Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Foret takes fifth pole position of 2002 at Brands Hatch

Fabien Foret put in a blistering performance to ensure he starts on pole position for tomorrow’s World Superbike race at Brands Hatch. His lap, a new best lap time at the Kent circuit, got him his fourth pole position in a row and his fifth of the season.

Timing his final run perfectly, the French Ten Kate rider crossed the line with just 45 seconds remaining – leaving his rivals no time to respond. His time of 1:29.212 is also a new best lap for Brands Hatch in the World Supersport class.

Iain MacPherson, teammate to Foret in Ten Kate Honda, gave the Frenchman a run for his money by pushing Foret down the order twice. The Scotsman, who joined the Ten Kate squad just five days before the first race of the season, has suffered from a lack of testing time at previous rounds. But he now looks to be in control of his machine and his third place on the grid goes a long way to proving that. However each time the Scotsman improved Foret responded immediately and it was Foret who was fastest when it counted most.

Karl Muggeridge briefly held pole in the dying stages, but he was pushed down to second by Foret to make it a Honda 1-2-3 on the grid.

Stephane Chambon had topped the timing charts for most of the session on the Alstare Suzuki. But when the times started to tumble he was unable to push his Suzuki any further and he ended the session in fourth.

Jamie Whitham had been languishing down the field on his Belgarda Yamaha until a late charge saw the Yorkshireman move up into sixth place. Alongside him for the race will be Jorg Teuchert, Katsuaki Fujiwara and Christian Kellner.

Defending champion Andrew Pitt could only manage 14th position on his Kawasaki just behind his countryman Chris Vermeulen.

Saturday’s World Supersport Qualifying Results:

1. Fabien Foret, Honda, 1:29.212
2. Karl Muggeridge, Honda, 1:29.234
3. Iain MacPherson, Honda, 1:29.310
4. Stéphane Chambon, Suzuki, 1:29.453
5. Jörg Teuchert, Yamaha, 1:29.470
6. James Whitham, Yamaha, 1:29.491
7. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Suzuki, 1:29.528
8. Christian Kellner, Yamaha, 1:29.644
9. Christophe Cogan, Honda, 1:29.680
10. Antonio Carlacci, Yamaha, 1:29.738
11. Paolo Casoli, Yamaha, 1:29.793
12. Kevin Curtain, Yamaha, 1:29.824
13. Chris Vermeulen, Honda, 1:29.879
14. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, 1:30.018
15. Alessio Corradi, Yamaha, 1:30.039
16. Werner Daemen, Honda, 1:30.169
17. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda, 1:30.206
18. Piergiorgio Bontempi, Ducati, 1:30.302
19. Stefano Cruciani, Yamaha, 1:30.306
20. Robert Frost, Yamaha, 1:30.962
21. James Ellison, Kawasaki, 1:31.113
22. John McGuinness, Honda, 1:31.126
23. Matthieu Lagrive, Yamaha, 1:31.169
24. Gianluca Nannelli, Ducati, 1:31.198
25. Scott Smart, Honda, 1:31.202
26. Stuart Easton, Ducati, 1:31.339
27. Nigel Arnold, Honda, 1:32.261
28. Claudio Cipriani, Yamaha, 1:32.297