Fourth pole position for Brookes as disaster strikes Showdown contenders ahead of race one

Josh Brookes set an incredible pace to set his fourth pole position of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship season in Datatag Qualifying at Oulton Park, however for the Showdown hopefuls it was a dramatic prelude to this afternoon’s opening race in Cheshire.

In the opening session, a technical problem for Ryan Vickers caused track contamination, unluckily for Danny Buchan he was in close pursuit and he crashed out at Cascades, ruling him out of the remainder of qualifying due to the damage. The FS-3 Racing Kawasaki rider who heads the riders fighting to confirm their Showdown place this weekend will now start in 24th place on the grid for the opening race this afternoon.

When the session resumed Brookes was surging to the top of the times, but for fifth placed Tarran Mackenzie in the standings, Q1 was also over prematurely when he crashed out at Old Hall and ended his session. The McAMS Yamaha rider will start on the sixth row alongside fellow Showdown contender Xavi Forés.

When Q2 got underway, Andrew Irwin slid out at Brittens, although he was able to hold a position in Q3 to qualify in eighth position for Honda Racing. However, with his Cadwell Park penalty he starts on the last position on the grid, with a job ahead of him to work his way up the order in a bid to defend his sixth place standings position.

The start of Q3 then included a crash for another Showdown contender as Christian Iddon had a high-speed crash at Cascades, putting him ninth on the timesheets, but he will elevate to eighth on the grid courtesy of Andrew Irwin’s penalty.

Tommy Bridewell had then pushed to the top of the times for the Oxford Racing Ducati team before Brookes upped the pace again to move back in control. Just 0.176s at the chequered flag separated the pair with Scott Redding claiming his first front row qualifying position at Oulton Park.

Bradley Ray had another strong qualifying session for Buildbase Suzuki, just getting nudged into fourth place to head off the challenge from Jason O'Halloran and Glenn Irwin who completed another promising session ahead of race one.

Peter Hickman heads into the opening race this afternoon in the best position of the Showdown hopefuls, qualifying in seventh place to start on the third row of the rid for Smiths Racing BMW.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Datatag Qualifying:

1. Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) 1m:33.939s
2. Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing Ducati) +0.176s
3. Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.375s
4. Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) +0.661s
5. Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.718s
6. Glenn Irwin (Tyco BMW) +0.898s
7. Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +1.087s
8. Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) +1.695s
9. Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW)