Rutter takes pole at Snetterton

Michael Rutter has taken pole position at the third round of the British Superbike championship at a sun drenched Snetterton circuit.

The HM Plant Honda rider finished Saturday’s second qualifying session with a best time of 1:05.713, just 0.053 seconds ahead of second placed rider Dean Thomas on the Dienza Ducati, putting him on pole position for Sunday’s race

Finishing the front row of the grid are Monstermob Ducati rider Sean Emmett and Rizla Suzuki rider and championship leader John Reynolds, who both finished less then 0.2 seconds behind Rutter’s pole winning time.

James Haydon, who has yet to secure a full time ride for this season, made his return to British Superbikes riding the ETI Ducati for the injured Stuart Easton. He only managed to qualify in 10th place for the race after forcing the final qualifying session to be red-flagged when his engine started spitting oil on the track.

Tommy hill, who won a years contract with the Virgin Yamaha team after coming top of the 2003 Yamaha R6 cup, has qualified for the race in 11th place. His time puts him 0.6 seconds behind team-mate Steve Plater but 0.4 seconds ahead of full time Virgin Yamaha rider Gary Mason.

Times:

1 Michael Rutter 1:05.713 2 Dean Thomas 1:05.766 3 Sean Emmett 1:05.909 4 John Reynolds 1:05.909 5 Ryuichi Kiyonari 1:06.098 6 Scott Smart 1:06.150 7 Steve Plater 1:06.407 8 Yukio Kagayama 1:06.449 9 Glen Richards 1:06.492 10 James Haydon 1:06.947 11 Tommy Hill 1:06.988 12 Craig Coxhell 1:07.010 13 James Ellison 1:07.136 14 Gary Mason 1:07.324 15 Kieran Clarke 1:07.385 32 16 Jon Kirkham 1:07.401 17 James Buckingham 1:07.968 18 Sam Corke 1:07.992 19 Dennis Hobbs 1:08.343 20 Warren Scott 1:08.458 21 Chris Martin 1:08.505 22 Nick Medd 1:08.559 23 Dijon Compton 1:08.691 24 Adam Hitchcox 1:09.166 25 Paul Jones 1:09.777 26 Malcolm Ashley 1:09.963.

Check back on Sunday for a full report on the weekends racing.