Camier completes a hat-trick of pole starts Round four May 30/31 Thruxton ViSK British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli Leon Camier, the leader of the ViSK British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli completed a hat-trick of pole starts ahead of the fourth round at Thruxton, running a third of a second up on his Airwaves Yamaha team-mate James Ellison. Camier, who is based at nearby Wimbourne, had been the dominant force throughout free practice and qualifying at the Hampshire circuit and looks all set to add to his four race winning spree to increase his 28 points lead in the title stakes over Ellison. “We had the pace pretty well early on and didn’t need to do that many laps although I expected to go faster, having done better times in free practice,” reflected Camier after his lap of 1m 14.913secs, at an average speed of 113.32mph. “It would be good if I could get a good start for the race, though I’ll no doubt have to pick my way through the pack again,” added Camier with a smile, although he was keen to solve why he had not been able to match his earlier lap record breaking pace in the Swan Combi 50 Roll for Pole: “We’ll have to figure out why I didn’t improve my lap times in the final grid decider.” Ellison, eager to add to his maiden victory in the championship scored last time out at Donington Park admitted: “I’ve been trying my hardest and been struggling. At the back of mind I was concerned if I would have the pace but the whole team including Leon clubbed together to get me up to second.” Gary Mason, the leading privateer Mirror.co.uk Cup racer in the series, stunned the factory backed riders by putting his Quay Garage Honda on the front row, third fastest, with a lap in 1m 15.351secs. “I’ve only ever had one front row start before I can’t believe that I am here.” Michael Rutter, deputising for the injured Sylvain Guintoli on the Worx Crescent Suzuki, surprised even himself as he ran fourth, 1m 15.400secs, reflecting: “This is just awesome. I didn’t expect to have the ride let alone be on the front row I’m a bit emotional about it all.” Glen Richards, riding the HM Plant Honda, headed the second row from the Hydrex Honda duo of Karl Harris and Stuart Easton with Ian Lowry on the Relentless Suzuki eighth fastest. That eased Josh Brookes aboard the second HM Plant Honda onto the third row together with the MSS Colchester Kawasaki duo of Simon Andrews and Julian da Costa who sandwiched SMT Honda’s Jason O’Halloran. Tom Tunstall, riding the Hardinge Doodson Honda, was the second of the Cup qualifiers, running 17th overall with a time of 1m 16.912secs, some 0.055secs up on Peter Hickman riding the Ultimate Racing Yamaha. Top ten qualifying times Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha) 1m:14.913s James Ellison (Airwaves Yamaha) +0.339s Gary Mason (Quay Garage Honda) +0.438s Michael Rutter (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +0.487s Glen Richards (Quay Garage Honda) +0.534s Karl Harris (Hydrex Honda) +0.577s Stuart Easton (Hydrex Honda) +0.617s Ian Lowry (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +0.649s Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +0.815s Simon Andrews (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +0.845s More, from a press release issued by GSE Racing/Airwaves Yamaha: POLE HAT TRICK FOR AIRWAVES YAMAHA Leon Camier today claimed a third-straight pole position for Round 4 of the 2009 British Superbike Championship. Qualifying alongside him for tomorrow’s two races at Thruxton in Hampshire, is teammate James Ellison. Leon and James went into the final 10-minute qualifying phase having posted the 1st and 5th fastest times in the previous session. Leon immediately went to the top of the timesheets once again. The only rider to break the sub-1 minute 15 second barrier, his pole time of 1:14.913 came on lap 3 of 6. James meanwhile made a big step forward, improving on his previous time by almost half a second to 1:15.252. Having broken the lap record earlier in the day with 1:14.678, Leon had hoped for more in Qualifying saying, “I’m actually a bit disappointed with my pole time today. It’s slower than my lap from this morning which is frustrating. We went for a softer tyre for the final run expecting to go quicker. But the wind picked up and it didn’t work out. It would be good to get a decent start to a race for a change, but I’m sure I’ll have a battle on my hands as usual! I live nearby in Wimborne for most of the year so Thruxton is like a home race for me. It’ll be great to win in front of friends, family and the Airwaves Yamaha fans.” After qualifying James commented, “I’m really pleased to qualify 2nd, but to hear Leon’s not happy with 1:14.913 is a little depressing! I’ve been struggling to match Leon’s pace all weekend but he’s helped me massively today. I have to say thank you to him for getting me on the front row. Behind Leon the times are close so it should make for exciting racing tomorrow. If we’re fast and consistent early on, I’m confident of some good results for Airwaves Yamaha tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office: Worx Crescent Suzuki stand-in rider Michael Rutter has qualified the on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s British Superbike Championship round at Thruxton in Hampshire, posting fourth-fastest time in today’s roll-for-pole qualifiers after an intense two days of getting to know the 2009 Suzuki GSX-R1000. Rutter is replacing Sylvain Guintoli who was injured last weekend at Donington Park. He came into the event with no experience of the new GSX-R1000, yet he quickly found his feet, placing sixth fastest in first free practice and working confidently through making the necessary adjustments to optimise the set-up for this circuit. Michael Rutter: “We’re so pleased with a front row start. It’s been a gradual process in getting up to speed over the past two days. On Friday we purposely chose to work with just two hard tyres, working specifically on set-up and getting the bike to work at this difficult circuit. I have to say Sylvain has done a fantastic job on the base setting. The changes we have made have really only been to account for the special demands of this circuit, otherwise it’s exactly as he would have it. “The team has been great; the one-rider focus is a great luxury that I’m really enjoying. So, yes, I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. There’s still work to do, but we’re looking good.” Jack Valentine – team manager: “This is a fantastic result. Michael has come into the team with no practice on the bike and very quickly got himself dialled into the set-up. We said when we took him on that he’s a quality rider and as he had two podiums here we knew he could go well. As it is, his front row qualifying shows exactly the class of rider he is. “We’ve had to change the bike set-up this weekend, but that’s because of the circuit and not the rider. In fact Michael pretty much likes the bike set-up the way Sylvain had it. Here at Thruxton the bike spends a lot of time on the edge of its tyres at high speed while also dealing with plenty of bumps and undulations so it calls for a super stable set-up. “We’re going to try one more set-up tomorrow in warm-up, but whether that works or not I think Michael has every opportunity of two podium finishes tomorrow.” ViSK British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli, Thruxton, Swan Combi 50 – Roll for Pole result: 1. Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha) 1m: 14.913s 2. James Ellison (Airwaves Yamaha) +0.339s 3. Gary Mason (Quay Garage Honda) +0.438s 4. Michael Rutter (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +0.487s 5. Glen Richards (Quay Garage Honda) +0.534s 6. Karl Harris (Hydrex Honda) +0.577s 7. Stuart Easton (Hydrex Honda) +0.617s 8. Ian Lowry (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +0.649s 9. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +0.815s 10. Simon Andrews (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +0.845s