Defending champion Tommy Hill claimed his fourth pole position of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship season with a determined qualifying performance that put him ahead of Josh Brookes, Ian Lowry and Michael Laverty for today's opening race.

In the first qualifying session Hill again topped the session for Swan Yamaha, although he was closely hunted down by Lowes until a crash at Brittens ended his run; the WFR Honda team then faced a race against time to repair the damage and get him back out on track for Q2. Byrne, Brookes and James Westmoreland completed the top five, whilst Keith Farmer on his debut with the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki qualified for the second session.

In Q2 Hill was again the rider to beat by topping the session ahead of Byrne and Michael Laverty who moved up the order on the Samsung Honda. Noriyuki Haga dramatically missed the cut on the second Swan Yamaha, he ended the session eleventh with Lowes unable to set a time as his team worked on the WFR Honda, he will start 20th for the first race.

In Q3 Hill again set the pace and although Brookes looked set to challenge the Tyco Suzuki rider had to settle for second with Ian Lowry claiming his third front row start for the Padgetts Honda team with a resurgent performance. Laverty completed the front row for Samsung Honda whilst Byrne was pushed to fifth.

Peter Hickman had a strong performance on the Buildbase BMW in seventh at only his second event ahead of James Westmoreland and Tristan Palmer.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, qualifying result:

Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 1m:35.742s
Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +0.272s
Ian Lowry (Padgetts Honda) +0.529s
Michael Laverty (Samsung Honda) +0.679s
Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +0.679s
Alastair Seeley (Tyco Suzuki) +1.016s
Peter Hickman (Buildbase BMW) +1.180s
James Westmoreland (WFR Honda) +1.534s
Tristan Palmer (GBmoto Honda) +5.610s
Jon Kirkham (Samsung Honda)

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