Leon Haslam re-wrote the Oulton Park record books to claim pole start for the fourth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship and then warned his Airwaves Ducati team-mate Gregorio Lavilla that he intends to take the crown away from him.

The 22 year old Derbyshire rider put in a scorching lap towards the end of the 50 minute session to eclipse both Lavilla and HM Plant Honda rider Karl Harris who had fought out a high speed duel for supremacy at the top of the leaderboard.

Both had powered in sub-record times, with Lavilla setting an early standard, with a time of 1m 36.230, which was quickly beaten by Harris. Lavilla returned to the Cheshire circuit, reducing the time to 1m 35.490secs, but again the Honda rider responded, clipping a further 0.021secs off.

That seemed to be enough to end the Ducati stranglehold on pole starts so far this season, but Haslam who had been on the pace throughout, had other ideas, putting in a breathtaking lap of the 2.692 mile circuit in 1m 35.120secs, at an average speed 101.88mph, to ensure his second consecutive pole start.

“I’m over the moon with that – we’ve been pretty strong all weekend but Greg and Karl had set a blistering pace and I was struggling to match it. But, there was a chance with a bit of clear track, although I thought that I had blown it when I ran a little wide at the last corner,” explained Haslam as he reflected on the lap that had earned him the fourth pole start of his career and put him in the driving seat, by a single point from Lavilla, in the Audi Performance Award.

“The car would be good, very good, but first I need to convert this speed into the races. My main aim is strong points in the championship and I am going out here for the double win.”

Harris starts alongside him, with Lavilla, the current leader, by 36 points, in the title stakes, third fastest, ahead of James Haydon who completes the front row of the grid, at the expense of his Rizla Suzuki team-mate Shane Byrne who crashed spectacularly late on in the session as he tried to improve on his best lap of 1m36.023secs.

Michael Rutter, sixth fastest on the Stobart Honda, also tipped off, but remained a split second up on Jonathan Rea (Red Bull Honda) and Hawk Kawasaki’s Dean Thomas.

Tommy Hill, riding the Virgin Mobile Yamaha, heads up the third row, ahead of Glen Richards (Hydrex Honda), James Buckingham – the leading British Superbike Cup qualifier aboard the Quay Garage Honda and Gary Mason (Hydrex Honda), while Ryuichi Kiyonari riding the factory backed HM Plant Honda, starts from the fourth row, with a disappointing time of 1m 37.442secs.

Suzuki Report

James Haydon starts tomorrow’s Bank Holiday Monday double header fourth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship from fourth on the front row of the grid with his Rizla Suzuki team mate Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne heading up the second row in fifth.

Consistently in the top four throughout practice, James kept his cool during qualification and earned Rizla Suzuki its first front row start of the 2006 season.

Shakey posted the fastest lap times in the previous two practice sessions but missed out in qualification when he crashed out at high speed at Cascades with nine minutes to go. He was unable to rejoin and his best lap time placed him fifth on the grid.

Superbike racing starts at 14:00 tomorrow at the picturesque 2.69-mile long Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire. All the action will be shown on ITV1 from 15:30 and then on Sky Sports 2 at 21:00.

James:
“A big thank you to my Rizla Suzuki technicians for improving my bike so much over the course of the weekend, they have worked wonders and I am happier now than ever before on the GSX-R1000.

“I recorded my fastest ever laps of Oulton Park on race and qualifying tyres today. I now have to go out and get results tomorrow.”

Shakey:
“I am disappointed to end up fifth in qualification but today has been a trying day for me. I woke up this morning feeling terrible with the flu and have been visiting the medical centre to take a saline drip to keep hydrated. I then crashed in qualification and I’m sure I’ll be stiff later on.

“Overall my feeling on the bike is real positive and I like Oulton Park. There are no points awarded today but tomorrow is when it counts and hopefully I’ll be feeling better for the races.”

Niall Mackenzie, Race Operations Manager:
“It has been Rizla Suzuki’s best qualification session of the year so far and it’s brilliant to be fighting for the front row positions, it’s exactly where the team deserves to be.

“James has put in a lot of hard graft on his bike and got his just rewards. He is comfortable on his GSX-R1000 and looking every bit a podium contender.

“Shakey on race rubber is lightning quick and on form should have been going for pole position but his challenge was cut short by a crash. Fifth is a strong second row start and if he can shift the flu bug then we can expect him to be fighting at the front tomorrow.”