Subscribers to our SMS service got the results sent to their phone  

MonsterMob Ducati rider Steve Hislop stormed to his first ever World Superbike pole position with a stunning lap of 1min32.68s at a sunny Donington Park.

After setting fastest time on Friday with a lap of 1min33.50s - despite problems with suspension and brakes on the 996 Ducati - the Onchan based Scotsman improved with a time of 1min32.65s in the Saturday morning session which meant he was last to go in the SuperPole.

With British rival Neil Hodgson setting fastest time in the SuperPole prior to Hizzy going out, Steve proceeded to beat his fellow Isle of Man resident's time by half a second to the roars of the crowd and as a result he will start both races on Sunday from pole position.

"I tried to keep it smooth and it may have looked a little slow, but I was really trying. I've never been on the front row before at World Superbike level so pole position is all the sweeter. My doubters can now eat their words well and truly after they wrote me off after my Brands crash last year. Its all going fantastically well at present and we have a good race set up and I'm feeling really confident for the races tomorrow" said a delighted Steve Hislop.

Hodgson and Steve Hislop were the only two riders to break into the 1m 32’s in qualifying. Hodgson’s time was only two-tenths of a second off Hislop’s pole position time.

“I’m feeling really confident,” said the 27-year-old reigning British Superbike Champion. “The bike is the best it has been all year. I would have liked to be on pole for my home event, but it’s too easy to make a mistake at Donington and I’m happy to be starting from second on the grid. My only regret is letting Hislop ride my bike from last year. We should have put it in a museum!”

Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M) overcame a painful shoulder to set the third-quickest time - “I really wanted to be on the front row for this race after qualifying had gone so bad for me so I rode aggressively” declared Bostrom. “The bike is going really well, and although my shoulder feels much better than it did yesterday, two 25-lap races are going to be tough tomorrow. But it’s a great feeling to be in the top 3 for the races tomorrow especially as all three of us are on the same tyres”.

Reigning World Superbike champion Edwards was 11th after official qualifying before he gained 0.7s in SuperPole to put him 4th on the grid for the two 25-lap races.

He said: "I knew I had a little more to come after qualifying and I was pleased with my Superpole lap but we're still down on last year's lap times so we've got a little bit more work to do before tomorrow's races. We've got a good rear race tyre from Michelin but it's been a strange weekend for setting the machine up for some reason, we don't know why. I'm pretty confident of winning tomorrow so I guess we'll have to wait and see how it all goes."

Championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada) struggled through the second and final qualifying session in which he crashed at the Esses, and although the 32-year-old Australian put his 996R Factory bike in fifth position on the grid with a time of 1’33.482, he admitted he was not entirely satisfied with his Donington performance this weekend.

“I’m not happy at all with my second row grid position even though my Superpole lap was the best I have done all weekend, by half-a-second!”, commented Bayliss. “The bike didn’t feel too good in qualifying because it was sliding around a bit at the front in the long fast downhill section, the Craner Curves, but I’m confident we can find a little bit extra and have a couple of good races tomorrow”.

John Reynolds took 6th place on the grid with Ruben Xaus in 7th.

After a crash at the Old Hairpin early in morning qualifying, the 23-year-old Spanish rider then went quickest in the afternoon’s free practice session before the Superpole and was then right on the pace in the one-lap dash for pole. “I’m very happy with my performance here today at Donington”, said Xaus. “I could have gone even better as I was under at the second split in Superpole but then I did something wrong and lost half-a-second. That’s OK however because most of the guys alongside are much older than me and have won championships. The bike set-up is good but my shoulder is not quite 100% right after this morning’s crash.”

Although Troy Corser failed to make the front row of the grid, he and the team have significantly improved the Aprilia since yesterday's disappointing day of qualifying. The problems with the gearbox and gearing have been sorted out and so Saturday was more like the first day of practice then the second. In Superpole, Troy decided not to take any risks, posting a safe lap of 1:33.677, to end up on the second row of the grid. 

"Today was a lot better then yesterday and we certainly improved the gearing and the general bike set-up. I had a little front brake problem in the morning and in the afternoon Superpole I rode as fast as I could safely, without taking any risks. I didn't want to risk anything by crashing. There are two long races tomorrow, so as long as I make a reasonably good start I'll be in contention for sure. This hasn't been the easiest weekend so far, but I hope to turn it around tomorrow," commented Corser.


Final World Superbike qualifying times: 
1 Steve Hislop, GB (Ducati) 1m 32.680s, 
2 Neil Hodgson, GB (Ducati) 1m 32.899s, 
3 Ben Bostrom, USA (Ducati) 1m 33.207s, 
4 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 1m 33.315s, 
5 Troy Bayliss, Australia (Ducati) 1m 33.482s, 
6 John Reynolds, GB (Ducati) 1m 33.530s, 
7 Ruben Xaus, Spain (Ducati) 1m 33.552s, 
8 Troy Corser, Australia (Aprilia) 1m 33.677s, 
9 Akira Yanagawa, Japan (Kawasaki) 1m 33.683s, 
10 Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Suzuki) 1m 34.243s. 
11 James Toseland, GB (Ducati) 1m 34.300s,
12 Gregorio Lavilla, SPA (Kawasaki) 1m 34.515s
13 Tady Okada, Japan (Castrol Honda) 1m 34.592s.
14 Pedercini
15 Chambon
16 Ulm
17 Laconi
18 Bussei
19 Craggill
20 Martin
21 Borciani
22 Parkes
23 Stey
24 Sanchini
25 Borja
26 Malatesta
27 Holon
28 Mrkyvka
29 Arnold