British SuperBike Championship - Round 2 - Qualifying
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SuperBike Grid
SuperSport Qualifying Castrol Honda’s John McGuinness will start tomorrow’s second round British Superbike race at Silverstone from pole position after setting the fastest time in a wet Superpole qualifying session. Kirk McCarthy, on the second Castrol Honda CBR600F Sport, was third fastest behind the Suzuki of Paul Young with first round winner, Matt Lewellyn, completing the front row. Instead of one flying lap against the clock, the Superpole session gave each rider a maximum of 12 laps to complete in a 40-minute session. It wasn’t until the final fifteen minutes, however, that the track dried sufficiently to tempt out the British Supersport competitors. "We didn’t really have a plan," said McGuinness, 26, afterwards. "As soon as one rider went out, though, we all had to go. I went on Dunlop wets but came straight back in and changed them for a softer compound dry tyre. "After that I just got my head down," continued the Lancastrian, " and when I saw the one minute board, the circuit just cleared in front of me. I’m delighted with my first pole on the 600 and delighted to be in the team. There’s a great family atmosphere, the bike’s strong and I’m really feeling comfortable with everything." McCarthy, who heads the series after the opening round at Donington, was pleased to be on the front row for tomorrow’s 18-lapper around the 2.25-mile Northamptonshire circuit. "The track was grippier than I expected," said the 31-year-old Australian. "We’ve got a good dry set-up which we set the times with so I’m looking forward to the race." Castrol Honda team manager, Roger Harvey, was satisfied with his riders’ performances, saying: "We done a lot of testing since Donington and the new CBR is getting stronger all the time. Some changes to the front forks have improved the handling and we know how good the fuel-injected engine is." Final
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