Leon Haslam powered to pole start for the double race tenth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at record breaking pace and with his team-mate Gregorio Lavilla securing a front row start the two Airwaves Ducati riders are aiming to dominate at Cadwell Park.

The Spaniard, who is third in the standings needs to fully capitalise on a below par performance by the series leading HM Plant Honda duo of Michael Rutter and Ryuichi Kiyonari who struggled throughout.

In contrast, Haslam was flying. The 22 year old Derbyshire rider smashed almost a second off the previous Cadwell Park pole time and 1.9 seconds off the lap records and that in sessions in which he also completed two full race distances to ensured his bike has optimum set-up: “I’m looking forward to these races and feeling good. My time might well have been better but there was so much traffic out on circuit that I was unable to get a clear run.”

Even so Haslam, en route to a third pole of the campaign, lapped the 2.18 mile Lincolnshire circuit in a flying time of 1m 27.280secs, almost half a second up on 20 year old Linfield rider Tommy Hill, who was enjoying his best qualifying performance of the season aboard the Virgin Mobile Samsung Yamaha.

Gregorio Lavilla, the Spanish rider who is third in the standings, 30 points down on series leader Michael Rutter, powered his Airwaves Ducati onto the front row of the grid, third fastest, ahead of the Honda in the hands of Karl Harris.

“This is a tricky circuit, and though the two Honda riders have struggled in qualifying I still expect them to be running with me in the races – I am in a good position for the races and the minor changes we made to the bike between the sessions worked well for me.

“Good points here are going to be very important for me, as I then race on circuits that I know and enjoy,” smiled Lavilla.

Rutter, meanwhile, was having a struggling time, compounded by tipping off, without injury during the afternoon session. “It was my own fault, I was pushing on too hard.” He was uninjured but had to settle for seventh place of the leaderboard, and with it a second row start.

His HM Plant Honda team-mate, and nearest rival, by 26 points in the title stakes, Kiyonari, missed the opportunity of improving his eleventh place, and third row start, with a mistimed stop to pop in a rear qualifying tyre which did not allow sufficient time to complete a flying lap of the circuit.

The Japanese rider suffered the indignity of being out-qualified by British Superbike Cup leader James Buckingham who ran a tenth of a second faster aboard his ‘budget-deal’ Quay Garage Suzuki - the young Devonian ran tenth fastest, embarrassing a number of other factor riders, among them the reigning champion John Reynolds aboard the Rizla Suzuki who set twelfth best time.

HM Plant Honda Report

The signs are that tomorrow’s two Bennetts British Superbike races at Cadwell Park will be just as dramatic and exciting as last weekend’s events at Silverstone. The championship-leading HM Plant Honda Racing riders – Michael Rutter and Ryuichi Kiyonari – will line up in seventh and 11th places respectively, with third-placed Gregorio Lavilla putting them under increasing pressure from the front row of the grid.

It was an action-packed final qualifying session for Rutter and Kiyonari. The 32-year-old Midlander suffered a minor crash at Charlie’s corner with 15 minutes remaining. However, he was able to remount the factory Fireblade and return to the pits to make some minor adjustments before continuing his quest for a front row starting position.

Kiyonari was also in a hurry at the end of the session. The 22-year-old winner of this year’s prestigious Suzuka 8-hour endurance race in Japan had been concentrating so much on enhancing his race set-up for the 2.18-mile Lincolnshire circuit that he ran out of time to try-out his final qualifying tyre.

With the HM Plant Honda Racing team-mates qualifying in their lowest positions of the year to date, they have given themselves an additional challenge in their quest to defend their first and second places in the overall points table. However, the distinctive black and orange CBR1000RR Fireblades have been lapping consistently inside the lap record, which may well be a pointer towards their potential finishing positions tomorrow.

Michael Rutter: “There has been a lot said about me winning the championship this year after leading it for so long. There’s obviously some pressure on me to perform, but after my points lead was slashed at Silverstone weekend, I’ve gone home and thought a lot about how to approach this event.

