AIRWAVES DUCATI TAKE POLE POSITION
Gregorio Lavilla will start the final round of the Bennetts
British Superbike Championship from pole position after qualifying
fastest at Brands Hatch. Leon Haslam will start from the 2nd
row in 7th.
Greg was confident for this afternoon’s 50 minute qualifying
session having dominated final practice this morning. He started
the session by completing the full race distance to test his
Dunlop race tyres before changing to softer rubber for the
end of qualifying. Having set consistently fast times throughout
the session he recorded his best time of 45.190 with 11 minutes
remaining to take pole position.
Following his 8th pole position since joining the Airwaves
Ducati team Greg commented, “Qualifying was good today,
I am really pleased. It has been a long time since I have
had that kind of feeling with my bike; I am really enjoying
it! I think I could have gone under 45 seconds on one lap
but I pushed a bit too hard and made a mistake which cost
some time. The times we were setting were encouraging though
and I am feeling really good. I know the start will be important
and I must make the most of my pole position, if I am able
to do that, I am confident I will be ending the season with
a good performance.”
Leon worked hard on his bike set up throughout practice and
qualifying and was setting consistently fast times but with
only 0.29 seconds splitting the top 7 riders, his fastest
time of 45.484 resulted in a 7th place finish.
Leon commented, “I am pretty happy with that. Obviously
it would have been good to be on the front row but I have
been suffering from a small electrical issue this weekend
which has cost me some time but that’s sorted now. There
is only 0.3 seconds difference across the top 8 riders, and
I am only 0.294 seconds off pole position, so there will definitely
be some good racing for the fans tomorrow. For me it is about
trying to win these next two races; I am certainly aiming
for a double win.”
Qualifying Result
1) Gregorio Lavilla – Airwaves Ducati 45.190
2) Tom Sykes – Stobart Vent Axia 45.381
3) Jonathan Rea – HM Plant Honda 45.383
4) Shane Byrne – Stobart Vent Axia 45.384
5) Ryuichi Kiyonari – HM Plant Honda 45.385
6) Cal Crutchlow – Rizla Suzuki 45.450
7) Leon Haslam – Airwaves Ducati 45.484
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