Hill rockets to Thruxton pole

Added on Saturday, April 17th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor

Tommy Hill stormed the Thruxton circuit this afternoon, to take the Swan Combi Roll for Pole ahead of round two of the British Superbike Championship.

On his way to pole position, the Worx Crescent Suzuki rider also set a blinding new lap record, flying around the Hampshire venue in just 1m14.366s. Behind, Michael Rutter put in a last lap dash to secure second place, demoting Stuart Easton to third place at the very end.

A red flag at the start of the first Roll for Pole session, as a result of Jenkinson crashing out on the startline, saw the qualifying delayed for a short while. However, once restarted it was business as usual.

Yukio Kagayama set the fourth fastest time in the third and final session, leaving the Swan Honda rider to complete the front row of the grid.

John Laverty recorded the fifth quickest time, qualifying just ahead of Dan Linfoot and Josh Brookes. The remainder of the top ten will see Alastair Seeley, Christian Iddon and Chris Walker lining up alongside one another.

Unfortunately for some qualifying was brought to an abrupt end during the second session. Ryuichi Kiyonari and Michael Laverty fell foul of a shortened session, leaving Kiyonari starting thirteenth tomorrow, whilst Laverty’s Relentless Suzuki was too badly damaged to be repaired before the next session after he suffered a heavy crash.

Commenting on a successful start to the weekend, Hill said: “It was an awesome lap but I didn’t even know what time I had done until I came back into pitlane as it wasn’t showing on the dashboard. I was peaking when I found out; to be under the lap record is such a good feeling. I was sat in the motorhome after the crash this morning feeling a bit sorry for myself and then I got up and went to the garage and instantly felt ready to get back out there. The first session felt like being in Mad Max, but for me it is job done for today and see what happens tomorrow.”

With the high speeds of the Thruxton circuit tomorrow is sure to be as thrilling as ever.

BSB Qualifying Positions – Thruxton:

Pos Rider Team Time