FIRST AND SECOND ROW FOR AIRWAVES DUCATI
Shane Byrne will start round 3 of the Bennetts British Superbike
Championship from 2nd position following a strong performance
in difficult qualifying conditions at Oulton Park today. Leon
Camier will start from the second row in 7th position.
Following a wet practice session heavily delayed and reduced
in time this morning, qualifying was also declared as wet.
However the rain held off for the 50 minutes and a drying
racing line ensured lap times quickened as the session progressed.
Having switched from wet to slick Pirelli tyres early on,
both Airwaves Ducati riders’ times continually fell.
Shane’s fastest lap of 1:37.188 came with 9 minutes
of the session remaining; initially it placed him on pole
but it was bettered in the final minutes leaving him in 2nd
place. Leon recorded his fastest time of 1:38.089 on lap 22
of 23 to finish in 7th position.
Leon commented afterwards; “I am not best pleased with
that as I feel I could have gone faster and probably got my
Airwaves Ducati on the front row. It was my mistake, I was
continually running off the dry line on the first corner and
that was slowing me down a lot. I was starting to get it together
towards the end of qualifying but I did not get as many clear
laps as I wanted, so could not improve my time further. I
am aiming for a podium tomorrow and I think if I get a good
start and stay consistent then I can achieve that.”
Shane was positive about his result saying; “I am reasonably
happy with that! Before the session conditions looked mixed
and it was difficult for us to commit to wet or dry settings.
It was our plan to be on the front row and we have done that,
I thought I might take pole at one stage but I just lost out
in the last few minutes. It is good as we now have race settings
sorted for both wet and dry conditions; the Airwaves Ducati
team have been great this weekend, now it’s down to
me to finish the job!”
Race one starts at 13.00 tomorrow, Monday May 5th, with race
two scheduled for 15.30.
Qualifying Results
1. Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda 1:36.605
2. Shane Byrne – Airwaves Ducati 1:37.188
3. Tom Sykes – Rizla Suzuki 1:37.244
4. Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda 1:37.390
5. Michael Rutter – NW200 Ducati 1:37.510
6. Karl Harris – Team Yamaha 1:37.908
7. Leon Camier – Airwaves Ducati 1:38.089
|
