MCE British Superbike Championship
Donington Park, England
April 5, 2015
Combined Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires):
From Qualifying Knockout Session Three:
1. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Japan (BMW S1000RR), 1:29.455
2. James Ellison, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:29.484
3. Shane Byrne, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:29.659
4. Josh Brookes, Australia (Yam YZF-R1), 1:29.725
5. Stuart Easton, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:30.058
6. Danny Buchan, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:30.100
7. Peter Hickman, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:30.322
8. Broc Parkes, Australia (Yam YZF-R1), 1:30.368
9. Dan Linfoot, UK (Hon CBR1000RR SP), 1:30.382
10. Billy McConnell, Australia (BMW S1000RR), 1:30.533
From Qualifying Knockout Session Two:
11. Luke Mossey, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:30.789
12. James Westmoreland, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:30.803
13. Christian Iddon, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:30.809
14. Howie Mainwaring Smart, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:30.826
15. Michael Laverty, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:30.832
16. Chris Walker, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:30.886
17. Tommy Bridewell, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:30.929
18. Lee Jackson, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:31.230
19. Richard Cooper, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:31.590
20. Josh Waters, Australia (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:31.766
From Qualifying Knockout Session One:
21. Robbin Harms, Denmark (BMW S1000RR), 1:31.239
22. Martin Jessopp, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:31.283
23. Jason O’Halloran, Australia (Hon CBR1000RR SP), 1:31.298
24. Ian Hutchinson, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:31.330
25. Filip Backlund, Sweden (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:31.563
26. Jack Kennedy, Ireland (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:31.640
27. Victor Cox, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:32.349
28. Daniel Johnson, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:32.440
29. Shaun Winfield, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:32.459
30. Joe Burns, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), no time recorded
American James Rispoli qualified sixth in Motorpoint British Supersport with a lap time of 1:32.383 on his Team Traction Control Yamaha YZF-R6. Luke Stapleford took pole position with a time of 1:31.717 on his Triumph Daytona 675R.
American Brandon Paasch, racing as a wild card, was eight-fastest in Moriwaki 250cc Junior Cup qualifying Sunday at Donington Park. Riding a Moriwaki MH250, Paasch turned a 1:48.853. Peetu Pavalainen earned the pole position with a 1:46.632.
More, from a press release issued by MotorSport Vision:
Kiyonari clinches opening pole position by 0.029s from Ellison
Results – Datatag Qualifying:
1: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) 1m:29.455s
2: James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.029s
3: Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) +0.204s
4: Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.270s
5: Stuart Easton (PBM Kawasaki) +0.603s
6: Danny Buchan (Be Wiser Kawasaki) +0.645s
Ryuichi Kiyonari lapped under the Donington Park record to power his Buildbase BMW to pole position for the opening race of the 2015 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, edging just 0.029s ahead of James Ellison, whilst Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne completed the front row for tomorrow’s (Monday) races.
Kiyonari had been on the pace across the three elements of the Datatag Qualifying session, but the Buildbase BMW rider admitted that he was nervous before taking to the track to finally secure the first pole position of the new season.
Record-breaking title-winner Byrne completes the front row, but still not back to full fitness following his pre-season testing crash in Spain last month.
Australia’s Josh Brookes was only marginally down as he set the fourth fastest time aboard the Milwaukee Yamaha to head the second row, ahead of Stuart Easton on the second PBM Kawasaki and Danny Buchan, the reigning Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Champion, riding the Tommy Hill-managed Be Wiser Kawasaki.
RAF Reserves BMW’s Peter Hickman was seventh whilst Broc Parkes on the second Milwaukee Yamaha bounced back from a crash to qualify eighth. Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot and Billy McConnell, who has returned to the top flight on the Smiths BMW having won the Motorpoint British Supersport crown with them last season, completed the top ten.
Kiyonari, P1, 1m:29.455s
“It was very hard and before the final part of qualifying I was really nervous, but now it is done I am happy and ready for the races. There will be big battles, but I will try to push as hard as I can, with no more crashes – I hope! My bike is good; the set-up is perfect, now it is down to me.”
Ellison, P2, 1m:29.484s
“I’m a bit disappointed to be second because Kiyo beat me to it, but I am happy to be back on the front row. I had pushed as hard as I could and knew that he had a bit more to come. At the start of a new season second place is a good start and I am looking forward to the races tomorrow.”
