The Be Wiser Ducati duo of Shane Byrne and Glenn Irwin are both satisfied with their qualifying positions for tomorrow’s MCE British Superbike opener at Silverstone.
Four-time series champion Byrne ended the day in fourth position, 0.3s behind pole position man Leon Haslam.
The 39-year-old topped Q1 ahead of Luke Mossey but he was unable to do anything about Haslam in the final shootout of the day.
Afterwards, Byrne said: “Today’s been my first real go in anger at putting in a good lap time and although I did that, I couldn’t quite find that last little bit that makes the difference and was perhaps over-riding the bike a little bit.
“Having said that, the last part of qualifying was really good for me and I understood more about the bike in that session than the others although by then, there wasn’t much tyre left. To finish fourth and only 0.3s off pole is pretty pleasing and we’ve got good potential for tomorrow, so I’m looking forward now to two strong races.”
Series rookie Irwin also impressed during Q1, finishing that session in fourth position just half-a-second behind his more experienced teammate.
Unfortunately he was unable to match this in the second session of the day as the times began to increase due to the improving weather conditions.
A slightly disappointed Irwin said: “My goal at the beginning of the weekend was to make the top 18 in qualifying so to do that was pleasing, although having been fourth fastest in the first part of qualifying, I’m a bit disappointed to have ended up 17th.
“I missed the window a bit and found myself riding on my own whilst I had a small issue with the front brake so the first target tomorrow will be to make a good start. I’ll keep chipping away and I am learning all the time, so I’m hopeful of scoring some good points tomorrow.”
Tomorrow’s first race will begin at 13.30pm, with race two scheduled to begin at 16.30pm.