Editorial Note: American James Rispoli, riding his Quattro Plant FS-3 Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R, qualified fourth in Superstock 1000 with a time of 1:37.719. Richard Cooper earned pole position with a lap time of 1:37.161 on his Suzuki GSX-R1000.
MCE British Superbike Championship
Oulton Park, England
April 30, 2017
Qualifying Results (All on Pirelli tires):
From Qualifying Knockout Session Three:
1. Shane Byrne, UK (Duc Panigale R), 1:34.016
2. Leon Haslam, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:34.200
3. Luke Mossey, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:34.744
4. Josh Brookes, Australia (Yam YZF-R1), 1:34.943
5. Glenn Irwin, UK (Duc Panigale R), 1:34.955
6. Jake Dixon, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:34.969
7. Jason O’Halloran, Australia (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:34.994
8. Peter Hickman, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:35.013
9. Christian Iddon, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:35.191
From Qualifying Knockout Session Two:
10. Tommy Bridewell, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:35.013
11. Billy McConnell, Australia (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:35.070
12. John Hopkins, USA (Duc Panigale R), 1:35.090
13. Bradley Ray, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:35.099
14. Sylvain Guintoli, France (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:35.237
15. James Ellison, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 1:35.240
16. Dan Linfoot, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:35.288
17. Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic (BMW S1000RR), 1:35.320
18. Alastair Seeley, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:35.342
From Qualifying Knockout Session One:
19. Lee Jackson, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:35.741
20. James Westmoreland, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:36.360
21. Michael Laverty, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 1:36.402
22. Martin Jessopp, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:36.655
23. Taylor Mackenzie, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:36.847
24. Michael Dunlop, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:37.484
25. Aaron Zanotti, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 1:37.544
More, from a press release issued by MotorSport Vision Racing:
Shakey strikes back to claim pole position from Haslam at Oulton Park
Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne fought back at Oulton Park this afternoon as the defending champion claimed his first pole position of the season for the Be Wiser Ducati team, holding off Leon Haslam by 0.184s in the final eight minute battle for pole position in Datatag Qualifying.
The nine riders headed out for the final session but Haslam and Byrne were both pushing with their first flying lap with the treat of rain looming. A few spots of rain at the start of the session saw Haslam unfazed and the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider instantly lapped with a best time of 1m:34.679s, but further down the track Byrne was focused on his lap and he edged ahead.
Byrne set his best lap of the weekend to edge Haslam, but the ‘Pocket Rocket’ gave it another go – improving his time but it wasn’t enough to push his Be Wiser Ducati rival from the top spot.
Luke Mossey completes the front row; he was left slightly disappointed after making a mistake on his fastest lap. It was just 0.199s that cost Josh Brookes a front row start for the Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha team; the Australian the only Yamaha rider to feature inside the top ten with the McAMS Yamaha duo of James Ellison in 15th and Michael Laverty crashing out unhurt in Q1.
Glenn Irwin qualified fifth fastest ahead of Jake Dixon who had his best qualifying of the season for the RAF Reserves Kawasaki team in sixth place. Jason O’Halloran was the leading Honda Racing rider in seventh with Peter Hickman and Christian Iddon completing the top nine.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Datatag Qualifying:
Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) 1m:34.016s
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.184s
Luke Mossey (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.728s
Josh Brookes (Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha) +0.927s
Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.939s
Jake Dixon (RAF Reserves Kawasaki) +0.953s
Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing) +0.978s
Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +0.997s
Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +1.175s
For more information visit www.britishsuperbike.com
Shane Byrne
Be Wiser Ducati
Pole position, MCE BSB race one
“I feel pretty happy; we have worked and chipped away with the bike. It is good at a certain lap time and then we wanted to push on a little more and that then changes the feel. We have gone through qualifying and it has got better and better because when you override the Ducati it punishes you.
“It started to spit with rain as I started my lap and I thought ‘oh no, now what do I do!’ I committed and there were spots of rain on my visor. Your heart says go but then your head says no not yet just in case. Either way it was a decent lap and it was good enough for pole position. I feel at the end we could have pushed and tried again but I knew I had a gap so the front row was enough.”
More, from a press release issued by Be Wiser Ducati:
Byrne Blitzes To Pole At Oulton Park
The Be Wiser Ducati team of Shane Byrne and Glenn Irwin will line up on the first and second rows for tomorrow’s opening MCE British Superbike Championship race at round three at Oulton Park after qualifying in pole position and fifth place respectively.
Having set the second and sixth fastest times respectively on the factory-backed Be Wiser Ducati Panigale R during the three free practice sessions, both Byrne and Irwin were in good shape heading into today’s Datatag Extreme Qualifying session and comfortably progressed from Q1 to Q2.
The 12-minute Q2 saw the duo set near identical times with Sittingbourne’s Byrne in second and Carrickfergus rider Irwin in third, hopes were high for having both riders on the front row.
