MCE British Superbike Championship
Oulton Park, England
May 1, 2016
Qualifying Results (wet conditions, all on Pirelli tires):
From Knockout Session Three:
1. Leon Haslam, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:43.633
2. James Ellison, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:44.085
3. Jason O’Halloran, Australia (Hon CBR1000RR SP), 1:44.153
4. Dan Linfoot, UK (Hon CBR1000RR SP), 1:44.186
5. Christian Iddon, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:44.270
6. Michael Laverty, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:44.503
7. Alastair Seeley, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:44.559
8. Jack Kennedy, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:45.058
9. Lee Jackson, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:45.232
From Knockout Session Two:
10. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Japan (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:46.137
11. Tommy Bridewell, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:46.188
12. Richard Cooper, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:46.205
13. Luke Mossey, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:46.401
14. Peter Hickman, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:46.414
15. John Hopkins, USA (Yam YZF-R1), 1:46.564
16. Billy McConnell, Australia (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:46.793
17. Michael Dunlop, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:47.454
18. Shane Byrne, UK (Duc Panigale R), no lap time recorded in Knockout Session Two
From Knockout Session One:
19. Howie Mainwaring Smart, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:47.879
20. Filip Backlund, Sweden (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:48.511
21. James Rispoli, USA (Yam YZF-R1), 1:48.778
22. Stuart Easton, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 1:48.802
23. Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic (BMW S1000RR), 1:48.979
24. Martin Jessopp, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:49.236
25. Danny Buchan, UK (Duc Panigale R), 1:49.714
26. Jenny Tinmouth, UK (Hon CBR1000RR SP), 1:51.160
27. Aaron Zanotti, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 1:52.494
28. Shaun Winfield, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 1:53.608
29. Glenn Irwin, UK (Duc Panigale R), no lap time recorded
30. Matej Smrz, Czech Republic (BMW S1000RR), no lap time recorded
More, from a press release issued by MotorSport Vision Racing:
Haslam snatches pole position from Ellison in an intense Datatag Qualifying at Oulton Park
Leon Haslam will start from pole position for tomorrow’s opening MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race at Oulton Park after snatching the pole position on the JG Speedfit Kawasaki, just ahead of his team-mate James Ellison.
In a dramatic Datatag Qualifying Haslam kept his cool in a hectic wet Superpole session; with five different riders holding the top spot during the eight minute battle for the pole position. Initially Alastair Seeley had set the first flying lap on the Royal Air Force BMW, but before long Christian Iddon pushed ahead to make the Tyco BMW the target at the top.
Ellison was relishing the wet conditions and he launched to a faster time in the final minutes, but it was short lived as Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran then carved his way to the top. Ellison was instantly on the counter attack and he returned to the top position with his next flying lap. Haslam wasn’t done with his last run though and in the final minute the Derbyshire rider stole the pole position.
Dan Linfoot will head the second row of the race one grid for the Honda Racing team after he climbed ahead of Iddon in the closing stages of the session, with the Tyco BMW pairing completing the second row with Michael Laverty.
Seeley will start from the third row ahead of Team WD-40 Kawasaki’s Jack Kennedy who had his best qualifying performance of the season so far in eighth with Lee Jackson completing the top nine.
It was a difficult session for Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne; the four-time champion will start 18th on the grid after a tough Q2; the Be Wiser Ducati rider had a moment through the gravel at Lodge at the mid-way point of the second stage before crashing out unhurt a lap later at Hizzys.
It was also a tough session for the second Be Wiser Ducati; Glenn Irwin suffered a clutch problem on his first lap and was forced to miss the remainder of Datatag Qualifying; he will start on the back row of the grid.
Danny Buchan was also left disappointed after Datatag Qualifying after he was ruled out on medical grounds for the remainder of the weekend after suffering concussion in a crash at Knickerbrook during Q1.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Datatag Qualifying:
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 1m:43.633s
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.452s
Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing) +0.520s
Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +0.553s
Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +0.637s
Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) +0.870s
Alastair Seeley (Royal Air Force BMW) +0.926s
Jack Kennedy (Team WD-40 Kawasaki) +1.425s
Lee Jackson (Buildbase BMW) +1.599s
For more information visit www.britishsuperbike.com
Pole position rider:
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki)
“I am happy to be on pole position, especially here at Oulton Park. We had finished the free practice session earlier today feeling confident of where the spins were going to come and then when we went back out again it felt different, so I was making some mistakes.
