Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes will start round three of the MCE British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park from pole position after edging out Tommy Bridewell.
Brookes’ lap-time of 1:34.946 was only 0.014s quicker than the Tyco TMW rider, whose team enjoyed their best qualifying session of the season with Michael Laverty (8th) also finishing inside the top 10.
Both riders will be thrilled with their improved performances in qualifying and will be looking to take advantage of them in tomorrow’s races and mix-it with the usual front-runners.
Brookes and Bridewell will be joined by Stuart Easton on the front-row, with the Scot putting in a quick lap-time of 1:35.006 in the closing seconds of the session.
The second-row will be headed by Ryuichi Kiyonari on the Buildbase BMW, with Shane Byrne next-up in fifth place on his PBM Kawasaki. The reigning champion will be disappointed not have qualified higher, given that he had previously topped both Q1 and Q2 sessions.
Last year’s title contenders will be joined by James Ellison on row two, with the form-man of 2015 struggling to match the pace of the front-runners throughout the final session.
Jason O’Halloran made a great save in Q3 on his Honda, avoiding a huge crash on his way to seventh on the grid ahead of Laverty and Danny Buchan. Smiths Racing BMW’s Billy McConnell rounds out the top 10 after another impressive performance.
Further down the field it was another frustrating day for Broc Parkes (16th) and James Westmoreland (21st), with both riders still struggling to get to grips with their new machinery. Parkes will be hoping that the experience gained from the one-day test last week will help him move up through the order tomorrow.
There was also disappointing news for Peter Hickman before the session got underway, with the RAF Reserves BMW rider unable to get the all-clear by the circuit’s medical team following his crash during free practice yesterday.
Race one at Oulton Park is scheduled to get underway at 13:30 tomorrow, with the second race taking place at 16:30.
Oulton Park Qualifying Times
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