Round six Sunday 5 July Knockhill ViSK British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli Josh Brookes bounced back from a spectacular crash earlier in the day to claim his first ever pole start in the ViSK British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli. The Australian scorched around the Knockhill circuit, which is hosting the sixth round, almost a third of a second faster than series leading Leon Camier. “It feels good and I never lost faith in myself,” said Brookes who is in the midst of a strong run of form, having taken third place in each of the previous three races. “It was a case of building up to where I believe that I should be. I believe that I should be at the top, and now I hope to put on a good show in the races. “We had been working on the bike, making a major step forwards, but then I chucked it up the road, half destroying it,” explained Brookes. “The team worked hard, we made changes to the suspension in each of the first two parts of Superpole and then it was a case of going for it.” He did that to good effect, powering his HM Plant Honda to a lap of 48.759secs. “I managed to string a good lap together – it got pretty spectacular from where I was sitting but I managed to hold it all together. The team have done a great job.” Brookes had re-paid the hard working efforts of his team to rebuild his bike, but, their delight was tempered by the heavy crash of Glen Richards in the final element of the Swan Combi 50 Roll for Pole in which he sustained a suspected broken right femur. Camier, whose run of four consecutive poles on the Airwaves Yamaha, had been ended by the Australian, was more concerned about his race-start: “I need to get a good one here, that is really important, everyone else has a great pace.” Local favourite Stuart Easton, riding the Hydrex Honda, like Brookes, aiming for maiden victory in the series ran third fastest, 49.110secs, with Michael Rutter aboard the Worx Crescent Suzuki completing the front row. Karl Harris, despite an unpleasant stomach bug, and then a tumble in the final seconds, headed up the second row for Hydrex Honda with a time of 49.183secs ahead of James Ellison on the second Airwaves bike. Chris Walker riding the Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha and his team-mate Graeme Gowland completed that row, ahead of Relentless Suzuki rider Ian Lowry. Gary Mason, eleventh fastest overall, was the best of the Mirror.co.uk Cup qualifiers with a lap in 49.584secs, four grid slots and a tenth of a second up on Ultimate Racing Yamaha rider Peter Hickman with Tommy Bridewell on the Team NB Suzuki third in class. Top ten qualifying times J Brookes HM Plant Honda 48.759s L Camier Airwaves Yamaha 49.056s S Easton Hydrex Honda 49.110s M Rutter Worx Crescent Suzuki 49.133s K Harris Hydrex Honda 49.183s J Ellison Airwaves Yamaha 49.348s C Walker Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha 49.383s G Gowland Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha 49.490s I Lowry Relentless Suzuki 50.404s G Richards HM Plant Honda (crashed in third element of Roll for Pole) More, from a press release issued by Airwaves Yamaha: FRONT ROW FOR AIRWAVES YAMAHA Qualifying 2nd fastest at Knockhill today, Leon Camier will start tomorrows two 30 lap British Superbike Races from the front row of the grid. James Ellison will start from the 2nd row in 6th. In a day interrupted by 4 Red Flags, Leon topped the timesheets in Qualifying 1 and 2. James joined his teammate in Qualifying 3 by going 7th fastest. Early on in the final session, with James the only rider to have completed a lap, an incident on track brought qualifying to a halt. When the session resumed, both riders pushed hard to reduce their lap times in the remaining 8 minutes. Leon immediately went fastest but was pushed down to 3rd by the Honda’s of Josh Brookes and Karl Harris. Then on lap 7 of 10, Leon posted a time of 49.056 to secure 2nd. With 3 minutes to go, James produced his best lap of the weekend, 49.348 to go 6th. Pleased with the improvements made over the weekend, James commented, “We’ve made some big steps forward this afternoon. A couple of small adjustments to the Airwaves Yamaha have made a difference. But the biggest difference has come from changes to my riding. I’m feeling a lot happier with the chicane section, which is where I was struggling yesterday. But I need to keep pushing to find more time. I’m not looking to make changes to the bike, I need to adapt my riding style further. The Airwaves Yamaha is quite a big bike, so I need to use my weight, and move around on the bike more to make it go where I want it. We’ve got good race pace for tomorrow so I’m looking forward to a couple of strong races.” After Qualifying Leon said, “It’s good to be on the front row for tomorrows races, but I’m a bit frustrated not to be on pole. Well done to Josh, he really pulled that lap out of the bag. There were a few spots of rain at the start of the final session, so I was conscious not to go onto the white lines. They can be like ice when wet. But I tried to get into a rhythm and push as hard as I could. It’s going to be important to get a good start to the races. With Knockhill being such a short circuit, it can be hard to make up time. The pace of the Honda’s looks strong so I think we’ll be in for some close racing.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Michael Rutter says he’s feeling a definite sense of relief this evening after putting the Worx Crescent Suzuki on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s BSB races at the Knockhill circuit in Fife Scotland. There was certainly pressure on Rutter to perform after the setbacks of Snetterton, yet it was a calm assured performance from Rutter that saw him secure a solid fourth-fastest lap time in the final qualifier to claim his second front row start from three meetings. Michael Rutter: “It’s been a hectic couple of days on track and certainly there’s been a lot of drama and loads of red flags today. That’s because Knockhill is a very tight track that makes for very tight lap times and it’s like a pressure cooker. After free practice there was just 0.2-seconds between me – in ninth – and the fastest… “For the team though it’s been a very positive weekend; we worked on set-up in a definite direction and that’s worked; the suspension is working really well here; everything feels good as race settings go. In qualifying it was important to stay fast from beginning to end and we did that. The same will go for tomorrow. So there’s only the one strategy: To make the best start and get out in front and stay there.” Jack Valentine – Team Manager: “This was definitely a good day at the office, today. There’s really nothing in it so far as the times go. The bike’s good too; we’ll make another small adjustment to the front suspension for tomorrow’s warm-up and maybe we’ll find a bit more still, but as it is, Michael’s very happy with everything. “Michael’s definitely got the hang of the starts with the GSX-R1000 so we’re looking forward to typical lightning Rutter starts tomorrow and to seeing him out there at the front of the pack. The preparation is all done so now it’s just a case of Michael doing the business in the races.” Pole Result: 1. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 48.759s 2. Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha) +0.297s 3. Stuart Easton (Hydrex Honda) +0.351s 4. Michael Rutter (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +0.374s 5. Karl Harris (Hydrex Honda) +0.424s 6. James Ellison (Airwaves Yamaha) +0.589s 7. Chris Walker (Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha) +0.624s 8. Graeme Gowland (Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha) +0.731s 9. Ian Lowry (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +1.645s 10. Glen Richards (HM Plant Honda).