From a press release issued by MonsterMob Ducati:

MonsterMob Ducati British Superbike and Supersport Championship Team

British Superbike Championship
Rounds 5/6
Snetterton
24th/25th April

FRONT ROW FOR EMMETT

MonsterMob Ducati rider Sean Emmett will start rounds five and six of the THINK! British Superbike Championship at Snetterton from the front row of the grid after a dramatic final qualifying session this afternoon.

Having set fastest time in this morning’s first timed qualifying, the 34 year old Londoner was holding provisional pole position when with around ten minutes of the session to go, the red flag came out when James Haydon’s ETI Ducati blew an oil seal.

Despite the pain of a broken finger sustained in a race crash at Brands Hatch over Easter, Emmett was bumped back in the dying throes and despite setting a faster time, clung on to third place for an all important front row start. Remarkably, Emmett and Suzuki rival John Reynolds set identical times but Emmett got the nod by virtue of the fact that his second fastest lap was quicker than Reynolds’.

“I’m quite satisfied with that and it seems that me and Michael (Rutter) were the quickest on race tyres. However, one lap of qualifying is always a lottery as there are always those guys who can do one quick lap but doing twenty five of them is a different matter. The front row is what we wanted so I’m happy” said Sean.

Meanwhile, Emmett’s team mate Michael Laverty will have to battle through from row three of the grid having posted ninth fastest time during British Supersport qualifying. The 23 year old Ulsterman was comfortably in fifth place for much of the session but missed out late in the session.

“It would have been good to start the race from further up but we were concentrating on perfecting our race set up rather than doing one fast lap. We managed to do OK from even further back at Brands so I’m feeling confident about tomorrow’s race” said Laverty who won at Snetterton last season.

Superbike Qualifying
1, Michael Rutter (Honda) 1:05.713
2, Dean Thomas (Ducati) 1:05.766
3, Sean Emmett (MonsterMob Ducati) 1:05.909
4, John Reynolds (Suzuki) 1:05.909
5, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 1:06.098
6, Scott Smart (Kawasaki) 1:06.150
7, Steve Plater (Yamaha) 1:06.407
8, Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 1:06.449
9, Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 1:06.492
10, James Haydon (Ducati) 1:06.947


Supersport Qualifying
1, Karl Harris (Honda) 1:08.673
2, Luke Quigley (Suzuki) 1:08.721
3, Pere Riba (Kawasaki) 1:08.840
4, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 1:08.967
5, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) 1:08.971
6, Tom Tunstall (Honda) 1:09.077
7, Jay Vincent (Honda) 1:09.095
8, Leon Camier (Honda) 1:09.099
9, Michael Laverty (MonsterMob Ducati) 1:09.101
10, Iain MacPherson (Honda) 1:09.135


More, from a press release issued by MSS Discovery Kawasaki Team:

British Supersport/National Superstock Championships
Round three ­
Snetterton, April 25 2004

Saturday April 24 2004

RIBA SCOOPS FIRST FRONT ROW START ON MSS DISCOVERY KAWASAKI

Pere Riba will make his first front row start on the MSS Discovery ZX-6RR Kawasaki after taking third place in Saturday¹s British Supersport Championship qualifying at the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk.

Riba, second in the Championship points standings, was just 0.1s away from a debut pole position in the class and is confident of a first podium finish after taking fourth place in the previous rounds at Silverstone and Brands Hatch.

“I’m very, very happy with what we’ve achieved today,” said Riba. “The machine and tyres feel better than they have done at any point this year. Everything continues to improve with the new ZX-6RR and this weekend feels like a major step forward in that development.”

Riba added: “There are some good, quality riders in the Supersport class so to be third on the grid, and on my first visit to Snetterton, is good. We also have a good race tyre – I was only 0.3s slower on the race tyre than the soft compound Metzeler we use for qualifying.”

Riba’s team-mate Rob Frost will start from 19th place on the grid, escaping injury after he crashed on the final lap of the qualifying session.

Frost explained: “We’d tried just about everything in the session in an effort to get the machine set-up right. Eventually we got the front end of the machine working good but it began bringing the rear around, going sideways on me.

“That’s exactly what happened with the crash, it came around and I knew it was my final lap so there was no way I could roll the throttle off. The race will be a battle but I’m ready for it and Snetterton is a good, open circuit for racing.”

