Swan Yamaha’s Tommy Hill will start from the front row of the grid for the eighth time this season in tomorrow’s opening MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race at Donington Park after qualifying third. Team-mate Noriyuki Haga meanwhile continues to fight on despite his collarbone injury, just missing out on the top ten in twelfth.

Hill had been pushing hard throughout the free practice sessions and continued to close the advantage of his title rivals. The Swan Yamaha rider ended the final top ten qualifying session just 0.274 seconds adrift of Josh Brookes’ pole position lap. Haga continues to ride despite still recovering from injury as he bids to claim the final Title Fighter position in the Showdown following the two races tomorrow.

Hill said:

“It feels good to be on the front row and by the end of yesterday we had closed the gap. We seemed to have struggled on a few areas today after Cadwell Park, but now we have made some improvements and we have moved forward. It is getting down to the crunch time now ready for the Showdown and for me with Shakey out I need to try and get those podium credits tomorrow. I need to be aiming for the podium and then we can have the best possible advantage going into the Showdown. I need to give it 110% to get the Swan Yamaha back on the top step and get those podium credits. We just need to make a step forward again.”

Haga said:

“I have been having some issues today and we were trying many settings to try and find more grip with the rear tyre, but we couldn’t find it this afternoon for qualifying. For tomorrow we will try another approach and my chief engineer Mark has worked hard to try and find a good set up for me. I will do my best to rest my shoulder for tomorrow and just try to push until the end of the second race for good results.”

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