Brookes On Pole After Dramatic Qualifying Session

 

Josh Brookes will start the opening race of the 2012 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship from pole position after coming out on top in an eventful qualifying session. Unpredictable weather threw the session wide open and a number of shock casualties in the knockout sessions have created an unusual grid.

Tommy Hill was the biggest surprise with the reigning champion crashing during Q1. The Swan Yamaha rider crashed at Graham Hill bend without posting a representative time and couldn't keep himself out of the drop zone. He will begin his title defence from 29^th while his former teammate Michael Laverty also faces an uphill task in race one after qualifying 21^st.

Rain fell in the closing stages of Q1, leaving the Indy circuit wet for the remaining sessions, and Alastair Seeley came unstuck on the Tyco Suzuki, ending up in 13^th. His teammate made it safely through though and got the better of Jon Kirkham to claim pole position in the final session, a quarter of a second ahead of the Samsung Honda debutant.

Shane Byrne narrowly avoided elimination in Q2 but placed the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki on the front row while Tristan Palmer produced the shock of the day to join him on the front row. The New Arley rider is racing for the GBmoto squad who are competing in their debut BSB campaign but that didn't stop him going fourth quickest on their Honda CBR1000RR.

There's an international flavour to row two with Freddy Foray in fifth position on the Quattro Plant Kawasaki. Fellow BSB newcomer Noriyuki Haga will start alongside in sixth and will carry the victory hopes of Swan Yamaha in the opening race tomorrow. Tommy Bridewell is seventh on the grid for the Italian Supersonic BMW team while Michael Rutter will start eighth on the MSS Bathams Kawasaki.

Stuart Easton will make his BSB return from ninth on the grid ahead of the two Padgetts Hondas, Luca Scassa and Ian Lowry while Gary Mason starts 12^th, just in front of Seeley's Suzuki.

 

2012 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship

Round 1: Brands Hatch Indy (Qualifying Result)

Pos	Rider	Bike	Team	Time/Gap
1	Josh Brookes	Suzuki	Tyco Suzuki	52.877
2	Jon Kirkham	Honda	Samsung Honda	+0.278
3	Shane Byrne	Kawasaki	Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki	+0.484
4	Tristan Palmer	Honda	GBmoto Racing	+0.708
5	Freddy Foray	Kawasaki	Quattro Plant Kawasaki	+0.890
6	Noriyuki Haga	Yamaha	Swan Yamaha	+0.934
7	Tommy Bridewell	BMW	Supersonic Racing Team	+0.970
8	Michael Rutter	Kawasaki	MSS Bathams Kawasaki	+1.006
9	Stuart Easton	Kawasaki	Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki	+1.619
10	Luca Scassa	Honda	Padgetts Racing	+1.649
Eliminated In Q2
11	Ian Lowry	Honda	Padgetts Racing	54.082
12	Gary Mason	Kawasaki	Quattro Plant Kawasaki	54.133
13	Alastair Seeley	Suzuki	Tyco Suzuki	54.324
14	Graeme Gowland	Honda	Team WFR	54.384
15	Peter Hickman	Kawasaki	MSS Bathams Kawasaki	54.385
16	Chris Walker	Kawasaki	Pr1mo Bournemouth Kawasaki	54.427
17	Patric Muff	BMW	Supersonic Racing Team	54.541
18	Luke Quigley	Honda	GBmoto Racing	55.063
19	Barry Burrell	BMW	Buildbase BMW Motorrad	56.062
20	Florian Marino	Aprilia	Splitlath Redmond Racing	56.299
Eliminated In Q1
21	Michael Laverty	Honda	Samsung Honda	50.606
22	James Westmoreland	Honda	Team WFR	50.662
23	Scott Smart	Ducati	Moto Rapido Racing	50.724
24	Dan Linfoot	BMW	Buildbase BMW Motorrad	50.849
25	James Hillier	Kawasaki	Pr1mo Bournemouth Kawasaki	50.881
26	Alex Lowes	Honda	Team WFR	51.173
27	Aaron Zanotti	Suzuki	A-Plant Suzuki	51.241
28	Alex Polita	Ducati	Jentin Doodson Motorsport	51.485
29	Tommy Hill	Yamaha	Swan Yamaha	51.931
30	John Laverty	Aprilia	Splitlath Redmond Racing	51.999
31	Jenny Tinmouth	Honda	Hardinge Sorrymate.com Honda	52.968
32	Tom Tunstall	Ducati	Jentin Doodson Motorsport	53.772
33	Abdulaziz Binladin	Ducati	Moto Rapido Racing	56.275