Gregorio Lavilla became the fastest ever motorcycle racer around Oulton Park as he claimed pole start for the double race eleventh round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship.

His performance piled the pressure on his two rivals for the crown, Michael Rutter who again had a struggling time, and Ryuichi Kiyonari who made a late, fast recovery to snatch a front row start.

Lavilla, the 30 year old Spanish rider lapped the 2.629 mile Cheshire circuit in a time of 1mm 36.312secs, at an average speed of 100.62mph to claim his first ever pole start in the series and with a time almost a second inside the record.

He takes a slender lead of two points into the races, and though the Airwaves Ducati rider is confident, he is still seeking improvements to his bike: “I am not completely happy with the race settings, I am always trying to improve.

“Everyone is going much faster – I am 2.2 seconds faster already than I was when we raced here earlier in the year. Pole is good, but the races are what matter and we need to work hard.

“My big worry was that I should qualify good - the races will be very hard, very fast and it will be important to make a good start.”

Tommy Hill, the Virgin Mobile Samsung Yamaha rider who enjoyed his first ever victory in the championship last time out at Cadwell Park, moved alongside him, at the front of the grid, running just 0.085secs down, while Ryuichi Kiyonari, third in the title stakes put in a late flyer.

That moved the 22 year old Japanese rider seven places on the grid, up to to third, with a time of 1m 36.435secs, belying his comments that he finds this a difficult circuit: “I will be trying hard to win these races – very important.”

Reigning champion John Reynolds, aboard the Rizla Suzuki, completes the front row, while the rider who looked most likely to claim the ‘number one’ plate, until a run of poor results in the last month, Michael Rutter, was again having a miserable time.

He was eleventh fastest, starting from his HM Plant Honda from the third row of the grid and facing an uphill struggle in his scrap to regain the lead in the points from Lavilla. Rutter gained no benefit from his qualifying tyre, but is content with his race tyres, and plans a fight-back.

Rutter had gone out late in the session, bidding vainly to improve his starting position, which leaves him sitting behind an experienced second row of both Hawk Kawasaki riders Glen Richards and Dean Thomas, along with Leon Haslam and Karl Harris.

James Buckingham, riding the Quay Garage Suzuki, looks set to continue his domination of the British Superbike Cup, having headed off the challenge of Steve Brogan in qualifying.

HM Plant Honda Report

With nine points separating the top three riders in the 2005 Bennetts British Superbike Championship, much depended on their qualifying performances in preparation for the 11th round of the series at Oulton Park. Championship leader Gregorio Lavilla had the edge over the HM Plant Honda Racing team-mates of Ryuichi Kiyonari and Michael Rutter with all still to play for in tomorrow’s two 18-lap Superbike races.

Lavilla may have taken his first ever pole position in the closing stages of this afternoon’s second qualifying session, but Kiyonari’s last gasp lap was only a fraction off the Spaniard’s impressive time. The pace was hot for the front row of the grid and the 22-year-old Japanese star took an eventual third position in a time of 1:36.435 – a massive 0.8 seconds inside Sean Emmett’s lap record.

Kiyonari lies third in his second British Superbike season, but it is only the second time that he has raced at the 2.692-mile Cheshire circuit. The winner of the prestigious Suzuka 8-hour endurance race has missed the regular May Bank Holiday fixture over the past two seasons through injury. His qualifying position was therefore crucial to his chances of climbing back on to the podium tomorrow.

The other HM Plant Honda Racing CBR1000RR Fireblade of Michael Rutter will line up on the third row in 11th position. His time of 1:37.242 was only 0.93 seconds off pole position, which emphasises how competitive the world’s leading domestic Superbike series has been in recent rounds.

Rutter led the championship until the last event at Cadwell Park two weeks ago, but he lost his advantage to Lavilla after crashing out of the second race. The 32-year-old Midlander is only two points in arrears and he will be hoping to match the form that he has shown at Oulton earlier in the season when he took first and second places.

Michael Rutter: “This is obviously not an ideal qualifying position for me with the championship in mind. Kiyo and Lavilla are on the front row, so I’ve got a lot of work to do in the races. We have been concentrating on set-up today and hopefully that will pay off over race distance. The pressure’s on at this time of the season, but I’m confident the form we have shown here over the past two seasons on the HM Plant Honda will help me through tomorrow.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari: “I have relatively little experience of Oulton Park. I have therefore had to work hard during testing and qualifying for this event to match the pace of the leading riders. However, I have been rewarded with a front row qualifying position. This is important for me. I have to start the races well and hope that I can take my first ever win here.”

Rizla Suzuki Report

John Reynolds will start from fourth on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s 11th round of the British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park.

