immediately the first couple of corners I knew we had a problem. Whilst I dug deep and gave it absolutely everything, a problem not with the bike but with a component on it, gave us no grip and a load of chatter so it was a really, really frustrating way to end the day but I think we can take a lot of positives from today.
“OK we start tenth on the grid for tomorrow which is a bit pants, but a fast lap in race one will give us a better grid position for race two and there are plenty of places to make passes here so I am far from downbeat and I am much happier now we can see what the problem was. I felt bad for the team as I had a good Q2 and then we went all out for Q3 and had an absolute disaster and when I came in and said what it was doing, they were like ‘really’ but it turns out it was right. We will try something again in warm up in the morning and then fingers crossed for two strong races.”
Datatag Qualifying
1 Joshua Brookes Yamaha AUS 2’03.984
2 John Hopkins Ducati USA 2’04.281
3 Christian Iddon Suzuki GBR 2’04.530
4 James Ellison Kawasaki GBR 2’04.532
5 Luke Mossey Kawasaki GBR 2’04.735
6 Jakub Smrz Yamaha CZE 2’04.839
7 Peter Hickman BMW GBR 2’04.857
8 Michael Laverty Aprilia GBR 2’04.999
9 Dan Linfoot Honda GBR 2’05.010
10 Shane Byrne Kawasaki GBR 2’05.215
11 Thomas Bridewell BMW GBR 2’05.476
12 Danny Buchan Kawasaki GBR 2’05.550
13 Billy Mcconnell BMW AUS 2’05.761
14 Richard Cooper Kawasaki GBR 2’05.808
15 Josh Waters Suzuki AUS 2’05.907
British Supersport
Luke Stapleford sealed the Motorpoint British Supersport crown in style as he romped to a twelfth victory of a dominant campaign ahead of a frantic duel for second place between James Rispoli and Glenn Irwin.
It was a remarkable ride by Stapleford, coming minutes after he had ridden in the MCE BSB qualifying session with JG Speedfit Kawasaki, but the Profile Triumph was up for the challenge, running third on the opening lap, but taking the lead next time round.
Stapleford enthused: “We have worked five years for this moment – this has been so good and it thanks to everyone who has worked so hard for this result. I’ve enjoyed this moment, am struggling for words to describe what it means to me. We’ve got the Superbike ride experience here, but this Supersport crown was the main focus and now we have got the job done.”
Rispoli on the Team Traction Control Yamaha was engaged in a huge battle with Irwin but the American fended off the challenges of his Gearlink Kawasaki rival after they had traded places numerous times, to take second place by just 0.012s.
Jake Dixon ran fourth on the Smiths Triumph ahead of Kyle Ryde, the PacedayZ Trackdays Yamaha rider, whose second place in the overall standings is now coming under threat from both Dixon and Irwin in the three remaining races.
Joe Collier, the Supersport EVO category champion, snatched tenth place on the final lap.
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship, Silverstone, Sprint race result
1: Luke Stapleford (Profile Triumph)
2: James Rispoli (Team Traction Control Yamaha) +2.134s
3: Glenn Irwin (Gearlink Kawasaki) +2.146s
4: Jake Dixon (Smiths Triumph) +9.661s
5: Kyle Ryde (PacedayZ Trackdays Yamaha) +10.152s
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship standings
1: Luke Stapleford (Profile Triumph) 421
2: Kyle Rydes (PacedayZ Trackdays Yamaha) 309
3: Jake Dixon (Smiths Triumph) 297
4: Glenn Irwin (Gearlink Kawasaki) 279
5: James Rispoli (Team Traction Control Yamaha) 213
Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship qualifying
Mason Law is well placed to secure the Pirelli National Superstock 600 crown after powering his NMT No Limits Kawasaki onto pole start with a time of 2m 11.735secs, just inside the lap record, and a quarter of a second up on Ben Currie with Tarran Mackenzie completing the front row. Jordan Weaving, Tom Ward and Wayne Ryan start from the second row.
Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship qualifying
Series leader Josh Elliott starts his Morello Racing Kawasaki from pole position, running 0.081secs ahead of Hudson Kennaugh with Adam Jenkinson completing the front row. Joe Burns, Barry Burrell and Luke Quigley start from the second row while second in the title stakes Alastair Seeley starting his Tyco BMM from the third row, eighth fastest, though only 0.452secs down.
Hyundai Heavy Industries British Sidecar Championship qualifying
Andy Peach/Charlie Richardson took pole start with a lap in 2m 13.090s by a third of a second from Tim Reeves/Greg Cluze with the leaders in the title stakes Rick Stevens/Ryan Charlwood third fastest, starting from the second row alongside Tony Brown/Lee Cain.
Ducati TriOptions Cup qualifying
Robbie Brown, a point down in the title stakes on Leon Morris, charged to pole start, a little over a second clear of the rest, led by defending champion Dennis Hobbs and Rob Guiver. Morris ran fourth fastest and with it a second row start alongside Greg Gilfillan and Phil Atkinson.
HEL Performance British Motostar Championship qualifying
Taz Taylor out-gunned Moto3 series leader Scott Deroue by 0.308secs to take pole start with Dani Saez completing the front row at the expense of Ed Rendell while Josh Owens, already assured of the 125GP title was fastest in that category, thirteenth overall.
Santander Consumer Finance KTM British Junior Cup/RC Cup World Final qualifying
Finland’s Patrik Pulkkinen starts from pole with a best lap 0.345secs faster than American Anthony Mazziotto with Dutch rider Djim Ulrich completing the front row. Cameron Fraser, the leader in the British title stakes was fifth fastest, while Thomas Strudwick returning from injury was ninth ahead of James Nagy.
Hyundai Heavy Industries British Sidecar Championship – Saturday race
Ricky Stevens/Ryan Charlwood moved closer to the crown with a comfortable victory in the re-started race, over five laps, as they headed off the challenge of pole starters Andy Peach/Charlie Richardson by just over five seconds. Tony Brown/Lee Cain ran third from Ben Holland/Lee Watson with John Holden/Stuart Ramsey easing the Birchall brothers, Ben and Tom, back into sixth.
Santander Consumer Finance KTM British Junior Cup/RC World Cup Final – Saturday race
Sean Kelly charged from fourth to first on an all action final lap to win this eight lap thriller that had seen no less than seven different race leaders as the riders often hunting in packs of eight duelled for position. Dijm Ulrich took second place ahead of Braeden Ortt.
Thomas Strudwick, returning from injury was the first British series finisher, seventh overall, with Aaron Wright and James Nagy joining him on that podium. Cameron Fraser ran fourth, enough to take the title.
HEL Performance British Motostar Championship – Saturday race
Scott Deroue edged nearer to the Moto3 crown as he snatched victory on the last lap from Taz Taylor after the two had traded places throughout the race. Ed Rendell who had twice briefly nosed into the lead had to settle for third ahead of Jake Archer. Josh Owens celebrated his 125GP title success with victory in that category ahead of Wesley Jonker.
Ducati TriOptions Cup – Saturday race
Leon Morris snatched the victory on the last lap from Robbie Brown, by only 0.091secs, to extend his lead over him to six points after a hard fought race in which Brown had held the advantage from the second lap. Rob Guiver ran third ahead of Greg Gilfillan with defending champion Dennis Hobbs fifth.
