Shane Byrne claimed pole start for the fifth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, heading off the challenge of Cal Crutchlow, seconds before a rain shower effectively ended the Swan Combi 50 Roll for Pole session at Snetterton. The Airwaves Ducati rider, who had made the early running in the session, had come under fire from HM Plant Honda rider Leon Haslam before Crutchlow, currently second into the title stakes, though 68 points down on Byrne, took over at the top of the qualifying leaderboard. Byrne hit back strongly, timing the lap that took him to a fourth pole start of the campaign to perfection, recording a time of 1m 05.162secs, an average speed of 107.84mph, and just 0.099secs up on Crutchlow, when the rains fell spoiling what was promising to be a real scrap for supremacy at the Norfolk circuit. “It’s been a tough couple of weeks for us, but we’ve come through it all and done a good job here,” said Byrne. “I enjoy riding this circuit, although it has been hard on me in the past, but we have had no problems here, with the bike running smoothly, with a good setting. “I’ve never had so many poles as I’m taking this season it is proving to be a great year and I put that down to us not running qualifying tyres, rather working for smooth, consistent laps, rather than just going out there and putting in one fast one.” Crutchlow and Haslam have Leon Camier, riding the second Airwaves bike, sandwiched in between them on the front row of the grid, with the top four separated by only a third of a second. Tom Sykes, riding the Rizla Suzuki, was only a split second down, starting from the second row of the grid with Karl Harris aboard the Rob Mac Yamaha alongside him. Michael Rutter on the North West 200 Ducati and Relentless Suzuki’s Michael Laverty. Aussie Billy McConnell headed the third row aboard the MSS Discovery Kawasaki, though by only 0.031secs from James Ellison, riding the Hydrex Bike Animal Honda, as the top ten all ran within a second of each other. Gary Mason was the fastest of the Daily Star Cup contenders, securing a fourth row start, sixteenth fastest, aboard his Quay Garage Honda with a lap of 1m 06.924secs to be just ahead of the series leading John Laverty riding the Buildbase NW200 Ducati. Tom Tunstall, Leon Morris, Shannon Etheridge and Martin Jessopp completed the Cup qualifiers. Bennetts British Superbike Championship top ten qualifiers 1. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) 1m:05.162s 2. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) +0.099s 3. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) +0.258s 4. Leon Haslam (HM Plant Honda) +0.335s 5. Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +0.378s 6. Karl Harris (Rob Mac Racing Yamaha) +0.743s 7. Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati) +0.779s 8. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki) +0.845s 9. Billy McConnell (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +0.920s 10. James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +0.951s More, from a press release issued by Airwaves Ducati: FRONT ROW FOR AIRWAVES DUCATI Both Airwaves Ducati’s will start from the front row of the grid for round 5 of the British Superbike Championship at Snetterton tomorrow. Shane Byrne set the fastest time of the weekend to take pole position ahead of his team mate Leon Camier in 3rd. Having been 1st and 3rd in practice this morning both Airwaves Ducati riders were confident ahead of qualifying. Shane pushed hard early in the session, recording his fastest time of 1:05.162 with 30 minutes remaining to take pole. Leon’s fastest time of 1:05.420 placed him 3rd before rain interrupted the session. In the final 15 minutes Leon returned to the circuit to complete 5 laps in the wet conditions however Shane ended his session once the rain started having completed 14 laps. Following his 4th pole position of the season Shane commented; “It has been a good weekend for me so far and I am really pleased with pole position. I have been fastest in every session and the Airwaves Ducati is feeling great. I had a good session this morning and the team have done a great job with my bike as it has been feeling fantastic all weekend. I obviously missed second practice yesterday as my fiancée was in hospital, when I went back to see her earlier today she asked me to get pole position for her which I have managed to do so I am very happy. We knew at the start of qualifying that rain was possible so my aim was to get some quick laps in early, which thankfully I managed to do. The Airwaves Ducati is working really well here at Snetterton