Morning qualification was blighted by rain but the afternoon session was dry and decided the grid for both races. JR headed the timesheets for much of the 50-minutes as he tested tyres and new suspension settings. Traffic hampered his final qualifying lap but he ended the day happy with a front row start.

Rizla Suzuki racer James Haydon was battling with JR for the fastest time throughout qualification. Like his team mate, James was baulked by slower riders on his final qualifying laps and finished 9th to head the third row of the grid. Less than one second separated the top 11 riders and Ducati’s Gregorio Lavilla took pole position.

Superbike racing starts at 1325hrs on Sunday, September 11th, at Oulton Park in Cheshire. All the action will be covered live on Sky Sports and will be followed by a highlights package on Channel 4 the following weekend.

JR: ”Well done to my technicians for making big improvements with the handling of my Rizla Suzuki throughout the day. In the morning I wasn’t happy with the fork settings on my bike as it felt like I was pushing the front end through the corners. By the end of the day it felt much more confidence inspiring and that helped me get on to the front row.

“While my Rizla Suzuki feels good, I still don’t think it is 100 per cent and there is more to come. I am pushing the team hard to make further improvements. We have a chance tomorrow to challenge for the podium.”

James: “My final qualifying laps were spoiled by slower traffic out on circuit. On my last lap I was on a real flier, setting my fastest first sector split and going for it until I caught a slower rider who was holding the racing line mid-corner. That ended my challenge but I’m okay with ninth – it’s the right side of the track for the first corner and I am confident of getting a good start off the line.

“My Rizla Suzuki feels good and we made very few adjustments to it today as it is giving me the feedback and control I want. I feel I can run with anyone on race tyres and I’m optimistic.”

Robert Wicks, Team Manager: “Qualification was exciting and it was great to see both our riders at the top of the time sheets during the session - that was firing up the whole team.

“Traffic played its part towards the end of the session and James in particular was unlucky not to improve in the dying minutes. He is very happy with the handling and performance of his GSX-R1000 and if he can get a good start tomorrow he’ll be in the reckoning. JR is still pushing for more from his bike and that’s encouraging as he is focused on the podium and nothing else.

“The weather report is mixed for race day. As long as it is either completely wet or completely dry we will be in good shape. If it is something in-between, then it’s a lottery as we will need to guess which tyres to pick. Either way it’s going to be exciting for the crowds and TV viewers.”

Karl Harris

Karl Harris will start tomorrow’s two 18-lap Bennetts British Superbike Championship races from the second row of the grid. The Honda-Racing.co.uk rider secured seventh position aboard the Dunlop/BLD-backed Honda-Racing.co.uk CBR1000RR Fireblade at weather-affected Oulton Park today.

The 25-year-old Yorkshireman has been strong all weekend. During Friday’s free practice sessions, he posted the second quickest time and even took a provisional front row starting position at the end of today’s first qualifying session.

However, unpredictable weather conditions plagued the 2.692-mile Cheshire circuit and rain in the morning meant that the first session took place on a damp surface. As the track began to dry out during the afternoon, the lap times improved.

At the end of the second session, the Sheffield-based rider had improved his best time by more than two seconds to 1:36.806. At less than 0.5 seconds behind pole position Gregorio Lavilla, this only further illustrates the competitiveness of this year’s British Superbike series.

Karl Harris: “I’m relatively happy with my starting position – although I think I could have done better. The last time I was at Oulton Park, I started from the second row of the grid and finished on the podium. This is my favourite circuit and one which I know well, so I’m still confident of a good result tomorrow.”

Dean Thomas

"Well once again the British weather was certainly interesting and because of that I didn't get much track time in. I've ended up 8th on the grid today which isn't so bad as long as I can get a good start, it's second row, which is certainly better than being on the third row. JR (Reynolds) is in front of me and he usually gets a good start.

"Both Glen and I have had a few issues with the front set up of the bike but I'm sure that will be rectified by tomorrow. We are running much faster lap times than what we did here earlier in the season and that has effected the race set up slightly.

"I know I can run good race times on race tyres and hopefully that will work in my favour tomorrow. The weather conditions have been shocking and it's been half-wet and half-dry all day, the track was extremely patches in places in the first session. It was stopped half way through due to Nick Medd crashing and with the clouds looming we all seemed to be in a hurry to get a qualifying tyre on. Sadly it was too late before the rain started to come down and no one managed a qualifying lap.

"The second session was dry and for the majority of it I was lying in Pole Position, I managed to tow Glen and Lavilla round who managed to finish higher up the grid, with Lavilla being on Pole. Greg seemed to be pretty grateful afterwards so I'm guessing he owes me a beer at the end of the season.

"I'm looking forward to the race and just need to ensure of a good start and get away with the front runners. I have heard various reports about the weather forecast tomorrow so I guess we just have to wait and see."