Oulton BSB: Hill claims pole

Tommy Hill left it until the final seconds to claim his second pole position of the season on the Worx Suzuki today (Sunday) at Oulton Park in qualifying for tomorrow’s BSB third round. 

Hill’s sensational 1:35.21 lap meant he edged out Swan Honda’s Stuart Easton by just 0.394s. Hill said: “It’s been a tough weekend but the Worx Crescent Suzuki boys worked hard after my crash yesterday (a highside at Clay Hill on Saturday) and the bike is working well today. Now I just need to keep chipping away and keep my championship lead tomorrow.”

Michael Rutter finished third fastest to claim his second front row start of the season for the Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati team while HM Plant Honda’s Josh Brookes completing the front row.

Tommy Bridewell qualified tenth in his first race back after his Thruxton crash that led to him having his little finger amputated. Bridewell had run fifth in Q2 but a minor technical problem held him back in Q3.

Ian Lowry just missed the cut to get in to final qualifying in his race debut on the Motorpoint Yamaha but starts from the third row in 11th place on the grid – one spot ahead of his team-mate Dan Linfoot.

Chris Walker wound up 14th in his debut on the MSS Kawasaki, two places ahead of team-mate Gary Mason.

   1. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 1m:35.214s
   2. Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +0.394S
   3. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +0.408s
   4. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +0.733s
   5. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +0.899s
   6. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +1.010s
   7. Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +1.145s
   8. John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +1.198s
   9. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +1.368s
  10. Tommy Bridewell (Quay Garage Honda) +1.576s