Good showing from HM Plant Honda at Cadwell Park in qualifying
All three HM Plant Honda riders were competitive during today’s
qualifying sessions for tomorrow’s Bank Holiday race
programme at Cadwell Park. Both Leon Haslam and Cal Crutchlow
acquitted themselves well in today’s new ‘F1-style’
knockout qualifying session for the Bennetts British Superbike
series, where the grid enters into a three-part ‘shootout’
for pole position, with the fastest riders moving up into
the final part of qualifying. Meanwhile in the Metzeler National
Superstock 1000 qualifying session Steve Brogan took yet another
pole on his 2008 CBR1000RR Fireblade. He hopes to convert
that into his seventh win of the year tomorrow in the class.
In the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship, Brogie
took his HM Plant Honda CBR600RR to a second-row start with
sixth position in a hard-fought session. Tomorrow’s
races will feature a three-bike instead of a four-bike row
on the grid.
Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda
British Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
4th position – 1m 27.917s
“We struggled a little in qualifying as we lost the
wet session in the morning so it was an experimental set-up
we used in the afternoon but we were there or thereabouts.
Hopefully we can fine-tune things tomorrow morning. I quite
enjoyed the new qualifying system. When you get through to
the top ten shootout you haven’t got so much traffic,
which is a problem we have at some circuits, so that’s
a bonus. I’m happy enough to be on the front two rows.
I’m aiming for a good start to give me a good chance
of winning for HM Plant Honda tomorrow.”
Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
British Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
2nd position – 1m 27.716s
“I’m pleased to be second here, but a pole would
have been nice with the new knockout qualifying system at
HM Plant Honda’s ‘home’ race. What I need
to do now is make sure I get a good start and see what the
pace is at the front. Both Leon and I make no secrets of the
fact that we want to be winning races consistently to keep
Shakey and the Ducatis honest – Tom Sykes too on his
Suzuki. I think tomorrow’s races are going to be close
and exciting.”
Steve Brogan – Honda (UK) Racing
British Supersport – HM Plant Honda CBR600RR
6th position – 1m 31.091s
British Superstock – Honda (UK) Racing CBR1000RR Fireblade
1st position – 1m 31.293s
“I’m very happy with how things have gone today.
I’m glad to get pole in Superstock and I dipped under
the lap record in qualifying, which is pleasing. I want conditions
to be good for the fans mainly, but for me I think I can win
wet or dry. In Supersport it was tougher to get that lap-time
but it’s also pretty close and I was only six-tenths
off pole. I wanted to be on the front two rows for Supersport
and in sixth with just three bikes per row, I just made it.
Now it’s a case of getting a good start, see where we
end up after a couple of laps and then make a plan for the
end of the race.”
Havier Beltran – HM Plant Honda team manager
“It’s been a good day all-round with the whole
team very positive for tomorrow. After the poor weather this
morning it was good weather for the afternoon sessions. With
Brogie he’s on pole for Superstock and we know it’s
been a two-way battle all season between him and Jon Kirkham,
but if Steve wins and Jon comes third, Steve’s won the
championship which would be brilliant at our home circuit.
He’s also worked hard on his Supersport set-up and is
nicely on the second row. In Superbikes we had no glitches
in the ‘Roll for Pole’. With the final top ten
out on track alone it’s effectively like a clear track
so the riders quite enjoyed it. It’s a shame Cal didn’t
get pole as he was looking likely to for a while, but things
are still very positive all round for tomorrow’s races
in all classes.”
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