BSB Donington Park: Westmoreland Takes Shock Pole

James Westmoreland sprung a major surprise in qualifying at Donington Park, claiming his maiden BSB pole position as well as the first for BMW in British Superbike history. The Buildbase BMW rider trails teammate Jon Kirkham by five points in the race for the final showdown spot and with Kirkham ninth on the grid, Westmoreland is perfectly placed to earn himself a shot at the title.

The result didn’t appear to be on the cards through Q1 and Q2 but the Beverley rider stunned everyone, including himself with a 1:29.726 in Q3 to edge out Alex Lowes.

“It is brilliant for me and the Buildbase BMW Motorrad team to be on pole here at Donington Park”, commented Westmoreland. “We didn’t expect to be this strong because we had a bad weekend at Oulton Park and then again at Cadwell Park; we knew it would be better here and we have chipped away but we weren’t expecting this! I am made up for the team and so happy to have done this for BMW Motorrad.”

“My lap timer wasn’t working on the bike so I just went as fast as I could. I did enough with that very good lap but now I have to keep it going as I want to be in the top six by the end of this round. I need podium finishes and will push as hard as I can in the races. I’ll get a good night’s sleep and then come out fighting and show what we can do.”

Lowes’ last gasp effort lifted him above James Ellison into second but the Milwaukee Yamaha rider is still in good shape to book his place in the showdown with just seven points required even if Westmoreland is victorious. Shane Byrne and Josh Brookes have long since secured their places and the pair will start together on the second row, fourth and fifth respectively, while it will be win-or-bust for Tommy Bridewell from sixth given his 25 point deficit to the top six.

Chris Walker heads the third row ahead of PJ Jacobsen and the under-pressure Kirkham while Ryuichi Kiyonari may yet face a nervy Sunday after qualifying twelfth. The three-time champion needs nineteen points tomorrow to guarantee his spot in the showdown but faces an uphill task to achieve that and may be left sweating in race two.

2013 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship – Round 9: Donington Park
Qualifying Classification
Pos	Rider	Bike	Team	Time
1	James Westmoreland	BMW	Buildbase BMW Motorrad	1:29.726
2	Alex Lowes	Honda	Samsung Honda	1:29.997
3	James Ellison	Yamaha	Milwaukee Yamaha	1:30.038
4	Shane Byrne	Kawasaki	Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki	1:30.171
5	Josh Brookes	Suzuki	Tyco Suzuki	1:30.211
6	Tommy Bridewell	Kawasaki	Halsall Racing Kawasaki	1:30.360
7	Chris Walker	Kawasaki	Quattro Plant Kawasaki	1:30.363
8	PJ Jacobsen	Suzuki	Tyco Suzuki	1:30.512
9	Jon Kirkham	BMW	Buildbase BMW Motorrad	1:30.521
10	Jakub Smrz	Honda	Padgetts Honda	1:30.531
Eliminated in Q2
11	Josh Waters	Yamaha	Milwaukee Yamaha	1:30.853
12	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Honda	Samsung Honda	1:30.992
13	Michael Rutter	Honda	Bathams Honda	1:31.213
14	Dan Linfoot	Honda	Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Honda	1:31.287
15	Barry Burrell	Kawasaki	Quattro Plant Kawasaki	1:31.409
16	Howie Mainwaring	Kawasaki	Tsingtao WKbikes Performance	1:32.179
17	Peter Hickman	Honda	Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Honda	No Time
18	Keith Farmer	Kawasaki	Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki	No Time
Eliminated in Q1
19	Karl Harris	Kawasaki	PR Racing Kawasaki	1:32.138
20	Matteo Baiocco	Ducati	Rapido Sport Racing	1:32.252
21	Lee Costello	Kawasaki	Halsall Racing Kawasaki	1:32.337
22	Martin Jessopp	BMW	Riders Motorcycles	1:32.824
23	Aaron Zanotti	Suzuki	STEL Suzuki	1:33.315
24	Jenny Tinmouth	Honda	Two Wheel Racing	1:33.829
25	Jamie Poole	Kawasaki	Quelch BSD Motorsport	1:35.340