and I am confident for a good performance in the races tomorrow.” Having achieved his first front row start of the year Leon was pleased with his day saying; “I have felt really good today and I am pleased with how qualifying has gone. It was my aim to get on the front row and I have managed to do that; the Airwaves Ducati is feeling really good and now that I have decided on which Pirelli tyre to go for I am confident that I can do well tomorrow. I am pleased I got to practice in the wet, although the conditions were tough. I am not sure what the weather is going to do tomorrow but either way I am looking forward to the races.” Round 5 of the British Superbike championship gets underway tomorrow, Sunday June 15th, with race one at 13.00pm followed by race two at 16.30pm. Qualifying 1. Shane Byrne Airwaves Ducati 1:05.162 2. Cal Crutchlow HM Plant Honda 1:05.261 3. Leon Camier Airwaves Ducati 1:05.420 4. Leon Haslam HM Plant Honda 1:05.497 More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Tom Sykes will head the second row of the grid from fifth place after his bid for pole position was foiled by heavy rain mid-way through the qualifying session for the fifth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Snetterton in Norfolk. The 23-year-old Lancashire ace had been consistently at the top of the time sheets throughout all three dry practices and was building up his pace during the 50-minute session when the rain fell and scuppered any chance of improving with 30-minutes remaining. His lap-times in the dry mark him out as a potential race winner tomorrow. Rizla Suzuki team mate Atsushi Watanabe, on his first visit to the 1.952-mile airfield track, qualified 12th after taking more than three seconds off his lap times from the first practice session. The reigning Japanese Superbike Champion is learning fast and was sure he could have achieved a second row start if the session had stayed dry. Ducati’s Shane Byrne took pole position. Tom Sykes: “It’s hard not to be disappointed in fifth place after being in the top two in the previous sessions, but the truth is we are in much better shape than the qualifying result. We didn’t go banzai at the start of qualifying because we wanted to put together a tyre test and that shows that I can run mid 1min 5secs laps right at the end of the race – that puts us in contention. “My practice starts have been good and if I can replicate that tomorrow I’ll be right at the sharp end from the first corner. I don’t think anyone will be able to break away and I am confident for the race – my Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000 is spot on and my team has done a fantastic job all weekend and deserve a sup of champagne.” Atsushi Watanabe: “We have made much progress every session and I go faster and faster. In qualifying I think top eight and second row is possible and then rain falls and ruins my chances. This means I must wait to tomorrow before challenging for top eight. Well done to my team for such good support. Snetterton is a scary track to learn in just 2.5-hours with very fast speed at end of straight. To be close to the top lap times is big achievement and I hope I can continue my improvement in races.” Jack Valentine – Team Manager: “We should be higher up the grid with Tom and Atsu, I think both have more pace than their qualifying positions suggest, but when it rains mid-way through a session there’s not much anyone can do about it. Tom naturally builds his speed and was on a race run when it rained, while Atsu has been improving almost every lap and the rain couldn’t have come at a worse time. “But Rizla Suzuki is very upbeat. On race rubber Tom is grease lightning quick and on the same pace as the front row, if not faster, so we expect a podium or better from him. As for Atsu, he’s determined, improving and getting faster; the top 10 is his target and I think he has the bike and ability to achieve it. “You can feel the momentum building with the team and despite a slightly disappointing qualification, there is no doubt Rizla Suzuki has the ability to challenge for wins tomorrow. We can’t wait for the racing.” Qualifying Results 1: Shane Byrne (Ducati) 1:05.162 2: Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +0.099 3: Leon Camier (Ducati) +0.258 4: Leon Haslam (Honda) +0.335 5: Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +0.378 6: Karl Harris (Yamaha) +0.743 7: Michael Rutter (Ducati) +0.779 8: Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +0.845 9: Billy McConnell (Kawasaki) +0.920 10: James Ellison (Honda) +0.951 12: Atsushi Watanabe (Rizla Suzuki) +1.404