MCE British Superbike Championship
Thruxton Circuit, England
August 1, 2015
Qualifying Results (All on Pirelli tires):
From Qualifying Three:
1. Josh Brookes, Australia (Yamaha), 1:14.464
2. John Hopkins, USA (Ducati), 1:14.676
3. Luke Mossey, UK (Kawasaki), 1:14.899
4. Dan Linfoot, UK (Honda), 1:14.981
5. James Ellison, UK (Kawasaki), 1:15.098
6. Peter Hickman, UK (BMW), 1:15.230
7. Christian Iddon, UK (Suzuki), 1:15.290
8. Richard Cooper, UK (Kawasaki), 1:15.392
9. Danny Buchan, UK (Kawasaki), 1:15.582
10. Howie Mainwaring Smart, UK (Kawasaki), no time recorded in Qualifying Three
From Qualifying Two:
11. Tommy Bridewell, UK (BMW), 1:15.176
12. Jack Kennedy, Ireland (Kawasaki), 1:15.235
13. Chris Walker, UK (Kawasaki), 1:15.300
14. James Westmoreland, UK (Kawasaki), 1:15.327
15. Filip Backlund, Sweden (Kawasaki), 1:15.342
16. Jason O’Halloran, Australia (Honda), 1:15.342
17. Shane Byrne, UK (Kawasaki), 1:15.357
18. Ian Hutchinson, UK (Kawasaki), 1:15.459
19. Lee Jackson, UK (BMW), 1:15.790
20. Michael Laverty, UK (BMW), 1:15.828
From Qualifying One:
21. Josh Waters, Australia (Suzuki), 1:15.741
22. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Japan (BMW), 1:15.759
23. Martin Jessopp, UK (BMW), 1:15.800
24. Adam Jenkinson, UK (Yamaha), 1:16.383
25. Barry Burrell, UK (Kawasaki), 1:16.428
26. Taylor Mackenzie, UK (Kawasaki), 1:16.964
27. Shaun Winfield, UK (Kawasaki), 1:17.214
28. Aaron Zanotti, UK (Yamaha), 1:17.522
29. Jed Metcher, Australia (Kawasaki), 1:17.659
30. Billy McConnell, Australia (BMW), no time recorded
31. Lee Costello, UK (Kawasaki), no time recorded
32. Jenny Tinmouth, UK (Honda), no time recorded
American James Rispoli, riding his Team Traction Control Yamaha YZF-R6, qualified fifth in British Supersport and finished third in Race One.
More, from a press release issued by MotorSport Vision:
Brookes back on top from Hopkins as Shakey struggles at Thruxton
Results
Datatag Qualifying:
1: Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 1m:14.464s
2: John Hopkins (Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati) +0.212s
3: Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +0.435s
4: Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +0.517s
5: James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.634s
6: Peter Hickman (RAF Reserves BMW) +0.766s
Report
Josh Brookes continued his momentum in the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship by lapping under the existing record to scorch his Milwaukee Yamaha to his second pole position of the season ahead of the seventh round at Thruxton.
The Australian bids to continue his winning form from the previous round and he held off American John Hopkins by 0.212s to hold the advantage from the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati rider. His main title rival Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne struggled in qualifying and will start on the sixth row in 16th position.
PBM Kawasaki’s Byrne holds a slender five point lead in the standings ahead of Brookes, but struggled throughout practice and qualifying and now faces an uphill battle after his worst qualifying performance since 2011 at the Hampshire circuit.
MCE BSB rookie Luke Mossey makes his debut on the front row of the grid onboard the Quattro Plant Tec-Care Kawasaki ahead of Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot who leads the second row alongside James Ellison on the JG Speedfit Kawasaki and RAF Reserves BMW rider Peter Hickman.
Christian Iddon heads the third row on the Bennetts Suzuki ahead of Richard Cooper on the Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki and Danny Buchan on the Be Wiser Kawasaki with the top nine riders representing six different manufacturers.
Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran crashed out of the second stage of Datatag Qualifying at Noble, breaking his right femur in the crash.
For more information visit www.britishsuperbike.com
Josh Brookes
(Milwaukee Yamaha)
“I didn’t know that I would have that time in me after Q2 seeing John’s lap was impressive as you always leave a little bit to the end as you don’t want to make a mistake and crash in Q2 and miss out. I knew I had a little in reserve but I didn’t know it would be that much. I put everything on the line and did a really good lap time, put my head down and tried to match it again and the first part of the lap was good, then in the final chicane I fell onto the side of the apex a little too aggressively and it interrupted my acceleration onto the straight and fortunately I improved and maintained the pole position.
“I am really happy for the Milwaukee Yamaha team as they have given me a bike to really push for it this weekend and I am confident to ride it how I want. It is good to see a bit of a change at the front having John back and Luke Mossey up into the frame and Cooper at the last round – I am sure the fans are going to enjoy it.