The team’s National Superstock Championship rider, Steve Allan will start from 18th place on the grid after a qualifying day to forget for the Scotsman who took pole position for the opening round of the series four weeks ago at Silverstone.

Allan, less than one second off a front row start, said: “Everything about the ZX-10R is great–it’s the circuit which is causing us trouble this weekend. We’ve had trouble with the brakes since we got here. It’s the same
for every rider out there and it’s just how you can handle it best.

“The characteristics of Snetterton and its long straights mean you’re travelling from 160 mph down to about 30 mph as quick as you can, with
standard brakes it takes its toll. The team have got some ideas though and I’m hopeful we’ll get around the problem by the morning warm-up.”

British Supersport Championship final qualifying times:

1 Karl Harris, Honda, 1:08.673
2 Luke Quigley, Suzuki, 1:08.721
3 Pere Riba, Kawasaki, 1:08.840
4 Tom Sykes, Suzuki, 1:08.967
5 Simon Andrews, Yamaha, 1:08.971
6 Tom Tunstall, Honda, 1:09.077
7 Jay Vincent, Honda, 1:09.095
8 Leon Camier, Honda, 1:09.099
9 Michael Laverty, Ducati, 1:09.101
10 Iain MacPherson, Honda, 1:09.135
19 Rob Frost, Kawasaki, 1:09.779


National Superstock Championship final qualifying times:

1 Tristan Palmer, Suzuki, 1:08.047
2 Andy Tinsley, Suzuki, 1:08.147
3 Ben Wilson, Suzuki, 1:08.371
4 Mark Heckles, Yamaha, 1:08.433
5 Les Shand, Yamaha, 1:08.494
6 Danny Beaumont, Yamaha, 1:08.557
7 Marshall Neill, Suzuki, 1:08.725
8 Ryan Rainey, Yamaha, 1:08.880
9 John Crockford, Suzuki, 1:08.881
10 Aaron Zanotti, Suzuki, 1:08.949
18 Steve Allan, Kawasaki, 1:09.431



More, from a press release issued by Hawk Kawasaki:

BSB Championship, Round 3, Snetterton, Norfolk

Track length: 1.952 miles

Weather: dry, bright sunshine, slight breeze, 24° C

Track: 36° C

COMBINED QUALIFYING

TRAFFIC ROBS SMART OF FRONT ROW START

Hawk Kawasaki’s Scott Smart missed out on a front row start for tomorrow’s two BSB races at Snetterton, Norfolk, by two tenths of a second when he was baulked by slower traffic on his final few laps of qualifying.

Smarty held a strong third position for more than half of the sun-drenched second session and was looking to guarantee a front row start with a flying lap in the closing minutes of qualifying. Unable to avoid slower riders, Scott was forced to settle with sixth quickest time and a second row grid position.

“I had to back off on my last three laps when I was trying for a quick time,” he said afterwards. “It wasn’t the other riders’ fault, they were just mid-corner when I was trying to get through the turn faster and that’s just the way your luck runs sometimes. I ran a .61 and it could have been a .59 no problem if I hadn’t been slowed and that would have been good enough for the front row of the grid.”

His Hawk Kawasaki team-mate, Glen Richards, was also forced to abort his final few flying laps when his ZX-10R developed an miss-fire, leaving the Aussie unable to best his time of 1:06.492. He starts tomorrow’s tow races from ninth.

“It’s really frustrating,” said Glen. “I know I could have gone faster but my number one bike started cutting out and there was nothing I could do. It’s going to be hard starting from the third row, so my aim now is to get away as cleanly as I can.”

Smart’s speed aboard the team’s new Kawasaki ZX-10R surprised many – even Hawk Team Principal Stuart Hicken. “I was concerned about speed, but people said we wouldn’t do anything with the 750 and we did, and we’ve proved that again today with a new bike,” he said. “It’s also nice to see our bikes pass others in a straight line, rather than on the brakes. Being able to do that makes life much easier.

“Overall I’m really happy because it’s very, very close at the top. Scott thought he could’ve gone quicker, Glen definitely could have gone quicker but we were a little bit unlucky to get a miss-fire at the end of the session on Glen’s number one bike. The good thing is that through the speed trap on the back straight we were second and third.”