Editorial Note: American James Rispoli, riding his Everquip Racing Yamaha YZF-R6, qualified seventh in British Supersport with a time of 1:29.791. Jack Kennedy took pole position with a time of 1:28.793 on his Integro Yamaha YZF-R6. Kennedy then won 11-lap British Supersport Race One, while Rispoli DNF.

American Brandon Paasch, riding his Microlise Cresswell Racing Mahindra, qualified third in British Motostar with a time of 1:33.758. Jack Scott earned pole position with a lap time of 1:32.839 on his City Lifting/R5 Racing KTM. Scott then won nine-lap Race One while Paasch placed fifth.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship

Cadwell Park, England

August 18, 2018

Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires):

From Qualifying Knockout Session Three:

1. Bradley Ray, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:26.152

2. Leon Haslam, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:26.188

3. Jake Dixon, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:26.214

4. Glenn Irwin, UK (Duc Panigale R), 1:26.226

5. Tommy Bridewell, UK (Duc Panigale R), 1:26.228

6. Danny Buchan, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:26.396

7. Christian Iddon, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:26.812

8. Peter Hickman, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:26.868

9. Josh Brookes, Australia (Yam YZF-R1), 1:27.010

From Qualifying Knockout Session Two:

10. Luke Mossey, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:26.938

11. Tarran Mackenzie, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 1:27.021

12. Jason O’Halloran, UK (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), 1:27.032

13. James Ellison, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 1:27.073

14. Richard Cooper, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:27.075

15. Michael Laverty, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:27.075

16. Andrew Irwin, UK (Duc Panigale R), 1:27.140

17. Martin Jessopp, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:27.494

18. Gino Rea, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:27.894

From Qualifying Knockout Session One:

19. Mason Law, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:28.346

20. Chrissy Rouse, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:28.409

21. Sylvain Barrier, France (BMW S1000RR), 1:28.669

22. Tom Neave, UK (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), 1:28.739

23. Shaun Winfield, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 1:28.934

24. Fraser Rogers, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:28.995

25. Aaron Zanotti, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:32.121

More, from a press release issued by MotorSport Vision Racing:

Resurgent Ray surges to Cadwell Park pole position

Bradley Ray claimed his third pole position of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship season in an incredibly close Datatag Qualifying session at Cadwell Park this afternoon, surging ahead of his rivals to secure the top spot for the Buildbase Suzuki team ahead of tomorrow’s opening race in Lincolnshire.

Just 0.858s covered the top nine in the intense final stage of Datatag Qualifying as championship Leon Haslam set the initial benchmark on the JG Speedfit Kawasaki before Ray, who is bidding to secure his position in the Showdown, upped the pace to move ahead by 0.036s.

Jake Dixon will complete the front row for race one on the RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki after he set the pace yesterday in free practice. Glenn Irwin narrowly missed out on a front row start in fourth place, but only just with a margin of just 0.002s between the Be Wiser Ducati rider and Tommy Bridewell on the Moto Rapido Ducati.

Danny Buchan secured the final second row starting position for the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki team after he made a mistake on his flying lap and despite trying to improve his position he starts sixth on the grid.

Christian Iddon was the leading BMW rider in Datatag Qualifying at Cadwell Park; he starts seventh on the grid after diving through to the final Q3 stage for the Tyco-backed squad with local contender Peter

Hickman completing the second row for Smiths Racing BMW.

Josh Brookes will start ninth on the grid after forcing his way through to Q3 on the McAMS Yamaha in a tough session for the 2015 champion who is aiming to add to his recent podium-finishing momentum.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Cadwell Park, Datatag Qualifying:

1.Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) 1m:26.152s

2.Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.036s

3.Jake Dixon (RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki) +0.062s

4.Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.074s

5.Tommy Bridewell (Moto Rapido Ducati) +0.076s

6.Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +0.244s

7.Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +0.660s

8.Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +0.716s

9.Josh Brookes (McAMS Yamaha) +0.858s

For more information visit www.britishsuperbike.com

Bradley Ray

(Buildbase Suzuki)

Pole position rider

“The last few rounds have been very, very difficult and I’ve been trying and trying to push on and get the best results we can, and maybe pushing on too much and putting too much pressure on myself.

