The strong starting position in only the second leg of the championship is testament to the Sheffield rider's talent and determination. Harris has been working hard with the team – some of who helped him achieve back-to-back victory for Honda Racing in the Supersport class – to improve the British-built machine in its debut season.



Harris has already proved his skills at Thruxton after securing pole position and a race win at the Hampshire circuit last year in the ultra-competitive 600cc category. He is now focussing on achieving a similar level of success in the world's leading domestic Superbike series. Harris' performance at the very least was an indication that the Yorkshireman is certainly a serious contender in the championship chase.



Karl Harris: "I’m really happy to be on the front row and achieving the sort of starting positions that I'm capable of. We are constantly developing the Honda-Racing.co.uk Fireblade to perfect the set-up and we're really happy with the progress that we've made so far. I'm determined to prove myself in the Superbike series and the only way to do that is to start beating the opposition, so I'm looking forward to today's race."


Qualifying: 1. M. Rutter (HM Plant Honda Racing) 1:15.601; 2. L Haslam (Ducati) +0.134; 3. S. Emmett (Yamaha) +0.146; 4. K. Harris (Honda-Racing.co.uk) +0.318; 5. R. Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda Racing) +0.345; 6. G. Richards (Kawasaki) +0.440; 7. G. Lavilla (Ducati) +0.538; 8. S. Smart (Suzuki) +0.703; 9. T. Hill (Yamaha) +0.764; 10. D. Thomas (Kawasaki) +0.775