Josh Brookes has posted his second Pole Position of the season in scorching conditions during qualifying for tomorrow's two British Superbike races at Snetterton in Norfolk.
The Australian rider had spend the best part of free practice and qualifying devising a tyre life strategy and set-up with his Tyco Suzuki crew for Sunday's two 16-lap races, but by his own admission, he decided to 'have a go' in the final minutes of Q3, taking the Pole slot by 1/1000th of a second.
His Tyco Suzuki team-mate Alastair Seeley narrowly missed out on Q3, eventually qualifying 15th for tomorrow's opening 16-lap BSB race at 12.45pm.
Josh Brookes (Pole):
"I've got myself acclimatised to the Northern Ireland weather so that was hot out there today! My focus was on getting the tyre to work and last the race-distance tomorrow. This is quite a tough circuit to get fast - and tricky to get right - but it's also really rewarding when you do. I don't like to count my chickens but I'd like to think we can win here tomorrow."
Alastair Seeley (15th):
"I'm still building my confidence after crashing at high speed yesterday and I struggled a bit in Q2 trying to get clear track to set a time. I know the pace is there as we topped the early timesheets, so it's just a matter of getting a good start tomorrow and hanging in there."
Philip Neill - Team Manager:
"That was absolutely awesome from Josh Brookes. Big credit must go to his side of the garage for helping him pull that one off. It really did take me by surprise as we have been working on a race set-up for the hot conditions tomorrow. I wasn't thinking about a low 48, but it just demonstrates Josh's skill and the pedigree of the new GSX-R1000 package.
"Alastair was also on the pace with his P1 performance in the opening session before the crash. Fair play to the lad for a respectable performance today in Q1 and Q2 after going down at 140mph yesterday, and also to his side of the garage for rebuilding the bike from scratch overnight."
Q3 - Qualifying Times:
1: Josh Brookes [Tyco Suzuki] 1:48.490
2: Michel Laverty [Honda] 1:48.491
3: Tommy Hill [Yamaha] 1:48.524
4: Graeme Gowland [Honda] 1:48.782
5: Alex Lowes [Honda] 1:48. 852
6: Nori Haga [Yamaha] 1:48.902
7: Shane Byrne [Kawasaki] 1:49.097
8: Stuart Easton [Kawasaki] 1:49.518
9: Luca Scassa [Honda] 1:49.607
10: Tommy Bridewell [BMW] 1:54.763
15: Alastair Seeley [Tyco Suzuki]
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