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Byrne on front row for Airwaves Ducatti |
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Saturday, 19 July 2008 |
Airwaves Ducati rider Shane Byrne will start on the front row for round
7 of the British Superbike Championship. Shane achieved the 2nd fastest
time in qualifying at Oulton Park today. Team mate Leon Camier will
start from row 8.
After a wet practice session in the morning, which both Airwaves Ducati
riders decided to sit out, qualifying was to remain dry for the full 50
minutes. Shane pushed hard throughout the session and his fastest lap
time of 1:36.590 came on lap 22 of 24.
Continuing his run of starting on the front row for every race so far this season, Shane said:
“I’m really happy to have secured a front row start for Airwaves
Ducati. I was stuck behind traffic on my fastest lap and my final
corner was sacrificed by not being able to take my normal line. I had
one last chance to try and grab pole but the wind just caught me out on
the first corner. But I can’t complain with second. If warm-up tomorrow
morning is dry there are a few slight changes that I would like to try
on the Airwaves Ducati, but if not, I’m confident that the races should
bring us some good results, and importantly more championship points.”
Qualifying came to a premature end for Leon when 15 minutes into the
session and on his 5th lap he came off at Island bend. As he took no
further part in the qualifying session, Leon was unable to better his
time of 1:41.644 and so will start tomorrow’s races from 29th on the
grid.
Following qualifying, Airwaves Ducati Team Manager Colin Wright
commented, “Leon had been doing a good job so far this weekend and he
felt confident going into qualifying. The session started as planned
and he was looking to get into a good rhythm but unfortunately he
slipped off. Physically Leon is OK but he did take a heavy fall and he
is unsure as to the reason for the crash. We will assess his condition
in the morning and decide if he is fit to race.”
Qualifying Result:
1. Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda 1:36.298
2. Shane Byrne - Airwaves Ducati 1:36.590
3. Tom Sykes – Rizla Suzuki 1:36.591
4. Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda 1:36.821
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