Alex Lowes claimed pole position for the third round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship with a stunning lap at Oulton Park, the fastest ever with the current technical specifications, for the Samsung Honda team.

In the opening session Lowes topped the time from Shane Byrne and Josh Brookes, but it was a tough start to the weekend for Bathams Honda's Michael Rutter who missed out in Q1 as he prepares for his 400th race start in the Championship tomorrow. It was also a disastrous qualifying session for local lady Jenny Tinmouth as she crashed out unhurt at Cascades, whilst RidersRacing BMW's Martin Jessopp crashed spectacularly at Brittens but was also able to walk away.

Lowes set the pace in Q2 with what had been the fastest lap of the weekend from Byrne, Milwaukee Yamaha's James Ellison and the charging Buildbase BMW of Jon Kirkham as he aimed to add to his Brands Hatch front row. It was another disappointing session for former champion Ryuichi Kiyonari as he will start from row four tomorrow. James Westmoreland was denied a position in Q3 after a last minute improvement from Peter Hickman saw him drop to eleventh in the final stages.


Lowes had saved the best until last as he upped the pace again in the final session to set the fastest lap and hold off championship leader Byrne; the pair will be joined on the front row by Brookes and Keith Farmer.

Jon Kirkham heads row two from Chris Walker and Tommy Bridewell with Peter Hickman pushing the Lloyds British GBmoto Honda to eighth. Ellison will start from tenth after the Milwaukee Yamaha suffered a problem at the start of the session and was forced to watch from the garage.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, Datatag Extreme Qualifying:

Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda) 1m:34.884s
Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +0.460s
Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +0.900s
Keith Farmer (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +1.130s
Jon Kirkham (Buildbase BMW) +1.142s
Chris Walker (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki) +1.214s
Tommy Bridewell (Bathams Honda) +1.326s
Peter Hickman (Lloyds British GBmoto Honda) +1.786s
Karl Harris (PR Racing Kawasaki) +2.346s
James Ellison (Milwaukee Yamaha)

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