It was an almost perfect start for the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team at Donington Park, as Leon Haslam claimed pole position for tomorrow’s opening MCE British Superbike Championship race, whilst team mate and fellow Showdown contender James Ellison starts from third. Despite a huge moment on his Superpole lap, Peter Hickman will start from ninth.

It has been a strong weekend for the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team, with all three riders showing strong pace during the three practice sessions. As it has been all season, the pace this weekend has been scintillating with the top nine under the lap record after practice. On combined times, Peter was fourth, Leon sixth and James in 14th after a small crash in the final session.

Moving into qualifying, all three riders knew they had the pace to make it through to the one lap Superpole shoot out. Easing through the opening two sessions, Peter was the second of the nine Superpole riders out on track but a huge moment through the first corner ruined his lap and he will start tomorrow’s opening race from ninth. By virtue of his lap time from Q2, James was seventh out and a stunning 1:28.766 was enough to secure him third place and a front row start. As the last rider out on track, the pressure was on Leon but the Championship leader kept his cool to clock the fastest ever British Superbike lap of Donington Park and claim pole position.  

Championship leader Leon Haslam has kicked his Showdown off in perfect fashion 

“I’m really happy with that lap, particularly as we made a bit of a mistake into the Melbourne loop. The pace this weekend has been so fast and the cooler conditions have thrown a little bit of a spanner in the works in terms of race distance. The team is working brilliantly at the moment though so I think we’re in for two great races. They’re certainly going to be two long races but I can’t wait for it. We’ve spent practice working on race distance but we’ll wait and see what the weather does tomorrow before deciding which compound to use.”


Taking a front row, James Ellison is looking to claim his first win tomorrow 

“The pace this weekend is unbelievable! I think the top 14 in the first part of qualifying were under the lap record which just goes to show how hard you’ve got to push. This was my first time in the Superpole this year, the lap was really good and the tyre was a little cooler during the opening half but we were able to push forward over the second half. A front row is really important round here and I’m happy to be back up at the front here. We certainly struggled mid-season but the team have made a great step and we know we can now challenge for the race wins tomorrow. I think it’s going to be two close races so I’m looking forward it!”

Having set his fastest ever lap around Donington and confident with his race pace, Peter Hickman is looking forward to tomorrow 

“It’s been a really good weekend actually. The bike and team are working absolutely mega and I’m lapping Donington miles faster than I ever have – unfortunately so is everyone else! Practice has gone really well and we’ve been pushing the sharp end throughout, particularly in the final session this morning where we ended up third. In qualifying we had great pace in Q1 and Q2 but unfortunately in our one lap flyer I had a huge slide coming out of turn one which ruined the lap for us. Our race pace is really strong though and starting from the third row tomorrow is good so I’m looking forward to two strong races!”

GBmoto Racing Team Principal, Mark Smith-Halvorsen concluded, 

“It’s been a fantastic day for the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team. We’ve kicked off our Showdown challenge in the strongest possible way with Leon taking pole position and James claiming a front row meaning the two have set themselves up perfectly for the two races tomorrow. Equally, although his qualifying position doesn’t show it Pete has a very strong pace but unfortunately a small mistake on his one flying lap meant he wasn’t able to match his pace from Q2. Tomorrow’s races are not going to be easy but the team is working incredibly well at the moment and I’m confident we’ll be seeing all three JG Speedfit Kawasaki machines up challenging for the front.”