BROOKES BIDS FOR TITLE LEAD FROM FIRST POLE START MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship Round six Knockhill, Fife 3/4 July Josh Brookes underlined his determination to take the lead in the MCE Insurance British Superbike title stakes as he powered in his first pole start of the season to grab the psychological advantage from Tommy Hill who defends a slender four points advantage going into the sixth round at Knockhill. The Aussie, riding HM Plant Honda, enjoyed a turn-around in speed and fortune in between the morning free practice and then the all-important Swan Combi Roll for Pole, largely due to the hard work of his team in changing the engine on his bike. “The best way to start any race is from first place on the grid though I am a bit surprised as I was struggling at the end of free practice but the team got their heads together and sorted it out,” explained Brookes after he had all but equalled the record around the 1.2713mile Fife circuit with a lap in 48.486secs. “These races are never easy, and I think these could be the hardest of the year because everybody is so close and with everything to gain,” added Brookes who outpaced his team-mate, the double race winner of the previous Mallory Park round, Ryuichi Kiyonari by 0.150secs. Hill, riding the Worx Crescent Suzuki, ran third fastest, securing the all-important front row start with a lap in 48.698secs for races in which he is intent on putting his problematic previous two rounds behind him by returning to winning way. He is well placed to do that, but Michael Laverty, who is third in the standings, faces an uphill struggle in these races as he starts his Relentless Suzuki from the fifth row of the grid after crashing heavily, without injury, in the first element of the grid decider. Kiyonari will be looking to fully exploit that, as will Michael Rutter, who, continuing his rich vein of form aboard the RidersMotorcycles.com Ducati,with a lap in 48.791secs starts from the front row. James Ellison, three months on from breaking his thigh in a crash during practice for the Thruxton round, continues his racing return with a second row start. The Swan Honda rider excelled with fifth best time, 48.800secs, to be a split second ahead of Motorpoint Yamaha rider Dan Linfoot and the local hero Stuart Easton who is aiming to go one better than his second place in the corresponding round of last year. Tommy Bridewell ran eighth fastest on the Quay Garage Honda to be ahead of Alastair Seeley, slowed by a misfire to his Relentless Suzuki, and the two times winner of the World Supersport title Andrew Pitt, riding Motorpoint Yamaha. Chris Walker, on his Suzuki, and MSS Colchester Kawasaki’s Simon Andrews completed the third row at the expense of his team-mate Gary Mason. John Laverty aboard the Buildbase Kawasaki along with Peter Hickman and Christian Iddon completed the fourth row, with the best of the Mirror.co.uk BSB-EVO class runners lining up behind them. Steve Brogan was the fastest of them, 49.751secs on the Jentin BMW, a tenth of a second up on series leader Hudson Kennaugh riding MAR Kawasaki with Two Brothers Kawasaki rider David Johnson well on their pace. For the record Superbike top ten times qualifiers Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 48.486s Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +0.150s Tommy Hill (Quay Garage Honda) +0.212s Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +0.305s James Ellison (Swan Honda) +0.314s Dan Linfoot (Motorpoint Yamaha) +0.382s Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +0.388s Tommy Bridewell (Quay Garage Honda) +0.427s Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +0.473s Andrew Pitt (Motorpoint Yamaha) +0.679s More, from a press release issued by Swan Honda: SECOND ROW START IN SCOTLAND FOR SWAN HONDA DUO The Swan Honda team are gearing up for tomorrow’s two races at Knockhill following this afternoon’s Swan Combi Roll for Pole race one grid decider with both James Ellison and Stuart Easton qualifying on the second row. Ellison put in an impressive performance to make it through to the final Q3 shootout before a consistent improvement saw him climb up the order to fifth place just 0.314 seconds adrift of the pole position lap. Easton meanwhile was unable to repeat his time from this morning’s final free practice session and an electronics problem hampered his Q3 performance, but he will line up on the second row from seventh place. Ellison said: “I am fairly happy with fifth, as that is obviously an improvement on last weekend’s qualifying at Mallory Park. It has been another tough weekend for me; it started really well and then despite getting faster every session I was dropping further down the order as everyone was improving and the times are so close. Shaun (Muir) has been out corner spotting for me and I had a chat with Christian Iddon as he had followed me for a bit and told me where he thought I was losing time. We then sat and looked at the data and it all paired up so I could work on those areas and that is where we have improved. We made some small tweaks to the Swan Honda but generally I am happy with how we finished the day and looking forward to scoring some more points in the races tomorrow.” Easton said: “I am disappointed with a second row start as in free practice this morning I topped the times and I couldn’t match that lap this afternoon. I know I have a good race pace for tomorrow, but I had a small problem with the blipper system when I was changing down gear, which meant I had to be more precise and that slowed me down a little. The second row isn’t the end of the world though and I know that with a good start tomorrow I can be up there and challenging for that home win. I know everyone is talking about the conditions but come rain or shine I know I need to be on the top step here tomorrow so I will be doing everything I can for the home crowd.” MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Knockhill, Swan Combi Roll for Pole: 1. