FIRST AND SECOND ROW IN QUALIFYING
Leon Haslam will start from the front row of the grid for
the 8th time this season having qualified in 3rd place for
round 10 of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at
Croft. Gregorio Lavilla starts from the second row in 6th.
Both Airwaves Ducati riders were focused on qualifying well
in this afternoons 50 minute session having completed another
race run in final practice this morning. It was one of the
closest qualifying sessions so far this season with just half
a second splitting the top 8 riders.
Greg and Leon clocked quick times early on and they both
held the lead for a short time. Having lapped well throughout
the session Greg’s fastest time of 1:19.456 came on
lap 23 of 28, resulting in a 6th place finish. Leon was also
recording consistently fast times and with 5 minutes of the
session remaining he recorded his fastest time of the day,
1:19.209 to qualify 3rd.
Following qualifying Greg commented; “It
is a shame, as I have finished 2nd in all the sessions so
far this weekend and then I qualify in 6th which is a little
disappointing. I will need to start well tomorrow! I tried
my best and the bike felt good. I was having some unusual
experiences with my qualifying tyres though. It seemed that
when I pushed hard I was not going as fast as when I was not
pushing so hard, it was strange. The Dunlop race tyre we were
using felt good but obviously if the weather changes tomorrow
then we will have to make some different decisions. The racing
will be competitive but I feel quite confident; if I can get
a good start, then I think I can finish well.”
Leon was pleased with his front row start
saying, “I have been trying some different things this
weekend and up until qualifying I was concentrating on completing
race runs. I did 24 good laps this morning and my main concern
throughout has been to find places where I will be able to
overtake tomorrow if necessary. There are only two points
on this track where you can pass, so I need to prepare for
that. It is probably going to rain tomorrow anyway, so all
the hard work the team have done this weekend will go out
the window! I am pretty happy though, it is another front
row and for the first time ever I am the oldest up there!”
Qualifying Result
1) Cal Crutchlow – Rizla Suzuki 1:19.108
2) Jonathan Rea – HM Plant Honda 1:19.191
3) Leon Haslam – Airwaves Ducati 1:19.209
4) Tom Sykes – Stobart Vent Axia 1:19.269
5) Tommy Hill – Virgin Media Optoma Loans 1:19.373
6) Gregorio Lavilla – Airwaves Ducati 1:19.456
7) Ryuichi Kiyonari – HM Plant Honda 1:19.462
8) Leon Camier – Bike Animal Honda 1:19.589
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