Hodgson has been consistently fastest throughout free practice and also posted the fastest qualifying time of 1:06.382 in the morning session, just as light rain prevented any quicker laps. In the second session, the 26-year-old, currently second in the series, posted a 1:06.117 lap with 20 minutes remaining - his fastest ever around Snetterton and more than half a second inside the lap record.

"It's great to finally be on pole," said Hodgson. "The INS Ducati has been superb ever since we arrived here and we've hardly had to change a thing - it's just a case of getting your head down and going for it! I've been lucky because I put my really fast laps in just before the rain came down in each session. The work Stewart Johnstone has done on the engines has really made a difference and on the two long straights here, the INS Ducati is awesome."

Hodgson's team mate Niall Mackenzie joins him on the front row of the grid. The experienced Scot finished on the podium in the last round of the series at Oulton Park and is starting to reap the benefits of the INS Ducati with each round: "It's good to be back on the front row," said Mackenzie. "It's been a while, but the INS Ducati is blisteringly fast around Snetterton. I remember racing here last year and always seeing Ducatis in front of me, so now it's good to be on the best bike and in the driving seat. I've got a good race set-up, and am really looking forward to racing at the front tomorrow."

Steve Plater turned in Team Kawasaki's best qualifying performance of the season with a last gasp lap that put him in sixth place on the grid.  Plater took advantage of a lull in the showery conditions which had plagued the final qualifying session to clip two tenths from his lap time and ensure himself a second row start with just seconds remaining.

Australian Marty Craggill, making his debut in the TOTAL backed team as a stand in for compatriot Peter Goddard, was tenth quickest around the high speed Norfolk circuit and will start the two 22 lap races from the third row. Craggill had turned the tables in the morning session, holding third for much of the hour-long qualifier and finishing seventh on the leaderboard with Plater in eighth. "It was a good, all round team performance this afternoon," said team manager Simon Buckmaster. "And as neither rider was completely satisfied with their machine settings I am confident we can see further improvements for the races." Plater and Craggill both believe they can improve lap times. "I was improving steadily when the rain began to fall and I had to pull in," said Lincolnshire's Plater. "There was a window of a couple of minutes when it stopped again so I went straight back out and managed to get on the pace immediately. Considering I still have a couple of improvements to make I am pretty happy."

Cragill was less than  happy with his final time: "I made some changes between the sessions and they didn't work out," he said. "I think I went the wrong way with the bike settings and I intend to rectify that for tomorrow."

Qualifying

1) Neil Hodgson (INS Ducati) 1:06.117  
2) J. Reynolds (Ducati) 1:06.339   
3) C. Walker (Suzuki) 1:06.784 
4) N. Mackenzie (INS Ducati) 1:06.803  
5) S. Hislop (Yamaha) 1:06.994 
6) S. Plater (Kawasaki) 1:07.134
7) J. Crawford (Suzuki) 1:07.391
8) J. Haydon (Ducati) 1:07.508
9) P. Brown  (Yamaha) 1:07.581
10) M. Craggill (Kawasaki) 1:07.646

British SuperSport Championship 2000 - Snetterton - Qualifying

Castrol Honda’s new British Supersport pairing of Kirk McCarthy and John McGuinness will start tomorrow’s fifth round race at Snetterton from the front row of the grid after today’s two qualifying sessions at the Norfolk circuit. Jim Moodie was the fastest qualifier today and will start the 22-lap race from pole position ahead of Ducati’s Dean Thomas.

McCarthy, currently lying in second place in the British Supersport points table, left it until late in the second session before moving his CBR into third place on the grid.

"I was struggling to find some speed to be honest," explained McCarthy from Mickleham, Australia. "The bike’s been working well though and the tyre Dunlop gave me allowed me to move up the grid."

"It’s good to be on the front row and I’m really impressed with John’s performance first time out," continued McCarthy, 30. "Hopefully we can both put our positions to good use tomorrow."

McGuinness, the reigning British 250 champion, has been drafted into the team as a replacement for Moodie, and rode the Castrol Honda CBR600 for the first time at Snetterton last Friday. He was delighted with his first competitive performance aboard the four-stroke machine.

"I’m happy enough with that," he said. "The team fired in a really good rear Dunlop with about ten minutes to go in the second session and I managed to plant it into fourth place on the grid.  I’ve been looking for a move into four strokes for a while now," continued the 26-year-old Morcambe rider, "and this is a great opportunity for me."

McGuinness crashed his Honda RS250 in the following qualifying session for tomorrow’s British 250 race, bruising his left ankle and right hand, but expects to be fit for both his Snetterton outings.

Final SuperSport qualifying times:
1 Jim Moodie (Yamaha) 1:09.563,
2 Dean Thomas (Ducati) 1:09.812,
3 Kirk McCarthy (Castrol Honda) 1:10.410,
4 John McGuinness (Castrol Honda) 1:10.416,
5 Glen Richards (Honda) 1:10.465,
6 Stuart Wickens (Yamaha) 1:10.489,
7 Scott Smart (Ducati) 1:10.559,
8 Chris Vermeulen (Honda) 1:10.954,
9 Rob Frost (Honda) 1:11.018,
10 Eliot Burgess (Yamaha) 1:11.045.