British Superbike 2003 - Round 1

Team Renegade Ducati's Michael Rutter will start the opening race of the 2003 British Superbike Championship from pole position, after setting the fastest lap during this afternoon's Dunlop Super 12 Shootout at Silverstone.

Rutter, who was never out of the top three during practice and regular qualifying, waited until the dying seconds of the 15 minute Dunlop Super 12 session before claiming pole position, with a time of 1:26.235s around the revamped Silverstone circuit.

"Superpole was exciting, but the new Super 12 qualifying format is absolutely frantic," said a jubilant Rutter. "I was maybe trying a bit too hard at the start of the session, because I made a few mistakes on my first two flying laps, but it all seemed to come together right at the end. We've had a fantastic weekend so far, and if we can carry the momentum through to tomorrow then I'm confident we'll be up there battling for the win in both races."

Things didn't go quite as well for Rutter's Renegade Ducati team-mate, Sean Emmett. The 32-year-old former GP rider will start tomorrow's two Superbike races from the fourth row of the grid, after suffering with mechanical problems during today's free practice and regular qualifying sessions.

"Obviously I'm disappointed with my qualifying position, but we've just had one problem after another today," said Emmett. "The bike I crashed yesterday developed a fault this morning, and then the quickshifter on the other bike started playing up as well: all in all a pretty frustrating day. We’ve got some work to do tonight, but I'm confident we can get everything sorted ready for the first race tomorrow."

British Superbike Championship - Dunlop Super 12 qualifying: 1. M. Rutter (Ducati) 1:26.235; 2. S. Byrne (Ducati) 1:26.496; 3. Y. Kagayama (Suzuki) 1:26.567; 4. S. Hislop (Yamaha) 1:26.735; 5. G. Richards (Kawasaki) 1:26.910; 6. J. Crawford (Ducati) 1:27.657; 7. G. Mason (Yamaha) 1:27.805; 8. S. Plater (Honda Racing) 1:28.295; 9. J. Kirkham (Yamaha) 1:28.538; 10. D. Ellison (Ducati) 1:28.643; 11. S. Smart (Kawasaki) 1:28.762; 12. J. Reynolds (Suzuki) DNF

Karl Harris has qualified in pole position on his Honda Racing CBR600RR for the first round of the British Supersport Championship at the Silverstone International circuit in Northamptonshire. The 23-year-old benefited from a superb set-up on his new-for-2003 race machine to eclipse the remainder of the 36-strong Supersport field over the fast and exciting 2.252-mile track.

The Sheffield-based rider is delighted with the progress that Honda Racing has made during its pre-season test schedule and feels that he is reaping the rewards of his team’s technical ability.

“It’s all gone well so far this weekend because we worked so hard testing the new Honda Racing CBR600RR over the winter,” he said. “We came here with a good base setting, which means that we haven’t had to make many changes at all to set it up for Silverstone. The CBR600RR is such a good all-round package that it’s going to be easy to ride at every circuit this season!

“I don’t really have a race strategy. From experience, I’ve found that you can’t predict the circumstances that occur in a Supersport race. So, I’ll just go out there, ride my own race and see what happens. Also, this is just the start of things to come. It’s important for me to get some points on the board. It’s a long, 12-race championship, so it’s more of a marathon than a sprint. The important thing is for me to relax overnight and remain completely focused for tomorrow.”

Stuart Easton, Leon Haslam and Simon Andrews completed the front row. Honda’s John Crockford, Michael Laverty and Mark Heckles completed sixth to eighth on the second row of the grid and will also come into the reckoning in what should be an epic 20-lap race, held between the two Superbike races.

British Supersport Championship - Final qualifying: 1. K. Harris (Honda Racing) 1:30.063; 2. S. Easton (Ducati) 1:30.135; 3. L. Haslam (Ducati) 1:30.148; 4. S. Andrews (Yamaha) 1:30.324; 5. T. Sykes (Yamaha) 1:30.507; 6. J. Crockford (Honda) 1:30.541; 7. M. Laverty (Honda) 1:30.746; 8. M. Heckles (Honda) 1:30.862; 9. A. Coates (Honda) 1:30.970; 10. R. Frost (Kawasaki) 1:31.230