Kyle Ryde sealed a sensational pole position in the SUPERPICKS Qualifying session ahead of the opening Bennetts British Superbike Championship race at Oulton Park this afternoon, snatching the position from Josh Brookes on his final lap.
A rain shower just ahead of Q1 made for a challenging start to the session with both Brookes and Luke Mossey, who eventually ended on the front row after Q2, having to make their way through the opening stage of Qualifying.
The conditions continued to change and during Q2 several riders had taken their turn at the top with Danny Kent, Tom Sykes, Christian Iddon, Ryan Vickers, Brookes and Bradley Ray all moving up the order.
As the grid decider approached the final stages, Ray had surged to the top with three minutes remaining on the clock, but Vickers then moved ahead from his second place on the FHO Racing BMW with Attis Sports.
Brookes and Sykes were holding the leading two positions with just a minute to go until the chequered flag, but then a last lap flier from Ryde put him ahead of Brookes by 0.707s with Mossey moving back onto the front row.
Rory Skinner, Peter Hickman and Vickers all had a last lap improvement to complete row two, ahead of Ray, and then brothers Andrew and Glenn Irwin form row three.
Danny Buchan completed the top ten just ahead of Sykes and Leon Haslam ahead of the opening race this afternoon.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, SUPERPICKS Qualifying result:
- Kyle Ryde (Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha) 1m:43.086s
- Josh Brookes (MCE Ducati) +0.707s
- Luke Mossey (TAG Honda) +1.016s
- Rory Skinner (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +1.471s
- Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +1.581s
- Ryan Vickers (FHO Racing BMW with Attis Sports) +1.590s
- Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha) +1.665s
- Andrew Irwin (SYNETIQ BMW) +1.808s
- Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing UK) +1.828s
- Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) +2.236s
For the full session result please click here