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Saturday, 19 April 2008 |
Airwaves Ducati will start from pole and the second row in round two of the
British Superbike championship at Thruxton tomorrow. Shane Byrne secured his
second pole position start of the season today with Leon Camier in 6th.
In wet conditions at the 2.35 mile Hampshire circuit both Airwaves Ducati riders
put in strong performances. Camier pushed hard throughout the 50 minute session
setting his fastest time of 1:20.491 on lap 9 of 22. Byrne was lapping
consistently quickly and his early time of 1:20.200 looked set to place him 3rd
on the grid. However with 6 minutes left in the session he returned to the track
as the racing line began to dry setting his fastest time of the session,
1:19.704 to take pole.
Following a tough day yesterday Leon was happier
with his performance today. “Physically I felt better this afternoon and I am
satisfied with how I have gone in qualifying. I have a few things to work on and
some wet settings to improve but I am hoping it stays dry tomorrow. I don’t feel
that far off and I am not disappointed with my performance as I feel there is
more to come. This has been my first time out in the wet on the Airwaves Ducati
and the Pirelli’s so 6th is good enough and as long as I get a good start in the
race I should be up there.”
Having said ahead of the session that he
would be happy as long as he was on the front row, Shane Byrne was delighted
with his second pole of the season.
“I’m really pleased but all credit
has to go to the Airwaves Ducati team. They were tricky conditions today and we
took a bit of a gamble, with 10 minutes to go I was in 3rd and the track was in
a transition period going from wet to dry. We decided that I would go out on a
softer tyre, do one steady lap and then go for it; it was a decision that paid
off. Tomorrow I would prefer the conditions to be either wet or dry but either
way I know that the Airwaves Ducati team have it covered.”
Qualifying
Result
1. Shane Byrne – Airwaves Ducati 1:19.704
2. Leon Haslam – HM Plant
Honda 1:19.872
3. Michael Rutter – North West 200 Ducati 1:19.949
4. Cal
Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda 1:20.026
5. Karl Harris – Team Yamaha
1:20.372
6. Leon Camier – Airwaves Ducati 1:20.491
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