Kiyonari secures Mallory pole

Added on Saturday, June 26th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor

Ryuichi Kiyonari secured a blinding pole position at Mallory Park this afternoon, to secure the advantage ahead of tomorrow’s first British Superbike outing.

A thrilling Roll for Pole session saw the HM Plant Honda rider fight off challenges from Michael Laverty and Tommy Hill for the honour. Laverty held the top spot for the first part of qualifying, however he was pipped to the post when it counted, handing the pole position to kiyonari.

Drama came in a double sweep for the Worx Crescent Suzuki outfit, as both Hill and Yukio Kagayama suffered crashes during the session. Luckily for Hill he was able to recover to set the third fastest time, however teammate Kagayama could only manage eleventh.

With James Ellison now back in full swing after some time out of action, him and Swan Honda teammate Stuart Easton were seemingly struggling, setting the fourteenth and fifteenth quickest times if the session.

With the front three positions on the grid for tomorrow taken up with Kiyonari, Laverty and Hill, Michael Rutter will join them on the front row, qualifying fourth. The second row of the grid sees Josh Brookes and Andrew Pitt line up in fith and sixth, with Karl Harris and Dan Linfoot completing the row in seventh and eighth. Chris Walker is next in ninth, while Alastair Seeley has been demoted from his original tenth place spot due to a penalty; Seeley will now be starting from further back.

Pole man Kiyonari said: “I am happy with pole, but I didn’t think it was going to be possible. We tried two different settings this morning in free practice and we had to find a balance and it wasn’t until the last session in qualifying that we managed to do it. I don’t want to give up on two wins tomorrow so I am feeling confident that with a few changes we can go even faster.”

BSB, Qualifying Positions, Mallory Park:

Pos Rider Team Time