“I knew I had to stay out on track and just make the most of it, and then on my last lap I managed to do it. I didn’t know I had taken pole as I had P4 on my board before that so I have to thank the team for their hard work today as it was our first full day in the wet conditions. We will wait and see what happens tomorrow but we know it will be a really close race no matter what happens.”
More, from a press release issued by Be Wiser Ducati Racing:
Challenging Qualifying For Be Wiser Ducati
The Penrith-based Be Wiser Ducati Racing Team endured a challenging day at Oulton Park for round two of the 2016 MCE British Superbike Championship today with both Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne and ShakeyGlenn Irwin encountering problems during this afternoon’s Datatag Extreme Qualifying session.
Aboard the factory-backed Be Wiser Ducati Panigale R, 39-year-old Londoner Byrne set the pace in the first qualifying session, held in wet conditions at the Cheshire venue, and clearly had a good set-up to suit the inclement weather.
However, a slide on the opening lap of the second Q2 session, led to him running on into the gravel trap at Lodge Corner and two thirds of the way round the next lap, he highsided out of the action at Hizzy’s Chicane. With the handlebar broken, he was unable to rejoin the action meaning he’ll have to do it the hard way in tomorrow’s opening 18-lap race as he’ll be starting from 18th and the sixth row of the grid.
Team-mate Irwin didn’t fare any better either and an unfortunate technical problem on the very first lap meant his qualifying session was over before it had begun. A clutch issue forced him to park the bike trackside and with no time for the team to make the necessary repairs to get him back out on track, the 26-year-old Ulsterman from Carrickfergus will subsequently have to start tomorrow’s first race from the very back of the grid.
Shane Byrne: “It was a difficult qualifying session to sum up! The bike was working fantastically well in the wet and I was feeling really confident but at the start of Q2, I was putting in a fast out lap when I locked the front going into Lodge and I nearly went down. I ran onto the gravel and thought luck was on our side so rejoined and tried to be easy on the front a bit. In the middle of Hizzy’s though, the bike came round on me and whilst you think you can save them, sometimes you know that’s not going to happen. I’m disappointed for the whole Be Wiser Ducati team after the problem with Glenn’s bike but we have a lot of positives to take particularly being fastest in Q1 and having a great feeling with the bike. We’ll see what tomorrow brings and hopefully our bad luck is behind us.”
Glenn Irwin: “Having the technical problem so early in the session was really frustrating, naturally, as I’d been fast in the dry and fast in the wet so was confident of two top ten finishes on race day. Glenn IrwinEverything was working well but starting from the back row of the grid for race one will make that hard now so it will be damage limitation and I’ll be looking to set some good lap times to haul myself up the grid for race two. I came from 25th to 14th at Silverstone so I’ll need to be aggressive again tomorrow.”
Phil Borley, Technical Director: “Everything had been going well up until qualifying but then everything that could have gone wrong did so. We had the engine issue with Glenn’s bike which was obviously a real shame as he’d been going well, particularly in the wet, but on the flip side Shakey was quickest in Q1. We had a slight problem with his bike which delayed him going out, only by a couple of minutes, but perhaps it was enough to lose the heat in the tyres. He had a moment on his out lap and then lost the rear end on his flying lap so we’ve got our work cut out in race one tomorrow. On the plus side, when things have been going well, they’ve been going really well and although we’re still fine tuning the settings, we’re more than hopeful of scoring some good points.”
More, from a press release issued by JG Speedfit Kawasaki:
HASLAM TAKES POLE AS JG SPEEDFIT CLAIM ONE-TWO IN QUALIFYING!
1st May 2016 – It was a near-perfect day for the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team as Leon Haslam once again took pole position for the opening MCE British Superbike Championship race tomorrow, whilst team mate James Ellison finished narrowly behind in second. Silverstone race winner Peter Hickman was unable to quite find his pace from yesterday’s dry session but will start from 14th.
With wet weather playing a major role so far in proceedings at Oulton Park, the JG Speedfit Kawasaki trio of James Ellison, Leon Haslam and Peter Hickman used the three MCE British Superbike Championship practices to dial in their Kawasaki ZX-10R machines.
With Leon finishing top in the final practice session, and James in second, confidence was high heading into the Datatag Extreme qualifying. With rain still falling as the riders went out for the opening session, the trio wasted no time in setting a lap, with all three progressing through to the second stage. Unable to match his dry pace in the wet conditions, Hickman secured 14th postion for tomorrow’s opening race.
