RECORD BREAKING HARRIS ON POLE AT OULTON PARK
HM Plant Honda rider Karl
Harris gave himself the best possible chance of claiming his first-ever British
Superbike win tomorrow as he clinched his first-ever British Superbike pole in
record breaking time for round nine of the Bennetts British Superbike
Championship at Oulton Park, Cheshire today (22 July)
The Sheffield-based rider was delighted with his time, the lap time of 1:34.515
was the fastest-ever two-wheeled lap around the 2.69-mile track, which he set
on his final lap of the 50-minute qualifying session aboard his Michelin-shod
Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade. Harris looked set to claim pole earlier in the
session but Leon Haslam snatched it from him by four thousandths of a second on
his final qualifying tyre. However, the 26-year-old had two remaining
qualifiers and left it to the closing moments to set his time, leaving no time
for anyone to respond.
Harris’ team mate Ryuichi Kiyonari joins him on the front row in third. The
Japanese rider was looking to better his qualifying time but was caught up on
his final lap however he was nevertheless happy with his front row start.
Fellow Honda rider Jonathan Rea joins Harris and Kiyonari on the front row in
fourth.
Meanwhile in the ultra-competitive National Superstock class John McGuinness
qualified sixth fastest aboard his Dunlop-shod Honda CBR1000RR and starts round
nine from row two. The Morecambe-based rider was edged off the front row in the
afternoon session after finishing in a strong third place in the morning.
Karl Harris: “It’s about time. I’m really pleased with that. It actually
seemed really easy; everything went according to plan and now I just want to
get the job done tomorrow and hopefully that first win won’t be too far off.”
Ryuichi Kiyonari: “I am happy with my front row start, I was looking for
a faster time on the last lap but there was a faller out the back and I had to
ease off but we are very strong on race rubber so the races should be good
tomorrow.”
John McGuinness: “I was a little bit disappointed that I was knocked off
the front row, I tried a different tyre in the afternoon session and by the
time I got into my stride the wind came in and it was blowing a gale out there
which cost me the time, but I’m still confident of a good finish tomorrow.”
Superbike Qualifying
1, Karl Harris (HM Plant
Honda) 1m34.515s, 2, Leon Haslam
(Ducati) +0.219s, 3, Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +0.548s, 4,
Jonathan Rea (Honda) +0.806s, 5, Shane Byrne (Suzuki) +1.068s, 6, Tommy Hill
(Yamaha) +1.269s, 7, Michael Rutter (Honda) +1.296s, 8, Gregorio Lavilla
(Ducati) +1.478s, 9, Glen Richards (Honda) +1.731s, 10, Michael Laverty (Honda)
+2.322s.
Superstock Qualifying
1, Brendan Roberts (Suzuki)
1m40.065s, 2, Tristan Palmer (Suzuki) +0.319s, 3, Ian Hutchinson (Suzuki)
+0.520s, 4, Hudson Kennaugh (Yamaha) +0.752s, 5, Jo9hn Laverty (Suzuki)
+0.774s, 6, John McGuinness (HM Plant Honda) 0.802s, 7, Luke Quigley
(Suzuki) +0.816s, 8, Aaron Zanotti (Suzuki) +0.835s, 9, Marshall Neill (Suzuki)
+0.854s, 10, Adrian Coates (Suzuki) +1.120s.
The first 17-lap British Superbike race takes place on Sunday at 13.20 with
race two at 15.48. The 15-lap National Superstock Championship takes place at
17.20.
The ITV broadcast window is 15.00 – 16.30.
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