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First and Second row for Airwaves Ducatti |
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Tuesday, 06 May 2008 |
Shane Byrne will start round 3 of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship
from 2nd position following a strong performance in difficult qualifying
conditions at Oulton Park today. Leon Camier will start from the second row in
7th position.
Following a wet practice session heavily delayed and reduced in time this
morning, qualifying was also declared as wet. However the rain held off for the
50 minutes and a drying racing line ensured lap times quickened as the session
progressed. Having switched from wet to slick Pirelli tyres early on, both
Airwaves Ducati riders’ times continually fell. Shane’s fastest lap of 1:37.188
came with 9 minutes of the session remaining; initially it placed him on pole
but it was bettered in the final minutes leaving him in 2nd place. Leon recorded
his fastest time of 1:38.089 on lap 22 of 23 to finish in 7th position.
Leon commented afterwards; “I am not best pleased with that as I feel I
could have gone faster and probably got my Airwaves Ducati on the front row. It
was my mistake, I was continually running off the dry line on the first corner
and that was slowing me down a lot. I was starting to get it together towards
the end of qualifying but I did not get as many clear laps as I wanted, so could
not improve my time further. I am aiming for a podium tomorrow and I think if I
get a good start and stay consistent then I can achieve that.”
Shane was
positive about his result saying; “I am reasonably happy with that! Before the
session conditions looked mixed and it was difficult for us to commit to wet or
dry settings. It was our plan to be on the front row and we have done that, I
thought I might take pole at one stage but I just lost out in the last few
minutes. It is good as we now have race settings sorted for both wet and dry
conditions; the Airwaves Ducati team have been great this weekend, now it’s down
to me to finish the job!”
Race one starts at 13.00 tomorrow, Monday May
5th, with race two scheduled for 15.30.
Qualifying Results
1. Cal
Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda 1:36.605
2. Shane Byrne – Airwaves Ducati
1:37.188
3. Tom Sykes – Rizla Suzuki 1:37.244
4. Leon Haslam – HM Plant
Honda 1:37.390
5. Michael Rutter – NW200 Ducati 1:37.510
6. Karl Harris –
Team Yamaha 1:37.908
7. Leon Camier – Airwaves Ducati 1:38.089
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