Airwaves Ducati rider Leon Haslam took a
sensational pole position at Cadwell Park today, as qualifying for the tenth
round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship concluded. The
Englishman's teammate, Gregorio Lavilla, joined him on the front row,
qualifying in third following the two sessions at the Lincolnshire track.
With both riders starting on the front row for the second weekend in
succession, hopes are high amongst the team for tomorrow's 18-lap double
header.
Leon was quick throughout the day and regularly at the top of the time
sheets, his time in the morning session of 1.27.280s enough to secure his
second pole position of the season. Gregorio spent the majority of the day
familiarising himself further with the tricky circuit, before setting an
excellent qualifying time of 1.27.655s, shortly before the end of the
afternoon. Both riders worked hard to fine tune their Airwaves Ducati
999F04s and will be looking for race wins tomorrow.
Airwaves Ducati Team Manager, Colin Wright, was pleased to have both riders
on the front row: "Leon has shown himself to be consistently quick round the
circuit and the pole position was reward for all his efforts. For Gregorio
to join him on the front row was also a fantastic effort, especially
considering this was only his second visit to the circuit and he has only
completed a fraction of the laps that his rivals have. It has been a true
team effort, if we continue this momentum we can look forward to some good
race results tomorrow".
Leon was delighted to take pole position: "Everything is looking good and I
feel very comfortable on the bike. I battled to improve my qualifying time
this afternoon but was unable to find clear track on my fast laps. Our race
times are good as well and it is obviously fantastic to be on pole. We are
the only other manufacturer to be on pole position this season so that's
great for the team. I will be looking to challenge for race victories
tomorrow".
Gregorio was pleased with his qualifying position: "It's a great result and
I'm happy to be on the front row. This circuit is narrow and like nothing
I've seen before so it's a big advantage to start with clear track in front
of me. I don't feel under much pressure even though I know we are at a
crucial time for the Championship but the races are going to be tough for
sure".
The tenth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship continues
tomorrow with two 18-lap races.
