Harris waited until the final three minutes of the fifty-minute session to claim his second consecutive front row start. The Sheffield-based rider once again demonstrated the competitiveness of his Michelin-shod Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade as he posted a time of 1:32.081, half-a-second shy of pole-sitter Gregorio Lavilla,

However, Harris’ strong result proved unfortunate for his team mate, Kiyonari, who had been running consistently in the top four, and as a result was nudged into fifth place.

Fellow HM Plant Honda rider John McGuinness starts the second round of the popular National Superstock Championship from the fourth row in thirteenth place.

The Morecambe-based rider was happy with the overall set-up of his HM Plant CBR1000RR Fireblade but the packed qualifying session of fifty-five riders, prevented the 33-year-old racer from getting a clear run at the 2.5-mile Leicestershire track.

McGuinness consistently set competitive times in the first and second sectors but was continually caught in traffic in the third, which comprised the Esses, Melbourne Loop and Goddards.

Karl Harris: “The team has been working very hard today finding the right set-up for the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade and so it was very good to claim a front row start in the final moments of the qualifying session. I am looking forward to tomorrow as it’s a good circuit to race at.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari: “It was very close and I am pleased for Karl. At Brands Hatch I started from row two and won so hopefully it will be the same tomorrow.”

John McGuinness: “I got a really good run in the faster sections of the track but there were just so many riders out there that I was caught up in traffic in the final sector. Luckily there will only be forty riders out there tomorrow so there should be a bit more room to get the job done.”


National Superstock Qualifying Result:

1, Adrian Coates (Suzuki) 1m35.492s,
2, Brendan Roberts (Suzuki) +0.137s,
3, John Laverty (Suzuki) +0.312s,
4, Lee Jackson (Kawasaki) +0.474s,
5, Craig Fitzpatrick (Yamaha) +0.476s,
6, Hudson Kennaugh (Yamaha) +0.478s,
7, Ryan Rainey (Suzuki) +0.493s,
8, Steve Allan (Yamaha) +0.613s,
9, Steve Brogan (Yamaha) +0.936s,
10, Tristan Palmer (Suzuki) +1.024s,
11, Luke Quigley (Suzuki) +1.047s,
12, Michael Pensavalle (Yamaha) +1.047s,
13, John McGuinness (HM Plant Honda) +1.086s.