Editorial Notes:

American James Rispoli, riding his Everquip Racing Yamaha YZF-R6, qualified fourth in British Supersport and then finished fourth in Race One. Pole-sitter Jack Kennedy won the race on his Integro Yamaha YZF-R6.

American Brandon Paasch, riding his Microlise Cresswell Racing Mahindra, qualified fourth in British Motostar  but DNF in Race One. Pole-sitter Jake Archer won the race on on his City Lifting/R5 Racing KTM.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship

Oulton Park, England

May 6, 2018

Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires):

From Qualifying Knockout Session Three:

1. Shane Byrne, UK (Ducati), 1:33.979

2. Jake Dixon, UK (Kawasaki), 1:34.109

3. Glenn Irwin, UK (Ducati), 1:34.237

4. Leon Haslam, UK (Kawasaki), 1:34.281

5. Jason O’Halloran, UK (Honda), 1:34.404

6. Luke Mossey, UK (Kawasaki), 1:34.522

7. Tommy Bridewell, UK (Suzuki), 1:35.175

8. Peter Hickman, UK (BMW), 1:35.648

9. Bradley Ray, UK (Suzuki), no lap time recorded in Q3

Qualifying Knockout Session Two:

10. James Ellison, UK (Yamaha), 1:34.756

11. Danny Buchan, UK (Kawasaki), 1:34.797

12. Josh Brookes, Australia (Yamaha), 1:34.811

13. Taylor Mackenzie, UK (Ducati), 1:34.823

14. Richard Cooper, UK (Suzuki), 1:34.910

15. Kyle Ryde, UK (Yamaha), 1:35.230

16. Tarran Mackenzie, UK (Yamaha), 1:35.557

17. Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic (BMW), 1:35.747

18. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Japan (Honda), no lap time recorded in Q2

From Qualifying Knockout One:

19. Gino Rea, UK (Suzuki), 1:35.965

20. Sylvain Barrier, France (BMW), 1:36.128

21. Michael Laverty, UK (BMW), 1:36.133

22. Mason Law, UK (Kawasaki), 1:36.188

23. Martin Jessopp, UK (BMW), 1:36.457

24. Dean Harrison, UK (Kawasaki), 1:37.266

25. Shaun Winfield, UK (Yamaha), 1:37.447

26. David Johnson, Australia (BMW), 1:37.636

27. Carl Phillips, UK (Kawasaki), 1:38.017

28. Connor Cummins, UK (Honda), 1:38.059

29. Christian Iddon, UK (BMW), no lap time recorded in qualifying

More, from a press release issued by MotorSport Vision Racing:

Shakey scores first pole position of the season at Oulton Park

Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne celebrated his first pole position of the 2018 Bennetts British Superbike Championship season at Oulton Park this afternoon, setting a blistering pace to set the fastest lap of the weekend to hold off Jake Dixon and Glenn Irwin.

Byrne topped an incredibly close Datatag Qualifying session; in Q2 the top 14 riders were covered by less than a second but the top nine shootout for pole was won by the defending champion who had a 0.130s advantage over Dixon.

Dixon and the RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki team had been making strides forward in the dry conditions and he banged in a lap time that Irwin couldn’t match, despite his best efforts as the Be Wiser Ducati team scored a brace of front row starts for tomorrow’s opening race.

Leon Haslam had been pushing to move up the order but when the chequered flag fell the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider had to settle for a second row start alongside Jason O’Halloran, who had been setting the initial benchmark earlier in the session, rounding out a top five who set a time under the existing lap record.

Luke Mossey had an improving performance as he climbed the order to sixth, holding off Movuno.com Halsall Racing Suzuki’s Tommy Bridewell to complete the second row.

Peter Hickman overcame a crash at Old Hall in Q2 and he was forced to watch the session from the sidelines, but he had done enough to hold a position in Q3. He returned to the garage at the end of the session and the Smiths Racing BMW team worked hard to get him back out on circuit.