“I’m going to go for it on the HM Plant Honda this weekend at Cadwell Park. I managed to win the first race here last year, but I’m hoping for more luck than I had in race two, when the weather intervened at the wrong time. I’ve been struggling a bit with my arm today, but I don’t think it’ll cause me too much trouble in the races.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari: “I was very much looking forward to this weekend at Cadwell Park. I live in Louth and of course it is the local event for HM Plant Honda Racing. However, so far this has been a difficult weekend for me. I’m trying hard to find the best set-up for the CBR1000RR Fireblade and we seem to making some progress as the times show. I hope that I will be as competitive tomorrow as I was last season.”

Rizla Suzuki Report

Rizla Suzuki's James Haydon left his best lap until the end of today’s qualifying sessions to secure an eighth place second row start for tomorrow’s 10th round of the British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park.

James raised the ride-height on his Rizla Suzuki in the morning to speed up turning through the tight Hall Bends section of the track and instantly found extra speed. With the exception of his final lap during the afternoon session on a qualifying tyre, he was held-up by back-markers and was relieved to secure a second row start.

Rizla Suzuki British Superbike Champion John Reynolds will start from 12th on the third row of the grid after struggling to find front-end grip. The wind increased in strength as the day progressed and only a handful of riders went faster in the afternoon session. Ducati’s Leon Haslam will start from pole position.

Traditionally Cadwell Park is one of the most popular races of the year with crowds in excess of 40,000 making the trip to the picturesque Lincolnshire circuit. Superbike racing starts at 1315 on Bank Holiday Monday, August 29th. Sky Sports will cover it live and a package highlights programme will be broadcast the following Sunday morning on Channel 4.

James: “I desperately wanted a clear lap without traffic on a qualifying tyre and had to wait right until the very last minute before I got it. Even then, I made a mistake right at the end of the lap. Going into the hairpin – the penultimate corner - there was some oil on track and I ran wide. It cost me a few tenths so I was glad when I came into the pits to see I had managed to get onto the second row.”

JR:  “Every time I went to lift my pace the front end would push out through the corners. The bike gave me a lot of warning shots today and I was unable to commit over the bumps due to a lack of front-end grip. I’m going to spend some time thinking and discussing this with my crew and we are aiming to find a solution in tomorrow morning’s warm-up.”

Robert Wicks, Team Manager: “Eighth place on the grid for James is a fair result given his proven speed on race rubber and lack of clear laps on qualifying tyres. His aim is to compete for the podium tomorrow and if he gets his trademark good start, then that’s achievable.

“JR has lost confidence in the front end of his bike and is now focusing on getting it back. Starting from 12th isn’t ideal but he is a Champion and will dig deep and go for the best result he can.

“The team enjoyed a successful test here at the end of July and it is frustrating not to have made as much progress as we would have hoped for now we are back here racing.”

Karl Harris

The front row for tomorrow’s two 18-lap Superbike races will feature Karl Harris for the first time since the second round at Thruxton in April. The 25-year-old Sheffield rider blasted back to prominence on the Honda-Racing.co.uk CBR1000RR Fireblade in preparation for the tenth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park.

Third after the first session in the morning, Harris was unable to improve his time in windy conditions this afternoon. As a result, the Dunlop/BLD-backed Fireblade was relegated to the outside of the front row by Gregorio Lavilla, with pole position Leon Haslam and surprise package Tommy Hill completing the front row.

It was a superb return to form for Harris who has found a good race set-up with Dunlop Tyres and his immaculate Honda Racing-prepared Fireblade around the 2.18-mile Lincolnshire circuit. His fastest time of 1:28.043 was over a second inside the existing lap record, which is indicative of the pace at the front of the field as the championship battle hots up over the final four events of the 13-round series.

Karl Harris: “I’m feeling in good shape today at Cadwell Park. I’d like to thank the Honda-Racing.co.uk team for all of their hard work in giving me an excellent set-up on my CBR1000RR Fireblade.

“This is a physically demanding circuit, but I’m getting back to what I would consider to be peak fitness. Overall, I’m feeling quietly confident, and with luck on my side, I’m looking to get back on to the podium tomorrow for the first time since Oulton Park in May.”

