Cal Crutchlow powered his HM Plant Honda to pole start for the seventh round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park and promised to convert his pace into a winning double to steel his chances of reeling in Shane Byrne in the title stakes. The Coventry rider enjoys riding the Cheshire circuit, having taken pole in the earlier visit there back in May then in the races he had mixed fortunes with a sixth place and then a tumble but this time around Crutchlow is determined to show what might have been. “I’m looking forward to getting back out there in the races and am keen to make amends for what happened here earlier on believe me, I will be giving it everything out there,” said Crutchlow after his success in the Swan Combi 50 Roll for Pole. His pole setting lap came in 1m 36.298secs, an average speed of 100.63mph, and it might have been better. “I was baulked a bit on one lap and it was very windy out there, a bit dodgy in places, so it might have been faster, but it is good to be back on top. Now I hope to turn this into two race wins I’ve got to go for it here, it’s my favourite circuit so really there is nothing else but achieving that.” Crutchlow, one of only three riders to have beaten the dominant Byrne so far this term, starts the races with a 97 points deficit on the Airwaves Ducati rider in the standings. There is only 0.292 seconds between them at the top of the leaderboard, with Byrne confident that he can repeat his winning double of that first visit here. Tom Sykes joined them at the front of the grid, powering his Rizla Suzuki to a 1m 36.591secs lap of this 2.692 mile circuit, just 0.001secs down on Byrne but a quarter of a second up on Leon Haslam, riding the second HM Plant bike, who completed the front row. Karl Harris, the Rob Mac Racing Yamaha, who had set the pace through Friday’s free practice ran fifth best, though within half a second of Crutchlow, to nudge Simon Andrews, aboard the Lloyds British Jentin Yamaha back a place on a second row that also included Mallory Park race winner Michael Rutter on the North West 200 Ducati and James Ellison on the Hydrex Bike Animal Honda. Tristan Palmer continued his strong performances, running ninth fastest on the Tena for Men Honda ahead of Billy McConnell, the MSS Discovery Kawasaki rider who escaped injury in a tumble. Scott Smart, riding Hawk Kawasaki, joined them on the third row together with Gary Mason, the fastest of the Daily Star Cup contenders, aboard the Quay Garage Honda. Cup leader John Laverty ran second in class on the Buildbase NW200 Ducati ahead of Riders Honda’s Martin Jessopp and Chris Burns aboard the STP MV Agusta. Leading qualifying times: 1. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) 1:36.298s 2. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) +0.292s 3. Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +0.292s 4. Leon Haslam (HM Plant Honda) +0.523s 5. Karl Harris (Rob Mac Racing Yamaha) +0.533s 6. Simon Andrews (Lloyds British Yamaha) +0.807s 7. Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati) +1.073s 8. James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +1.260s 9. Tristan Palmer (TENA for Men Honda) +1.502s 10. Billy McConnell (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +1.542s More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Rizla Suzuki’s Tom Sykes took a hard-fought third place at Oulton Park for round seven of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship while his team-mate Atsushi Watanabe came home in 13th position. The 50-minute qualifying session started off in damp conditions but the 2.69-mile Cheshire circuit dried rapidly. Sykes was always in contention for pole position and led the time-sheets for much of the session, showing he has real race-winning pace. Watanabe used his previous experience at Oulton Park to maintain his top 15 placing and will be aiming for a top-10 finish when the racing starts in anger. Race one will take place at 1315 on Sunday and race two at 1630. Tom Sykes: “I think I could have been a little further up if I hadn’t been caught up in traffic at the end of the session but third place and the front row of the grid is fine as I know I can get away well. During free practice we worked our way through a number of wet settings and we have made some progress getting the bike nicely balanced for racing in the rain if it comes tomorrow. “In the dry there is still a bit of work to be done as the front end is feeling a little vague at a couple of corners and I want the bike to be doing the work rather than me. I can put in consistent 1min 36s which is a good race pace so I feel confident ahead of tomorrow’s races.” Atsushi Watanabe: “I am happy I have improved since last Oulton Park. My lap times are better and my feeling for the track. My Rizla Suzuki technicians worked hard on rear settings to improve how my bike feels as it had a lot of movement. I want a good finish tomorrow for me and my team.” Pete Jennings – Crew Chief: “Tom did get baulked towards the end of the session which was a shame but his race pace is good, and we have a few little changes to make ahead of race day which we will evaluate during warm-up.” Qualifying results: 1: Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 1:36.298 2: Shane Byrne (Ducati) +0.292 3: Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +0.293 4: Leon Haslam (Honda) +0.523 5: Karl Harris (Yamaha) +0.533 6: Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +0.807 7: Michael Rutter (Ducati) +1.073 8: James Ellison (Honda) +1.260 9: Tristan Palmer (Honda) +1.502 10: Billy McConnell (Kawasaki) +1.542 13: Atsushi Watanabe (Rizla Suzuki) +1.754 More, from a press release issued by GSE Racing/Airwaves Ducati: BYRNE ON THE FRONT ROW FOR AIRWAVES DUCATI Airwaves Ducati rider Shane Byrne will start on the front row for round 7 of the British Superbike Championship. Shane achieved the 2nd fastest time in qualifying at Oulton Park today. Team mate Leon Camier will start from row 8. After a wet practice session in the morning, which both Airwaves Ducati riders decided to sit out, qualifying was to remain dry for the full 50 minutes. Shane pushed hard throughout the session and his fastest lap time of 1:36.590 came on lap 22 of 24. Continuing his run of starting on the front row for every race so far this season, Shane said: “I’m really happy to have secured a front row start for Airwaves Ducati. I was stuck behind traffic on my fastest lap and my final corner was sacrificed by not being able to take my normal line. I had one last chance to try and grab pole but the wind just caught me out on the first corner. But I can’t complain with second. If warm-up tomorrow morning is dry there are a few slight changes that I would like to try on the Airwaves Ducati, but if not, I’m confident that the races should bring us some good results, and importantly more championship points.” Qualifying came to a premature end for Leon when 15 minutes into the session and on his 5th lap he came off at Island bend. As he took no further part in the qualifying session, Leon was unable to better his time of 1:41.644 and so will start tomorrow’s races from 29th on the grid. Following qualifying, Airwaves Ducati Team Manager Colin Wright commented, “Leon had been doing a good job so far this weekend and he felt confident going into qualifying. The session started as planned and he was looking to get into a good rhythm but unfortunately he slipped off. Physically Leon is OK but he did take a heavy fall and he is unsure as to the reason for the crash. We will assess his condition in the morning and decide if he is fit to race.” Qualifying Result: 1. Cal Crutchlow HM Plant Honda 1:36.298 2. Shane Byrne – Airwaves Ducati 1:36.590 3. Tom Sykes Rizla Suzuki 1:36.591 4. Leon Haslam HM Plant Honda 1:36.821