Hickman was able to set the eighth fastest time ahead of Bradley Ray who made his first mistake of the season when he tipped off at Lodge. He picked up the Buildbase Suzuki and rejoined, but was subsequently black flagged and didn’t get the opportunity to set a flying lap so he starts ninth on the grid for race one.

James Ellison had narrowly missed out in tenth place ahead of Danny Buchan and Josh Brookes. Ryuichi Kiyonari had just made the cut for Q2 on his final lap, but the Honda Racing rider tipped off unhurt which put him 18th ahead of tomorrow’s race.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Datatag Qualifying:

1.Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) 1m:33.979s

2.Jake Dixon (RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki) +0.130s

3.Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.258s

4.Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.302s

5.Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing) +0.425s

6.Luke Mossey (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.543s

7.Tommy Bridewell (Movuno.com Halsall Racing Suzuki) +1.196s

8.Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +1.669s

9.Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki)

The next round of the 2018 Bennetts British Superbike Championship take place at Oulton Park on May 5/6/7. For more information visit www.britishsuperbike.com

Shane Byrne

(Be Wiser Ducati)

“We’ve worked really hard on our race performance this weekend, and also at the test a couple of weeks ago, but I was concerned our one lap pace would suffer as a consequence. As it turned out though, I managed to put in a really good lap time and we’re probably in better shape than we were here last year.

“The warm temperatures today meant there wasn’t much grip out there and the bike was moving around quite a lot so to do a 1m33.9s lap given the conditions was good. Our race pace is very strong and the weather bodes well for us as the Be Wiser Ducati works well in the warmer temperatures and is kinder on the tyres. Two 18-lap races won’t be easy so I’ll be aiming to make a good start, settle into a rhythm and see what happens.”

More, from a press release issued by Be Wiser Ducati:

Pole For Shakey At Oulton, Third On Grid For Irwin

The Be Wiser Ducati duo of Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne and Glenn Irwin will line up in first and third respectively on the grid for tomorrow’s opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship race at Oulton Park after both riders excelled during this afternoon’s qualifying session at the Cheshire venue.

Indeed, Byrne’s lap of 1m 33.979s was half a second inside the lap record aboard the factory-backed Be Wiser Ducati Panigale R during Datatag Extreme Qualifying for round three for Paul Bird’s Penrith-based team.

Having enjoyed a successful test day at the circuit last month, the duo were immediately on the pace in all three free practice sessions held with Irwin quickest overall on the timesheets with a time of 1m 34.312s – a tenth of a second inside the class lap record – and six-times and defending champion Byrne only 0.272s adrift in second.

This afternoon saw a continuation of perfect conditions at the 2.69-mile circuit with Carrickfergus rider Irwin recording the fourth quickest time in Q1 and Londoner Byrne the sixth fastest time, sending both riders comfortably through to Q2.

With an air temperature of 23 degrees, the pace quickened considerably in Q2, which was just 12 minutes in duration, and a lap from Byrne of 1m 34.152s put him at the top of the pile. However, with only nine riders making it into the final Q3 session, Irwin cut it fine as he just made it through in the final spot of ninth.

That just left the final eight-minute session and Byrne saved the best until last with his blistering lap of 1m 33.979s whilst Irwin was only 0.258s adrift in third to make it a great day for the locally-based team.

Shane Byrne: “We’ve worked really hard on our race performance this weekend, and also at the test a couple of weeks ago, but I was concerned our one lap pace would suffer as a consequence. As it turned out though, I managed to put in a really good lap time and we’re probably in better shape than we were here last year. The warm temperatures today meant there wasn’t much grip out there and the bike was moving around quite a lot so to do a 1m33.9s lap given the conditions was pleasing. Our race pace is very strong and the weather bodes well for us as the Be Wiser Ducati works well in the warmer temperatures and is kinder on the tyres. Two 18-lap races won’t be easy so I’ll be aiming to make a good start, settle into a rhythm and see what happens.”