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 48.486s 2. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +0.150s 3. Tommy Hill (Quay Garage Honda) +0.212s 4. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +0.305s 5. James Ellison (Swan Honda) +0.314s 7. Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +0.388s More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Worx Crescent Suzuki’s Tommy Hill will start from the front row at tomorrow’s sixth round of the 2010 British Superbike Championship at the Knockhill circuit in Fife. Hill has been on the pace throughout practice and qualifying, claiming fastest lap in the first practice and first qualifying sessions. In the final ‘Swan Combi Roll for Pole’ qualifier it was a tense battle for the front row positions and at the chequered flag Hill had set a lap time of 48.698-seconds, just 0.212seconds off the pole time, to claim P3 – and another front row start. Tommy Hill: “I’m very happy with the last two days’ build up. The GSX-R1000 works well here and we’ve made only minor tweaks to find our race set-up. I feel confident we can fight for podium finishes tomorrow. “Knockhill is a very short, tight circuit so to make a good lap time you need a clear lap but that’s hard to come by, hence you can end one session fastest, the next you can be sixth fastest. But we’re looking good for tomorrow and we’ve secured that all important front row start. You can’t really plan a race here, the important thing will be to get a good start at the head of the pack, and take it from there.” Jack Valentine – Team Manager: “We’ve had a great two days. We’ve got a good race set-up and that’s meant Tommy’s been able to consistently lap in the 48-second bracket, which should make him competitive tomorrow. “The whole team have understood the need to steadily build-up to the races this weekend as Tommy’s in a high pressure situation here defending his championship lead. And that approach has worked, Tommy’s feeling settled and confident so is in the best possible position – with that all important front row start – to secure two very strong rides tomorrow.” MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship Qualifying: 1. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 48.486s 2. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +0.150s 3. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +0.212s 4. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +0.305s 5. James Ellison (Swan Honda) +0.314s 6. Dan Linfoot (Motorpoint Yamaha) +0.382s 7. Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +0.388s 8. Tommy Bridewell (Quay Garage Honda) +0.427s 9. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +0.473s 10. Andrew Pitt (Motorpoint Yamaha) +0.679s More, from a press release issued by Jentin Racing: Jentin Racing-BMW Motorrad’s Steve Brogan took a well-deserved pole position in qualifying for the Knockhill round of British Superbikes. The BMW S 1000 RR rider from Liverpool has put himself in the best possible position for tomorrow’s races – and his energetic campaign to take first place in the championship standings. Following a turbulent race weekend at Leicestershire’s Mallory Park which saw Steve take a win and a DNF – and nursing a swollen wrist, the team were hoping to come back all guns blazing – and the plucky rider hasn’t dissapointed. Bernie Toleman, team manager, said: “We’re really, really pleased with Steve’s performance. He’s done top work getting right at the front of the EVO grid. But the problem we’ve got is that he had two falls at Mallory last week and is pretty sore. He’s hurt his back and he’s got a swollen wrist. He’s not at full fitness He’s really dug deep to get this result. “Tackling two 30-lap races will be hard work for him. It might just be to our advantage if the weather’s not so good tomorrow… He’s good in the wet – and it’s less physically demanding because the riding has to be smoother. The bike is running really well, we’ve got it all to do tomorrow.” The Met office are predicting light followed by heavy rain in the afternoon with – potentially – winds reaching up to 30mph around the Scottish Circuit. Steve and the team may just get those wet races… MCE British Superbikes& Mirror.co.uk BSB-EVO Race Grid for Round Six:Knockhill 1st Steve BROGAN BMW – Jentin Racing – BMW Motorrad 49.73 2nd Hudson KENNAUGH Kawasaki – MAR Kawasaki 49.98 3rd David JOHNSON Kawasaki – Two Brothers Racing 50.04 4th Aaron ZANOTTI Suzuki – Red Viper Spike Suzuki 50.34 5th Pauli PEKKANEN Suzuki – 777 RR Motorsport 50.50 6th Gary JOHNSON Suzuki – AIM Suzuki 50.56 7th Chris BURNS Aprilia – Splitlath Motorsport 50.69 8th Peter WARD Kawasaki – Astro-Chase SST Racing 50.71