Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) secured a second row start after setting the eighth best time in a ‘wet’ Superpole competition at Silverstone. James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) fought a lack of rear traction during his allocation of 12 laps and finished 14th quickest, taking a fourth row start for Sunday’s brace of Superbike races.

With Friday being dry and Saturday soaking wet, all the Superpole qualifying times counted from day one, and the slowly drying track proved tricky for all involved. Toseland was particularly unlucky as he finished fifth in regulation qualifying (with Muggeridge eighth) and had hoped to improve to a front row start in front of his home fans. Local wild card Tommy Hill took his first ever Superpole win, with championship leader Bayliss second quickest.

Ronald Ten Kate - Team Manager
“After a good start to the weekend yesterday we really hoped for more than this result. The wet Superpole did not bring us what we were expecting. Karl is on the second row, which is still OK, but 14th place for James is not a good position for him to start the races from. Tomorrow, it seems the races will be held in dry conditions, and I also hope we can have a dry warm-up, so we can confirm our dry settings. I guess it will be a tough race for James, coming from where he will be. But we know he is a hard racer, and he won’t have any lack of motivation, especially as this is his home round.”

James Toseland – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(14th position – 1’41.004)
“That was a really difficult day, especially after the first day, when things looked good. I was confident and the times were not bad. But today I could not believe how it turned out. The front of the bike was OK but as soon as I opened the gas it was hard to control the rear of the bike. I waited until the last few minutes to hope that there were better track conditions than at the beginning, but things were even worse, and most other riders couldn’t improve their times as much. Tomorrow, conditions should be better and I am sure that yesterday’s times have proved that if I’m aggressive in the first few laps, I can get into the top group again.”

Karl Muggeridge – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(8th position – 1’40.023)
“In the wet we have had to work on getting more drive out of corners. The bike was just spinning like mad and also spinning quite early in the turns. The front was working nicely, we could get it in, brake and turn, but if you got in too fast the back would still come around. That was interesting, let’s say, several times. In the dry I think things will be working really well. We got some things changed in the chassis yesterday and it was good, so we’re making improvements all the time.”

Supersport

After a superb ride on the first day of qualifying, and a washed out second qualifying session today, Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) scored his fifth successive pole position in World Supersport, and now stands alone as the most successful ever in the history of the class, with 16 career poles. Charpentier’s fastest time was also the 31st such consecutive Honda success in World Supersport. Charpentier did not complete any laps in the sodden second qualifying session, which featured standing water on many sections of the Silverstone track. His 1’30.516 from Friday nonetheless puts him in perfect position for a fifth straight podium finish.

Charpentier’s team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) was less fortunate today, with the wet weather preventing him from improving his previous best qualifying time, and thus his grid position of 18th remains unchanged.

Ronald Ten Kate - Team Manager
“This was pretty much a wasted day for us. This morning we just had a couple of outings to see the behaviour of the bike in the rain. This afternoon we decided to sit it out, considering how many big puddles there were on the track. The forecast is good for Sunday, maybe it will even be sunny, and we decided to not risk anything. The work has been done yesterday for Charpentier, unlucky for Sofuoglu, who could not move up the grid. For Sebastien it is the fifth pole in five races, and he is top in the all-time pole winners. I think this is the 31st consecutive pole for Honda, which is an achievement in itself. But it was shame to have to sit out today for the most part.”

Sebastien Charpentier – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(Pole Position – 1’30.516)
“It’s a good thing to take the new record for pole wins but it was strange because of the weather. Last night there was no rain and at least we have been able to work towards a race set-up, if raceday is dry. Today the rain came almost immediately and that was the day finished for everybody. I am happy because I am the new record man in terms of pole position, and my job yesterday was not bad. I hope things are dry tomorrow, and we will work in warm-up to make sure that things are OK – even if during warm-up the track may not be completely dry. In England, nothing is sure with the weather. 28 laps will be a long race around here, but I start for the victory.”

Kenan Sofuoglu – Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider
(18th Position – 1’33.274)
“I really needed it to be dry for qualifying today but luck was not with me. I wanted to improve my position but all the hard rain from this morning on stopped that happening. The problem is that I will start from 18th position and I did not find a good set-up in the dry. I hope that we can use the 20 minutes of warm-up the best way possible. It is not so easy to overtake here but there are 28 laps, so I think I can pass many riders.”