GNS Racing's Sam Lowes performed heroics at Oulton Park today to qualify in 8th place for Monday's third round of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship.

The 19-year-old from Lincoln was involved in a nasty crash in this morning's first qualifying session on just the second lap when he clashed with a slower rider and, with a dislocated collarbone, there was some doubt if he'd be able to take any further part in the weekend.

However, despite being in great discomfort, he showed tremendous courage to climb back on board for the second session later in the afternoon and despite the lack of track time, a lap of 1m39.254s saw him leap up the leaderboard for 8th place and a second row start.

Fellow team member Paul Jordan from Maghera felt in Northern Ireland also put in a strong performance and having found himself in 22nd place at the end of first qualifying, he took 1.3s off his lap times to move up to 18th place and be the second of the Cup competitiors.

Sam Lowes:

"This morning was nothing short of a disaster and I'm feeling quite second hand now but I dug deep and to pull up to the second row having missed all of the first session is great. I've shown what I can do and the team have shown what they can do when their backs are against the wall and we've done a great job to take 8th. It wasn't easy out there and I'm a bit worried about how 16 laps are going to be in the race as it's probably the most physical circuit on the calendar but the race is a different situation so I'll be giving it 120% on every lap. We always want wins and podiums but if I can get a top five finish tomorrow and some solid points, Ill happily take that."

Paul Jordan:

"Compared to where I was on Saturday and again this morning, I'm a lot happier now. I couldn't get my head into it to begin with and it's probably the hardest circuit changing from a 125 to a 600 but this afternoon's qualifying went really well. I tagged on to a group of quick riders and got totally dialled in to what I needed to do so I'm feeling confident going into tomorrow's race."

Gary Stubbington, Team Owner:

"After what happened in the first session, I felt really sorry for Sam as it wasn't his fault in the slightest yet he suffered a horrific crash and further damaged his shoulder but he bounced back amazingly well and to take 8th on the grid is a stunning performance. It shows what determination and skill he has and he's back to where he deserves to be whilst the team deserve equal praise for pulling out all the stops to get the bike ready in time. Sam's desperate for some more support to maintain his title challenge and keep his career on the up so if anyone can help in any way, please get in touch!"

"Paul was struggling during practice with the set up of the bike but he worked hard with his mechanics to find a setting he was happy with and, once again, he's made big strides forward. He's consistently in the top three of the Cup riders now and close to the top 15 so we're hoping for more of the same tomorrow."


Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Qualifying

1, Billy McConnell (Yamaha) 1:37.975s
2, Graeme Gowland (Honda) 1:38.377s
3, James Westmoreland (Yamaha) 1:38.469s
4, Paul Young (Triumph) 1:38.834s
5, Ian Hutchinson (Honda) 1:38.897s
6, Tom Grant (Yamaha) 1:38.970s
7, Jack Kennedy (Yamaha) 1:39.093s
8, Sam Lowes (GNS Honda Racing) 1:39.254s
9, Glen Richards (Honda) 1:39.402s
10, Jason OHalloran (Triumph) 1:39.421s

18, Paul Jordan (GNS Honda Racing) 1:40.565s