BSB: Josh Brookes Takes His Second Pole Position of the Season, Ready for Race One
By Dawn Hammersley
VisionTrack Ducati’s Josh Brookes took the top spot at a cool Brands Hatch, closely followed by McAMS Yamaha’s Jason O’Halloran.
The two Australian riders took it in turns to at the top of the timesheets during the first half of the session, before Brookes’ late charge toppled the Yamaha rider.
Four out of the five championship contenders were all fighting for pole position, but it was Ducati’s championship leader Brookes who took first position, claiming only his second pole of the season.
McAMS Yamaha’s Jason O’Halloran was in second place with his team-mate Tarran Mackenzie down in ninth position, Tarran looked to be struggling during the session as his bike had to be rebuilt yesterday after crashing in Free Practice One.
VisionTrack Ducati’s rider Christian Iddon who is in second place in the championship got his first front-row start of the season after qualifying third, he couldn’t get a good rhythm during the qualifying session so was really happy to be third. Championship leader Brookes was three tenths faster than his next rival at the end of the session.
Honda’s Glenn Irwin finished the session in seventh position with Andrew Irwin behind him in eighth. It’s not ideal for Glenn to be starting from the third row meaning he has to fight his way through a row of riders to get to his three title contenders.
RAF Kawasaki rider Ryan Vickers suffered a heavy crash at Surtees early on in the session and took no further part in the lunch-time qualifying action. Synetiq BMW Motorrad’s Brad Ray had a good result finishing in fourth place with Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW’s Luke Mossey in fifth position, being Luke’s best qualifying position of the season.
Will being on pole position help Josh Brookes claim the win for race one and get ever closer to that second championship Title or will his competitors not let him have it all his own way!
Featured Image: britishsuperbike.com