Camier takes pole position at Mallory Park
Leon Camier, the leader in the chase for the ViSK British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli, overcame the machine problems of free practice to power in his fifth pole start ahead of the seventh round of the country’s premier series at Mallory Park.
The Airwaves Yamaha rider was hard pressed to head off the determined challenges of Tommy Hill, the former World Superbike rider, who was making his seasonal debut into the series aboard the Worx Cresent Suzuki.
Hill had been the pace-setter through free practice and was making the most of his opportunity with the Suzuki team, upping the tempo, as he duelled with Camier across the Swan Combi 50 Roll for Pole session, only to miss out on starting his one hundredth BSB race by 0.179secs.
Camier, who had completed only a handful of laps in free practice, due to machine problems, rewarded the hard working efforts of his team when it mattered most, going top of the qualifying leaderboard with a lap of the 1.41mile Leicestershire circuit in 56.016secs.
“We’ve had a bad time, and not done that many laps till the grid decider which was the first full session we’ve done on the race bike,” explained Camier. “We are strong and up there, and after two years of horrendous results here, hopefully things are looking better now that I have pole.”
Chris Walker ran third fastest with a lap of 56.221secs aboard the Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha, to be just ahead of the surprise package of the weekend, Mirror.co.uk Cup rider Richard Cooper on the Co-ordit Yamaha.
Cooper, enjoying his one-off appearance into the series, had embarrassed his factory riding rivals throughout, and his lap of 56.345secs secured for him a front row start, and he reflected: “That’s not bad for someone riding a three year old bike!”
John Laverty headed up the second row of the grid on the Buildbase Kawasaki, running a tenth up on the similar machine, but running in MSS Colchester colours, of Simon Andrews. James Ellison, who trailing his team-mate Camier by 78 points in the title stakes, ran seventh fastest, marginally up on Hydrex Honda rider Karl Harris.
Grame Gowland, on the second Motorpoint Henderson bike, ran with a best time of 56.642secs, matched by Stuart Easton, the Hydrex Honda rider who is third in the overall rankings. Michael Rutter, making his debut with the SMT Honda equipe in place of Jason O’Halloran and MSS Colchester Kawasaki rider Julien da Costa completed the third row.
Adrift of them came Buildbase Kawasaki’s Tristan Palmer, David Johnson on the Team Maxxis Yamaha, Atsushi Watanabe – Relentless Suzuki, and the leader of the Mirror.co.uk Cup, Gary Mason aboard the Quay Garage Honda.
Josh Brookes, the pole-starter in the previous round had a difficult grid deciding session, starting his HM Plant Honda from the fifth row, in company with Ian Lowry and Cup riders Peter Hickman and Tommy Bridewell.
Tom Tunstall, Kenny Gilbertson, Steve Brogan deputising for the injured Glen Richards and Martin Jessopp lined up behind them with local rider Aaron Zanotti and Michael Howarth, riding the STP-JHS MV Agusta for the first time, at the back of the pack.
Top ten qualifying times:
L Camier, Airwaves Yamaha, 56.016secs
T Hill, Worx Crescent Suzuki, 56.195s
C Walker, Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha, 56.221s
R Cooper, Co-ordit Yamaha, 56.345s
J Laverty, Buildbase Kawasaki, 56.379s
S Andrews, MSS Colchester Kawasaki, 56.489s
J Ellison, Airwaves Yamaha, 56.547s
K Harris, Hydrex Honda, 56.605s
G Gowland, Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha, 56.642s
S Easton, Hydrex Honda, 56.642s
McConnell takes Supersport pole
Billy McConnell has placed his MAP Raceways Yamaha on pole position for the fourth time this season at round seven of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship at the Leicestershire circuit of Mallory Park.
The Australian again stormed to the top of the time sheets in first qualifying, setting a hot pace to follow with a time of 56.354s which would have put him fourth on the front row of the ViSK British Superbike Championship grid. In the second qualifying session while running a race simulation ready for tomorrow’s race McConnell continued his fast pace still running in the 56s.
McConnell said: “It didn’t feel like the fastest lap as I hit a lot of traffic, but the traffic must have been good in helping me slipstream onto the straight. Basically it is down to a good team. This team is like a breath of fresh air, they have good working ethics, it’s a great team and bike.
“In the second session we did a race simulation which was good, we didn’t have to change much after the time I set earlier, it was more to do with the engine management system. Again a big credit to the team and the mechanics.”
Team-mate Lee Johnston has steadily progressed throughout the weekend and was the main rider in qualifying two who benefited, leaping from 14th to ninth on the grid. He determinedly took a further 4.5s off his time despite being hindered by last-minute problems.
Johnston said: “I am happy enough, but we suffered from a mechanical problem which stopped me progressing any further. I have never been here before and it is a circuit that is hard to pass on so we need to get a good start to get away. It’s a tough class. I am looking forward to tomorrow and can’t wait until the next round at Brands Hatch.”
Third rider Allan Jon Venter is disappointed and frustrated with his results so far this weekend, even though he had a solid pace of 57.825 which put him 18th on the grid. This again proves how close the championship is as another second faster would have put him fifth.
Venter commented: “We have been struggling with setup, we made some changes between qualifying one and two, but we always seem to be missing something. The bike I am riding deserves to be higher, my time is good, but I need to be at the front. On a track like Mallory, you can’t afford to be down the order, but I will aim for a good start and go from there. We will sit down and talk about changes we can make for tomorrow.”
The Fuchs-Silkolene Supersport race will take place tomorrow at 15:30pm.
Qualifying results
1. Billy McConnell Yamaha 56.354
2. Chris Martin Kawasaki 56.504
3. Ben Wilson Kawasaki 56.546
4. James Westmoreland Triumph 56.726
5. Tom Grant Honda 56.942
6. Steve Plater Honda 57.055
7. Sam Lowes Honda 57.086
8. Ian Hutchinson Honda 57.120
9. Lee Johnston Yamaha 57.353
10. Daniel Cooper Honda 57.514