Moving into the final session, James set multiple fast laps to hold provisional pole position until the dying seconds when team mate Leon just pipped him to the top spot. The 1:43.633s lap was Leon’s second pole of the year.
Following the qualifying session, pole man Leon launched a brand new mobile app which has been designed to give fans unprecedented access to the star. The app is available now to download for free.
Making it two pole positions from two, Leon Haslam said, “It’s been a really good weekend, and we’ve been pushing towards the front through every session. Qualifying was certainly tough and we were struggling to get some heat into the tyre – we would finish a session feeling confident knowing where the grip is good or bad, but the next session it would all change!
We made a small change ahead of the final session and we weren’t sure if it was going to work or not and with only an eight minute session we had to just make the most of it regardless! I was chipping away with each lap and my last lap was enough to secure pole…so all round, it’s been a great day!”
Narrowly missing out on securing pole, James Ellison is confident for two good races tomorrow, “It was really tough out there, with the weather the circuit is as greasy as anything – the tyres held up really well though. I made a bit of a bad choice in the third session, and opted to reuse my tyre from the second session as all day a fresh wet has been taking a bit of time to come up to temperature
It worked initially and I was quickest straight away but then I went to push for another lap at the end and the tyre had just gone off slightly. I crossed the line with P1 on the board, and thought I’d done enough but then I pulled in at the end and my guys were all in second! At least it was still a JG Speedfit Kawasaki on pole, so full credit to Leon. I think tomorrow’s going to see two real good races!”
Disappointed to be in 14th, Peter Hickman still feels confident of two good races tomorrow, “Yeah, that wasn’t the best session results wise but the bike is still feeling good. I just couldn’t quite get my head in gear and wasn’t feeling 100% confident – the lack of track time from yesterday didn’t help. That said, the weekend as a whole has been pretty good and in the dry yesterday we were running strong pace, and if it wasn’t for the technical problem it would have been an easy top six. We’ve got a few things to try tomorrow in warm up and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in tomorrow’s races!”
GBmoto Racing Team Manage Mike Kane summed up, “What a brilliant end to the day! The team has worked real hard all weekend and to get a one-two in qualifying shows just how competitive the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team is. Both Leon and James did fantastic through that qualifying session, it was far from easy out there with the conditions! On Pete’s side, we still have a little work to do to get him the feeling he needs but his pace in the dry is really competitive and I’m confident we’ll be celebrating all three having great results tomorrow!”
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
BENNETTS SUZUKI POSITIVE AFTER OULTON BSB QUALIFIER
Ryuichi Kiyonari and Tommy Bridewell will start the first race at Oulton Park from the fourth row of the grid on their Bennetts Suzuki GSX-R1000s, after a wet and tricky qualifying session for the second round of the MCE British Superbike Championship today.
In conditions that caught out a number of riders, Kiyonari and Bridewell kept their GSX-R1000s upright, while ensuring a competitive grid-spot for tomorrow’s opening race. Kiyonari will start from 10th place, after he narrowly missed out on Q3 in the dying moments of Q2, while Bridewell will start alongside him on the grid in 11th place.
However, with competitive and consistent times posted in both the wet and the dry in the free practice sessions, both riders are confident and positive of improving on their positions when racing starts tomorrow on Bank Holiday Monday.
Ryuichi Kiyonari:
“This weekend so far we have made progress in every session, and in the small amount of dry track time we have had, we’ve made improvements with the chatter we had at Silverstone. But our pace is good in the wet and in the dry. The conditions were difficult in qualifying and I had a little issue with our set-up, but it is no problem and we’ve fixed it for tomorrow. I feel good and I’m ready to race.”
Tommy Bridewell:
“It’s been ok so far this weekend. We’ve been quick in each session, wet or dry – which is good – and shows we’ve really made some progress with the bike. We were in the top-five in both FP2 and FP3 and I think we’ve got a really good race pace. Eleventh on the grid isn’t brilliant but it’s not a disaster and I’m confident that there’s plenty more to come, so it’ll be a case of getting my head down and giving it 100% when the lights go out tomorrow.”
Martin Halsall – Bennetts Suzuki Team Owner:
“It was difficult out there for the guys today and you could see that by some of the riders that went down. The fourth row is okay and we can do a job from there, and both Kiyo and Tommy have been looking good in free practice, with Tommy in the top-five yesterday and today, and I think the race-pace of both of them will see them improve from those positions. There are no points for qualifying, so we’ll keep working and focus on two good races tomorrow.”