Glenn Irwin: “I’m definitely pleased to be on the front row and all my times this weekend have been done on my own so I’m feeling pretty confident. No one was particularly quick on their out lap in Q3 so I was a little worried I’d lost too much heat from the tyres but I got the job done and it’s obviously good for the team to have both bikes on the front row at their local round. We’ve got good race pace and the boys fired me up today so roll on the two races.”

Johnny Mowatt, Team Co-ordinator: “It’s the best possible start to the weekend for the riders and the team and it’s a big meeting for us with Oulton Park being our local round. Both riders knuckled down at the test two weeks ago and did a lot of work on their race set-up and they’ve carried that over to this weekend. They’ve found a good set-up which allowed them to do a flying lap in qualifying but their race pace also looks very strong and the long runs have shown good longevity in the tyres. The two races aren’t going to be easy especially as Monday is forecast to be warmer but everyone adapts accordingly and we’ll be looking to end race day with some strong results under our belt.”

More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing BSB Press Office:

SECOND ROW START FOR JASON O’HALLORAN AT OULTON PARK

Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran lines up on the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship race at Oulton Park, after setting the fifth fastest time aboard the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade.

With glorious conditions and blistering pace throughout qualifying, ‘The O’Show’ set the initial benchmark in the opening stage. With consistent lap times, the Aussie made it through each qualifying session and is looking confident with the Fireblade package at the Cheshire circuit. Setting the fifth fastest lap time (1:34.404), O’Halloran was just 0.425 seconds from pole.

Meanwhile teammate for this round, Ryuichi Kiyonari has been building and improving his lap times across each session this weekend. Having just made the cut into Q2 on his final lap in qualifying, Kiyo tipped off at Hizzys after losing the front of the CBR. The Japanese ace was left unhurt and will start tomorrow’s 18-lap race from 18th position.

Tomorrow’s racing action is scheduled for race one to get underway at 1330 and race two a 1630.

#22

Jason O’Halloran

So far everything has been going really well this weekend and I’m feeling really confident in the package we have. We made it through each of the qualifying sessions and topped Q1, which was great. We didn’t really make too many changes to the CBR throughout the sessions and I worked more on my riding throughout. I changed how I was doing things in FP3 into two of the corners with entry and it made the feeling a lot better, so I think we need to adjust for my weight position on the bike now. I’m very confident and happy with what we have for tomorrow’s races, we have some very small tweaks to make ahead of warm-up in the morning, but all in all we’re in a good place to go racing. We’ve managed a lot of laps and everything is working really well; we have a good pace and we should be strong tomorrow.

#23

Ryuichi Kiyonari

I am so happy to be back in BSB this weekend and I am enjoying every moment. In Q1 qualifying we had a difficult start and we tried some different set-ups throughout. Towards the end we made progress and my lap times were much improved, I didn’t realise that I had made Q2 so stayed on track for some practice starts – it was a shock when I got back to the garage! In Q2 I felt much better, but we had a fresh tyre and too much excitement from me and I lost the front and crashed. I am very sorry to the team for this! Thankfully there isn’t too much damage, so I don’t think they will be too late to finish tonight. I am very positive for tomorrow, every session we get better and better; I am happy to join BSB again and be with the Honda team. I am happy to see all the fans again and many still remember me and call me Kiyo – I am very happy!

Havier Beltran

Team Manager

We’ve had a great start to round three really here at Oulton Park. Jason’s first session in qualifying was strong, he topped the times and everything is working so well from the machine, the set-up and the team – I couldn’t ask for more from that side really. Throughout all the sessions he had good times and just kept building. Jason knows from row two it’s achievable and it’s all about getting a good start. He’s been consistent all weekend and has got a lot of time on race rubber and race distance, and I’m confident come tomorrow’s races. I think with a good start we can be on the podium. I’m really pleased with Kiyo and his progress over the two days, he’s been drafted in to help and develop a few things with Dan side lined for a few weeks. He’s done everything we have asked of him and I appreciate our Fireblade spec is very different to his back in Japan. A huge thanks to (Midori) Moriwaki for allowing Kiyo to be able to come over and help – it’s great to have him back with us.