Leon Haslam made a perfect return to the MCE British Superbike Championship this afternoon, claiming his 12th pole position with a 2:05.501s lap. It was a different story for his team mates however, with Peter Hickman qualifying 16th whilst an unfortunate crash before putting in a flying lap for James Ellison means he will start from 30th.

Despite inclement weather playing a part in all three free practice sessions, the JG Speedfit Kawasaki trio of James Ellison, Leon Haslam and Peter Hickman were still able to work through various settings on the new Kawasaki ZX-10R as they dialled their bikes into the 3.6 mile Silverstone circuit.

With James finishing the final practice session on top, the team were confident heading into the opening Datatag Extreme Qualifying of 2016. With rain clouds looming overhead, all three riders headed out early for Q1 however bad luck struck James as he slipped off before he could register a flying lap. With Leon and Pete progressing through to the second session, Haslam’s sixth place was enough to secure him a slot in the final session whilst a set up change for Hickman failed to pay off, securing 16th on the grid.

With just twelve minutes to battle for pole position, Leon’s first flying lap of 2:05.501s saw him top the timesheets and secure his twelfth MCE British Superbike Championship pole position of his career, his first BSB pole since Knockhill in 2008.
 
Praising the team for their hard work, pole position man Leon Haslam said, 

“This was probably one of the most nerve-wracking days of my career! Everything is new, we’re getting used to the bike still and this morning was the first time I had ridden the bike in the wet. Throughout testing we’ve been working on the harder Pirelli tyre, concentrating on race runs so this was the first time I used the softer SC0 for quite a while. Naturally I’m relieved, but also real happy. The team has been mega all winter and have worked so hard, they can’t do enough for me.

The passion is there with the whole team, and the Kawasaki is working really well so I want to thank them for everything and hopefully I can thank them properly tomorrow with some good results!”

Having cured the chatter problems that he suffered with during testing, a set up change failed to work for 16th placed Peter Hickman 

“We’ve made lots of changes this weekend, and have been able to cure the chatter problem we had during testing, but the bike is now quite a far away from the settings we had in testing. It really is completely different and obviously with the weather we’ve not been able to get as many laps in as I would like. The first qualifying was good and we made a change ahead of the second session that just didn’t quite work – I pitted in half way through and we changed it, and was able to go half a second quicker but the tyre was gone unfortunately so just couldn’t get the time needed for Q3. I’m looking forward to tomorrow though, we know where to improve so we’ll see what tomorrow brings!”

Disappointed to crash out of Qualifying, James Ellison is still pleased with the improved feeling from his ZX-10R and will start tomorrow’s opening race in 30th, 

“I’m really disappointed, but if I’m honest this is just a little set back. We’ve made some big improvements with the bike this weekend and I’m feeling really good on it, even topping the timesheets this morning in similar conditions. Unfortunately I just lost the front at Vale in that opening session and although I could get the bike up and was able to ride it back through the paddock, it was just too damaged to get back out.

It’s frustrating, but we know the bike is there and it’s great to see that the Leon and the team were able to do the job and get pole. It’ll be a tough race tomorrow but I’m looking forward to it!”

GBmoto Racing Team Principal Mark Smith-Halvorsen concluded, 

“It was great to see Leon recognise his potential so early on in the season! I think most people had him down to do well from the start, but he’s brought the goods and has given himself a fantastic opportunity to score two great results tomorrow. Although the other two guy’s results might not show it, they both feel they now have a strong package and every time they’ve gone out this weekend they’ve improved. I’m not worried about their positions, James showed he had the potential to challenge for the front row and we know he can fight back tomorrow whilst Pete has now cured the chatter problems and will be back challenging tomorrow!”

Leon Haslam Celebrates