BSB Assen: Lowes unstoppable in Dutch qualifying

Alex Lowes has taken his sixth pole of the season at Assen, to continue his dominating run of form in the MCE British Superbike Championship into the Showdown. The Samsung Honda set a blistering 1:36.261 lap time; faster than fellow Honda rider Jonathan Rea’s WSB pace around the Assen track.

Lowes out-qualifyed his main championship rival, Shane Byrne, to lead the session as he had led almost every session of the weekend, leaving the Kent man almost half a second back in second.

Tommy Bridewell was a surprise third, adapting well to the Milwaukee Yamaha he rode for the first time yesterday to score his first front row of the year, and beating new teammate James Ellison back onto the second row in the process.

Jakub Smrz was another surprise in the session, putting his Padgett’s Honda in fifth, ahead of a struggling Josh Brookes, who has been struggling to find a setup on his Tyco Suzuki.

After being on front row pace all weekend, PJ Jacobsen was demoted back to 18th following qualifying, when a mechanical problem meant he was unable to complete a lap in the Q2 session, relegating him back to row six.

Afterwards, Lowes said “I felt pretty good. I worked really hard in Q1 on older tyres, and it felt alright. The Honda works really well here, Jonathan Rea has won a few races here, and now it’s down to me to put together two good races tomorrow and win some races.”

Byrne added: “When I came round and say 36.6 on my pit board, I thought ‘blimey, where did that come from?’ But the problem was that Alex had sone a 36.2 on the same lap! I’m sure he’s been cutting the track somewhere! I’m sure it’s going to be a good battle between us tomorrow, and ultimately we’re each others targets.”