Jason O'Halloran scored his second pole position of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship season, again holding off Glenn Irwin to top SUPERPICKS Qualifying for McAMS Yamaha ahead of BikeSocial Race 1 at Thruxton this afternoon.
In Q1, Glenn Irwin and Xavi Forés set the leading times with Tarran Mackenzie and Ryan Vickers also progressing after the opening session. Gino Rea and Storm Stacey, who appeared for the first time in Q2, completed the top six, whilst it was a disastrous session for Josh Brookes and he will start 20th on the grid for BikeSocial Race 1.
In Q2, O’Halloran instantly completed a sequence of laps that put him at the top of the times, despite Glenn Irwin closing in, as the pair again held the leading two positions, a repeat of FP3 this morning.
Ryan Vickers stole the final place on the front row, edging out Peter Hickman in the closing minutes of the session to secure his first front row qualifying start for the RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki team.
Championship leader Christian Iddon completed the top five, with Danny Kent again in the top six for the Buildbase Suzuki team as six different manufacturers featured in as many positions.
Dan Linfoot had his strongest qualifying of the season in seventh ahead of Lee Jackson with Mackenzie and Bradley Ray completing the top ten.
* Following Qualifying, Vickers was issued a three place grid penalty for a delayed response to the red flags in FP1. He will now start sixth on the grid for the opening race today.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Thruxton, SUPERPICKS Qualifying result:
1. Jason O'Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) 1m:14.428s
2. Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +0.407s
3. Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki) +0.720s
4. Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +0.853s
5. Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +0.936s
6. Danny Kent (Buildbase Suzuki) +0.957s
7. Dan Linfoot (TAG Honda) +1.023s
8. Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +1.059s
9. Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +1.115s
10. Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +1.170s