Michael Rutter has continued his reign at Croft by securing pole
position for tomorrow's two 22-lap Bennetts British Superbike
Championship races. It follows the Leicestershire rider's double victory
at the North Yorkshire circuit in 2004 aboard the HM Plant Honda Racing
CBR1000RR Fireblade.
The competition at the 2.172-mile track has been extremely strong
throughout the weekend so far. So much so that the Midlander spent part
of the afternoon's qualifying session in the lower part of the top ten -
unfamiliar territory for Rutter this season.
However, with his mind on doing everything possible to help him maintain
his championship lead tomorrow, the 32-year-old recorded a best time of
1:20.624 and seized first place on the grid. It was also fast enough for
Rutter to set a new unofficial lap record.
His HM Plant Honda Racing team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari will start from the
opposite end of the front row in fourth position after setting a best
time of 1:20.954. The 22-year-old Japanese rider had held pole position
for much of the day's second qualifying session, however he was unable
to maintain his place as the pace setter. The final second saw him
forced from second position to fourth by team-mate Rutter and Red Bull
Honda's Jonathan Rea, who claimed third place.
Michael Rutter: "I'm really pleased to have got pole position. Croft is
a good circuit for me, and the HM Plant Honda Racing CBR1000RR
Fireblade, but the competition here this weekend is extremely strong. I
knew that it was important to give myself any edge possible over the
opposition, particularly Kiyo, if I've got any chance of maintaining my
advantage in the series."
Ryuichi Kiyonari: "I am still adapting to Croft, so I am happy to be in
fourth place. I missed the test here recently so I am a little behind
the other riders in terms of practice. We have been working on
perfecting the set-up of the HM Plant Honda Racing CBR1000RR Fireblade
and I am happy that we will be able to get a good result in tomorrow's
races."
Qualifying:
- 1. M. Rutter (HM Plant Honda Racing) 1:20.624
- 2. D. Thomas (Kawasaki) 1:20.628
- 3. J. Rea (Red Bull Honda) 1:20.904
- 4. R. Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda Racing) 1:20.954
- 5. K. Harris (Honda-Racing.co.uk) 1:21.157
- 6. G. Richards (Kawasaki) 1:21.452
- 7. L. Haslam (Ducati) 1:21.520
- 8. M. Laverty (Honda) 1:21.571
- 9. S. Plater (Kawasaki) 1:21.619
- 10. J. Buckingham (Suzuki) 1:21.624
