Kagayama Croft pole

Yukio Kagayama broke the Corft lap record on his way to pole position for Sunday’s British Superbike races at the North Yorkshire circuit.

The Japanese Rizla Suzuki rider shaved four seconds off the previous record at the circuit as he recorded a fastest time of 1:20.904 to claim the top spot on the grid. The time difference between new and old lap records can be explained by the fact British Superbikes are visiting the circuit for the first time, and a better indicator might be that Michael Rutter qualified second quickest, just 0.046 behind Kagayama, with James Haydon 0.176 back in third.

Championship leader and Kagayama’s Suzuki team-mate, John Reynolds, qualified in sixth place, 0.425 seconds down on pole position. His closest rival in the championship is Rutter, who is currently eight points down on Reynolds.

“I think over race distance we have a fast bike and I think maybe a good chance to get satisfactory result,” said Kagayama. ” I want to win races for my fans and Rizla Suzuki, this is my main aim for the season.”

“Our race rubber is great, but I just couldn’t get it together on a qualifying tyre,” said Reynolds. ” There are no points for qualifying and I know I’ll start the racing tomorrow twith the most competitive bike possible.”

Discuss the Croft round, here.