Bradley Ray secured his fourth pole position of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship season at Silverstone ahead of this afternoon’s opening race of the triple-header weekend, holding off Jake Dixon and Glenn Irwin who complete the front row.

A dramatic qualifying for the Showdown contenders saw Danny Buchan fail to make the cut for Q2 and the FS-3 Racing Kawasaki rider will start 23rd on the grid for the opening race as he bids to overhaul Peter Hickman for sixth place.

Hickman had an equally tough time in Datatag Qualifying and the Smiths Racing BMW rider will start 15th on the grid, however for Showdown contender Christian Iddon he has been declared unfit after a crash at Luffield left him with a fractured left collarbone.

At the front Ray held off the opposition in Q3 to edge ahead of Dixon and Irwin, who just pushed Tarran Mackenzie back onto the second row ahead of Josh Brookes and Leon Haslam.

Luke Mossey was back in Q3 and he will head the third row of the grid from Richard Cooper and Jason O'Halloran.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Silverstone, Datatag Qualifying:

1.Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) 53.864s
2.Jake Dixon (RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki) +0.158s
3.Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.369s
4.Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +0.396s
5.Josh Brookes (McAMS Yamaha) +0.499s
6.Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.519s
7.Luke Mossey (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.559s
8.Richard Cooper (Buildbase Suzuki) +0.579s
9.Jason O'Halloran (Honda Racing) +0.666s