Jonathan Rea

Bennetts British Superbike Championship rookie Jonathan Rea has continued his impressive run of qualifying performances at Cadwell Park. He took sixth position overall on his Red Bull Honda CBR1000RR around the 2.18-mile circuit, which is only a short distance from the team’s base in Louth.

The rising Red Bull Honda star was fifth after this morning’s session. Like the majority of the fastest riders, he didn’t improve his time in this afternoon’s windy conditions, but he only lost one position to championship challenger Gregorio Lavilla on the final grid.

This was Rea’s fourth best qualifying position of the season after taking pole position at Mondello Park in May, and two further front row starts at Croft and Knockhill. He will be hoping to convert this speed in qualifying into two top ten finishes and perhaps surpass his previous best of seventh position at Croft in June.

The 18-year-old Northern Irish rider was almost a full second inside the existing Cadwell Park lap record which shows just how much progress he has made in his third road racing season.

Jonathan Rea: “I’m really pleased that I’m back in the top ten qualifying positions. I’m confident that if I can get a good start from row two, I can run among the leading riders. I’ve managed to put together some consistent times on race tyres, which bodes well for tomorrow. The Red Bull Honda CBR1000RR is as fast as anything out there and so the rest is down to me.”

Eugene Laverty

Eugene Laverty has made a good recovery from his crash at Silverstone last weekend and is looking forward to resuming his Metabo British Supersport Championship campaign. The Red Bull Honda will line up on the third row for tomorrow’s tenth round of the ultra-competitive series at Cadwell Park.

Ninth may be the Red Bull Honda rider’s joint-lowest qualifying position of the year to date, but with 1.5 seconds covering the first ten riders, it’s anyone’s race. Laverty’s consistency in qualifying is testament to how he has adapted to his debut season in the four-stroke Supersport class.

The 19-year-old Ulsterman has spent the week between rounds recuperating at home in Toomebridge. He feels ready to resume the challenge for his quest of a Supersport podium finish on the back-to-back championship-winning CBR600RR.

Cal Crutchlow dominated qualifying on his CBR600RR as he took an impressive pole position time of 1:30.334. Stuart Easton and the Hondas of Craig Jones and championship leader Leon Camier completed the front row for the 16-lap race over the 2.18-mile Lincolnshire circuit.

Eugene Laverty: “After qualifying in pole position at Silverstone last week, today’s final grid position shows just how competitive the Supersport class has been this year. I know that I’ve got to get a good start if I’m going to get that elusive podium, but I’ll be happy with a solid points-scoring finish tomorrow. The Red Bull Honda is going well on Dunlop race tyres and I’m as quietly confident as ever.”

Chris Jones

Following a superb second place at Silverstone last weekend, Chris Jones took his seventh front row qualifying position of his debut season in the British 125GP Championship. This was despite the Red Bull Honda teenager missing the closing stages of today’s second qualifying session at Cadwell Park due to a crash.

The 14-year-old rookie was taken to the local hospital in Louth for a precautionary x-ray after being examined at the circuit’s medical centre. He was suffering from a badly sprained left wrist after the incident but he should be fit to ride in round ten of the Honda-dominated series.

With the first qualifying period being held yesterday, the majority of the leading contenders were unable to improve on their provisional grid times. Pole position was taken by on-form James Westmoreland, with Rob Guiver, Ashley Beech and Jones completing the front row.

With championship leader Christian Elkin down on row three in 11th, Guiver, Jones and Westmoreland – the nearest challengers to the defence of his crown – will be in the hunt for maximum points in tomorrow’s 14-lap race. If Silverstone is anything to go by, this should be one of the highlights of the traditional Bank Holiday programme.

Chris Jones: “It’s a shame about the crash and my injury, but I’m hoping that I’ll be OK for tomorrow. I’ve been on the crest of a wave after two race wins and two podium finishes over the past four rounds – but that’s racing! It’s all part of the learning process. As far as the race is concerned, I’m just going to concentrate on doing my own thing. I raced here last year in the MRO series, so at least I’ve got that experience behind me.”