The final eight-minute Q3 session saw a few spots of rain starting to fall meaning the pressure was on to get a fast lap early. Both riders did exactly that and it was Byrne who was fastest from the off and a time of 1m 34.016s, the fastest of the entire weekend, sent him to the top of the leaderboard. Regular rival Leon Haslam did manage a late flying lap which was just under two-tenths of a second slower.
Irwin, meanwhile, was also in the mix with his time of 1m 34.955s placing him fifth with the rain spots preventing him from challenging his time in Q2.
The result was Byrne’s first pole position of the season and his 51st career pole position which was timely given the defending champion’s frustrating start to the season, meaning he’ll be looking to make amends in tomorrow’s two races.
Shane Byrne: “I’m not really a pole position man and it’s not something I’m overly fussed about, being on the front row is the main thing. But I’m obviously pleased, not just for myself but also for the team as it’s a local round for them. We’ve chipped away all weekend with the bike and have constantly improved throughout the two days and we’ve got the bike in a pretty good place. I wanted to do the lap on my own but I was a little bit cautious due to the spots of rain but it was a still a good lap and with a good advantage at the time, I didn’t want to risk anything. It’s a big boost for the team and we’ll be hoping for more of the same tomorrow.”
Glenn Irwin: “I’m pleased with fifth and the boys in the team have worked hard all weekend so it’s the least they deserve. Despite missing the test last week, we’ve been on the pace right from the off and I’ve been able to give the team good feedback so that each time I’ve gone out on track, the bike’s been better. They have understood exactly what I’ve needed with the bike and although Q1 was a bit frustrating, the other two sessions went really well. It’s my best ever qualifying position in the dry and the SC0 tyre is working really well so I’m confident we have a good race pace to get two good results.”
Phil Borley, Technical Director: “We’re happy with today’s outcome and to have both bikes on the first two rows is a great result. It was a great lap by Shakey and a good performance by him to get his first pole position of the year. His race pace looks really good so we’re hoping for two dry races and, hopefully, our first win of the year. It was a fine qualifying result for Glenn as well, his best ever performance since joining the team actually, so with his race pace equally as good, we’re more than hopeful for two strong results from his side of the garage.”
Tomorrow’s two 18-lap races are scheduled to get underway at 1.30pm and 4.30pm respectively.
More, from a press release issued by Bennetts Suzuki:
Cooper takes Superstock pole position for Bennetts Suzuki
Richard Cooper has qualified on pole position for tomorrow’s National Superstock 1000 race at Oulton Park, the Bennetts Suzuki rider looking to defend his championship lead at the third round of the series.
Cooper took a win and third last time out at Brands Hatch, and spent the free practice sessions at Oulton Park working on settings to help with corner entry. Happy with the progress made, Cooper set a time four tenths of a second faster than anyone else to take his first pole position of the season.
Richard Cooper, “Today’s been decent enough. We’ve made some good changes to the bike, and changes we’ve not made before that have really helped. We’ve improved the bike on corner entry massively, which was an area we have been working on. We’ve got a lot more support on the brakes and it’s a lot easier to make an apex. And hopefully the work we’ve done and my feedback can help the guys in Superbike. But I’m happy to be on pole. Even though I’m pole by 0.4 of a second, tomorrow will still be a challenge. But our bike should comfortably do 18 laps – we’ve massively improved our speed and our consistency. Today has been good, but I’ll be happier when the job is done.”
In the MCE British Superbike Championship, Sylvain Guintoli will start tomorrow’s opening race from the fifth row in 14th place, with Taylor Mackenzie starting 23rd.
Michael Dunlop, making a wildcard appearance this weekend, completed a number of laps onboard the Superstock GSX-R1000 he will race on the roads later this year, and also spent further time testing his GSX-R1000 Superbike. He qualified in 24th place for tomorrow’s opening BSB race.
Team manager, Steve Hicken, “We’ve made a big step with Cooper’s bike in Superstock this weekend. We’ve been on the pace since the start of the season, but hopefully the improvements we’ve made will give us another edge going forward and allow Cooper to get even more from the base GSX-R1000 package.
“In Superbike, we’re still working and, following some of the changes we’ve made to Cooper’s bike, we have some more things to try in warm-up tomorrow. It’s proving tricky, and Oulton is a very difficult circuit anyway when it comes to machine setup. We’ll make more changes tomorrow and see what the races bring for Sylvain and Taylor.
“Michael is here purely to get some more laps in ahead of the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT. We’re making changes as we go and this is a shakedown test before we head to Northern Ireland in a couple of weeks.”
National Superstock 1000 qualifying result: 1. Richard Cooper, 2. Adam Jenkinson, 3. Danny Buchan.
Superbike qualifying result: 1. Shane Byrne, 2. Leon Haslam, 3. Luke Mossey, 14. Sylvain Guintoli, 23. Taylor Mackenzie, 24. Michael Dunlop