Brit Brindley dark horse in Superprestigio qualifying

2015 British Dirt Track Championship runner-up Oil Brindley has emerged as a dark horse in this year’s Superprestigio flattrack races in Barcelona, holding off American champions Brad Baker and Jared Mees to take the top spot in qualifying.

The British racer was able to lap in 12.440, 0.05 quicker than the Americna duo, who were knocked back to fourth and fifth by Italian champion Francesco Ceccheni and reigning Supermoto des Nations champion Tom Chareyre.

In the Superprestigio class, it was unsurprisingly Marc Marquez who topped the timesheets, ahead of Toni Elias and Moto2 racer Xavi Vierge.

Racing at the Palau Sant Jordi gets underway tonight at 1730 UK time, with a series of knockout heats building first to the class finals and the overall championship Superfinal between the best of both.