“I’ve come into this weekend quite chilled and it seems to be working at the moment, hopefully we’ll go back to our old self that we were at Donington and Brands. The team has been working really hard to find the problem we’ve been having with the bike.

“To get pole here at Cadwell Park is amazing considering it’s not one of my favourite tracks. It’s really, really good and obviously it makes the race a lot easier to start from pole and to get up in the front group so it should be a close, interesting race tomorrow.”

More, from a press release issued by Be Wiser Ducati:

 Second Row Start For Irwin at Cadwell Park

Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin defied the pain and discomfort from an injured shoulder to qualify in fourth place for tomorrow’s opening race at round eight of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park.

The 28 year old came into qualifying having set the fifth fastest time overall across the free practice sessions but a spill in the opening one on Friday morning saw him damage the same shoulder he injured in 2017. With a heavily strapped shoulder restricting his movement somewhat on the factory-backed Ducati Panigale R, he nevertheless was able to comfortably progress in the three stages of qualifying.

As expected, he got quicker in each session and after placing second in Q2 behind championship leader Leon Haslam, he was well placed to challenge for pole position in Q3 which is exactly what he did.

The Carrickfergus rider put in a lap of 1m26.226s which was only 0.074s adrift of the pole position time of Bradley Ray but such was the closeness in the times, he had to settle for fourth place and the second row for tomorrow’s opening 18-lap race around the 2.18-mile circuit.

Team-mate and brother Andrew Irwin was 14th quickest overall during practice and hoped to improve upon this in qualifying but although he made it into Q2, the times were extremely tight and, despite being only 0.8s slower than Haslam, it was good enough only for 16th which will see him head off the sixth row and with plenty of work to do around the tight and twisty Lincolnshire venue.

Glenn Irwin: “Having taken the tumble and injured my shoulder, I’m reasonably happy with fourth place especially given how I felt at the beginning of the day. The physios did a great job for me and I felt good going into qualifying although I did have a couple of moments when the front folded on me in the early stages. I sat back a bit to get some heat back into the front tyre and then had a real good go and to be only 0.074s off pole is pretty pleasing although it’s also a bit frustrating to be so close to pole yet still end up on the second row! It’s my fastest ever lap around Cadwell and our race pace should be good whilst we’re still fine tuning the chassis and electronics so we should be set for two good races.”

Andrew Irwin: “16th isn’t where I want to be qualifying and, obviously, I want to be a lot further up the grid but today wasn’t my day. I don’t think I got the most out of the bike for some reason but whilst 16th doesn’t look the best on paper, I was only 0.2s off making it into Q3 so it’s extremely close. I’ve qualified well at recent rounds but today wasn’t one of those although it’s race day that matters most so I’ll happily take a poor qualifying performance for two good results! Tomorrow’s a new day so we’ll go again with the usual aim for top ten finishes and a good lap time in race one to put me in a better position for race two.”

Johnny Mowatt, Team Co-ordinator: “It was a good qualifying performance from Glenn given his level of fitness and it wasn’t the ideal start to the weekend injuring the shoulder that put him out for three months in 2017. He got some rest overnight and we always knew it was going to be close amongst the leading group so we’re happy with fourth especially as Glenn should be that little bit stronger tomorrow. Andrew’s been trying to find a good feel with the front end of the bike, especially in sector three, where he’s losing a bit of time so we’ll go through the data this evening and do a track walk to see where we can improve the bike for him. The times are very close so that’s a positive thing but Cadwell is such a tough track to overtake on with three main opportunities so grid position is crucial. He’ll have a lot to do from 16th but we’ll give him the best bike possible to enable him to make progress.”