“Shakey is having a so-so weekend and we have had the perfect start – the pole position was the cherry on the top. I thought maybe he was playing a card and was saving it for qualifying but that wasn’t the case. We will see what happens tomorrow but I am feeling confident.”
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
BENNETTS SUZUKI’S IDDON 3RD-ROW AT THRUXTON BSB
Christian Iddon qualified in seventh place aboard his Bennetts Suzuki GSX-R1000 at Thruxton and will head up the third-row of the grid for tomorrow’s seventh round of the MCE British Superbike Championship.
With the team making progress all weekend, Iddon consistently improved his lap times over the free practice sessions and progressed from the first qualifying session in fifth. Q2 saw the Bennetts Suzuki rider in second place, before he posted the seventh-fastest time in the third session.
Christian Iddon:
“It would have been nice to have had a tow in that last session rather than the other way around, but it’s swings and roundabouts. I’m disappointed with seventh but being disappointed shows where I think we should be this weekend. You have to slow down to go fast here and I just tried a bit too hard in that last session; if the bike’s spinning and sliding you’re not going forward. But our pace is good and I’m confident ahead of the races. Tyre life is key around here and we’ve gained a lot of info from practice on used tyres, and we have more to try in warm-up. I’m looking forward to going racing now.”
Josh Waters, fresh from his time out at the Suzuka 8-Hours also made steady progress with the set-up of his GSX-R1000 and was moving further up the time sheets.
After posting a strong lap in Q1, the team gambled on not setting another lap-time in order to save a tyre for the remaining sessions. However, the double Australian Superbike Champion was shuffled out of the top 20 in the closing stages and it cost him the chance to start further up the grid. Waters will start from 21st but is confident of getting himself up the order in the races.
Josh Waters:
“I’m feeling a bit frustrated after qualifying because my pace is better than where we are on the grid. The team took a gamble and unfortunately it didn’t pay off. But I’m feeling loads better on the bike and we’ve made lots of improvements. The races will be tough but we’ve spent a lot of time on used tyres in practice any my times have been good so I’m confident of my race pace.”
Martin Halsall – Team Owner:
“We’ve made steady progress this weekend with both riders and we’re starting to see more-and-more examples of what we know we’re capable of as a team. Christian’s lap times speak for themselves and it’s a little frustrating that he inadvertently gave a few riders a tow in the final qualifying session; otherwise we could probably have been on the first two rows of the grid. But his pace is promising for tomorrow’s races.
“Josh has been feeling more comfortable on the bike every time he goes out on it and it’s shown in the improvement in his lap-times. We took a gamble in qualifying to give him a better shot of being further-up the grid tomorrow and unfortunately it didn’t pay off. The times are so close around here and he was just bumped outside the top-20 in the final minute of Q1. But we’re sure he’ll make his way forward in the races.”
More, from a press release issued by Milwaukee Yamaha:
Milwaukee Yamaha’s Brookes claims pole position at Thruxton
Josh Brookes claimed his second pole position for the Milwaukee Yamaha team at Thruxton, beating the opposition to the top spot ahead of the seventh round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship.
Brookes lapped under the existing circuit record to lead the opposition as he bids to take the advantage in the overall standings, the Australian is currently five points adrift of the standings leader Shane Byrne.
Adam Jenkinson will start from the eighth row in 23rd position as he prepares to make his race debut on the Milwaukee Yamaha.
Josh Brookes
“I didn’t know if I could do it, I’d seen John’s [Hopkins] lap in Q2 and thought ‘that was a good lap’! I knew I had a little bit in reserve but I didn’t think it would be that much but I put everything on the line and got my head down. I tried to match it again and came through at the end, in the final chicane I fell on to the side of the apex a bit aggressively and I was worried that someone might have gone quicker but I improved again.
“I’m really pleased for the Milwaukee team; they’ve given me a bike which I can really push on this weekend. It might not look good on the TV but I’m confident to ride it like that. It’s good to see a change up at the front with John back and Luke coming into the frame as well. It’s good to see some other names and I’m sure the fans will enjoy it.”
Adam Jenkinson
“I have been adapting to the Milwaukee Yamaha and we are going to have a look into making some more changes ahead of the races. I was a bit disappointed as I thought I had more pace than we showed this afternoon, but it took a bit of time to get used to the bike after getting off the Superstock bike, but we are getting there. Now I am looking for two steady races on the Superbike tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by James Rispoli’s publicist:
Daytona, Florida- James Rispoli kicked off Saturday’s sprint race at the Thruxton Circuit on the gas. The Floridian rode his Team Traction Control Yamaha R6 to a third place podium finish after laying down a scorching new race record time of 1:16.247 and setting his first international pole position for Sunday’s feature race. Rispoli had this to say, “I can’t thank my team enough. We have been gaining momentum each race and our progress is showing we can run at the sharp end of the stick on a regular basis. We will do everything we can to continue this trend and gain valuable points.” Rispoli continued, “the race was a real scrap for second and I hope the fans really enjoyed the close fought battles and come back tomorrow for more.”
Tomorrows feature race will be on at 12:35pm EST.