Byrne, P3 1m:29.659s
“It has been a tough weekend for us. I am not going to harp on about being injured, but in reality I am a bit rusty, so not as sharp as I should be.
“The team has worked so hard over the winter on the bike, but now we are not really where we wanted to be after me flicking it to the moon in testing in Spain. The front row is important, though I am a bit disappointed to be two tenths of a second down, but we intend to get that sorted.”
More, from a press release issued by Milwaukee Yamaha:
Round 1: Donington Park
Milwaukee Yamaha ready to race as MCE British Superbike opener beckons
The Milwaukee Yamaha team are preparing for the opening MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship races of the 2015 season at Donington Park tomorrow (Monday) after Josh Brookes and Broc Parkes qualified in fourth and eighth places respectively.
Brookes had been building throughout qualifying and narrowly missed out on the front row as the team debut the new model this weekend. Parkes meanwhile crashed out in Q1, but with the hard work of the team he was soon back on track, progressing into Q3 to set the eighth fastest time.
Josh Brookes, 4th, 1m:29.725s
“It’s difficult to say how much we’ve improved – the bike was quite good in FP1 and I thought by FP3 we would do more, but that has not really been the case. We have key problems to address but it is all about understanding the bike; I want to go quicker and that is what we are all working to do. There is more to work on and we have to achieve that. For me, it does not feel like me out on the track and I hope to put something much stronger for together for the races. I wanted top four in qualifying so in one respect I have achieved what I set out to do, but there are still a few things we need to decide for the races and I am fairly confident we can build a strong bike for the start of the race.”
Broc Parkes, 8th, 1m:30.368s
“Considering I crashed on the first flying lap at the first corner it was not the perfect session! Then in Q2 we had a problem with the bike and that did not run as smoothly as it could have done, but I was a second faster than I had been on race rubber. Going into Q3 I was not really happy and we made a change, but not quite to the next step. Definitely we will make changes to the bike before warm-up and we have a change of direction. We have been playing a bit of catch-up all weekend, but we are pretty close and if we can be consistent in the 1m 30s then we can be with the top guys – that’s the plan.”
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
BENNETTS SUZUKI COMPLETES FIRST BSB QUALIFYING
The Bennetts Suzuki team has completed its first ever MCE British Superbike qualifying session, with Christian Iddon 13th on the time sheets despite suffering from illness.
Iddon, who has been under the weather all weekend, did enough in the first qualifying session to make it through to Q2. However, his best lap of 1:30.809 on board his GSX-R1000 wasn’t enough to progress to Q3 and placed him on the fifth row of the grid.
Iddon said, “13th is not fantastic but we’re somewhere we can race from. Being ill has just meant I haven’t spent enough time on the bike doing long runs, so I haven’t been able to give the right feedback to the team and what I have given has been a bit vague because my mind’s been elsewhere. But I had a better feeling in qualifying and we’ve got a good base to work from now. I’m looking forward to trying to get a good start in the races and hopefully get into a rhythm, as I’ve not had one all weekend. If we can get a couple of solid top 10s from this weekend I’ll be happy with that start, all things considered.”
Josh Waters found himself inside the top 10 during Q1, but struggled in the second qualifying session with grip despite using the same set-up. He was unable to match his best time from the first session and will start race one from 20th on the grid.
Waters said, “We had a lot to work on in practice this weekend but I felt like we made a big step from the final free practice session to Q1. I was feeling a lot better and the times showed that. In Q2 we just struggled with rear grip again and I was a second slower, so that’s something that we’ll need to get to the bottom of for tomorrow’s races. It’s not where I want to be on the grid and I know the potential is there. We’ll keep pushing and try harder tomorrow.”
Team Manager Jack Valentine said, “It’s coming together, although probably a bit slower than we’d like. But we’re showing plenty of promise and I’ve been happy with the performance of the bikes. We’ve just had a few issues of inconsistency with rear grip which we need to work on for tomorrow. Christian actually went faster in the final free practice session than in qualifying, so we know where we can be, we just have a few things to sort to get there. Josh has also had issues with grip, while his team have also been working on the engine braking to get him where he can be. But we’re a new team, it’s our first qualifying session of the season, and we’re confident there’s more to come from the guys tomorrow.”