Ryuichi Kiyonari snatched the first pole position of the 2015 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship season from James Ellison in a frantic Datatag Extreme Qualifying session at Donington Park ahead of the 2015 opening races tomorrow (Monday).

Kiyonari had set the pace after the opening day yesterday, but reigning champion Shane 'Shakey' Byrne had held the edge in the final morning free practice. The Buildbase BMW rider was instantly on the attack and displaced Ellison from the top spot, despite the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider upping the pace again in the closing stages.

Kiyonari said:

"I am very happy to be on pole, because I was very nervous before the start of the session. For sure, tomorrow is more important, but we are in a good place now for the races. I want to keep improving all the time, so we will push more tomorrow." 

Byrne was fighting to wrestle the pole position away from his Japanese rival, but the injured reigning champion had to settle for third to complete the front row for PBM Kawasaki.

Josh Brookes fired the Milwaukee Yamaha into fourth to head the second row from the second PBM Kawasaki of Stuart Easton with Danny Buchan and the Be Wiser Kawasaki team completing the second row on their debut.

Peter Hickman clawed his way up to seventh onboard the RAF Reserves BMW as he moved ahead of Broc Parkes, who overcame a Q1 crash at Redgate to qualify eighth on the second Milwaukee Yamaha. Dan Linfoot and Billy McConnell completed the top ten for Honda Racing and Smiths BMW respectively.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, Datatag Qualifying result:

Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) 1m:29.455s
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.029s
Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) +0.204s
Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.270s
Stuart Easton (PBM Kawasaki) +0.603s
Danny Buchan (Be Wiser Kawasaki) +0.645s
Peter Hickman (RAF Reserves BMW) +0.867s
Broc Parkes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.913s
Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +0.927s
Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing BMW) +1.078s

For the full session result please click  here