Worx Crescent Suzuki's Tommy Hill secured his fifth pole position of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Croft this afternoon in an incident-packed Swan Combi Roll for Pole race one grid decider.

Hill said:

"It is tough out there for everyone but I am so happy to be back on pole. We can't afford a bad weekend and I know tomorrow that it is going to be a tough race as the pressure is on now. We all want to win and lead the championship, but James Ellison is going to be up there too so it is going to be tight at the top. The Worx Crescent Suzuki is working well, we have a few tweaks for tomorrow but I think we are in a good position and I am looking for two wins tomorrow."

Hill topped the first qualifying session to remain ahead of Suzuki rival Michael Laverty by 0.378s as Michael Rutter challenged for the top spot early on but later dropped to third. Kiyonari was fourth, but his HM Plant Honda team-mate Brookes only put in a lap to end thirteenth fastest ahead of Q2.

It was a dramatic Q2 at Croft as Title Fighter Josh Brookes failed to make the top ten as he qualified thirteenth for the opening race of the weekend, whilst Alastair Seeley also missed out on the top ten in eleventh. It was the second Relentless Suzuki that topped Q2 as Michael Laverty set the fastest lap of the weekend from joint championship leader Tommy Hill with Kiyonari running third ahead of the top ten qualifying shootout.

The final top ten shootout was as dramatic as the second qualifying session as Kiyonari sensationally crashed out on his first flying lap at Hawthorn and was unable to set a flying lap but Michael Laverty closed in on his final lap.

Rutter pushed for third and James Ellison secured his first front row start of the season for the Swan Honda team in fourth. The Motorpoint Yamaha riders will both start from the second row with Dan Linfoot fifth and Loris Baz crashing in the closing stages but ended eighth. Ultimate Racing Yamaha's Peter Hickman qualified ninth after making it through to Q3 for the first time this season.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Croft, Swan Combi Roll for Pole:

Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 1m:20.325s
Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +0.093s
Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +0.174s
James Ellison (Swan Honda) +0.620s
Dan Linfoot (Motorpoint Yamaha) +0.791s
Simon Andrews (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +0.836s
Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +0.886s
Loris Baz (Motorpoint Yamaha) +1.145s
Peter Hickman (Ultimate Racing Yamaha) +1.286s
Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda)