Brookes on pole as Oulton race day begins

Be Wiser Ducati’s Josh Brookes will set off from pole position for Bank Holiday Monday’s third and fourth races of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship. The Australian will line up alongside Oxford Racing’s Tommy Bridewell on a similar Ducati Panigale V4 R and Smith Racing’s Peter Hickman on the BMW S1000RR.

Monday began with a delay and modified schedule due to a diesel spillage at the Cheshire venue, but from 1pm onwards the original timetable will kick back into action. Following a light rain shower early doors, the sun came out before 11 o’clock which dried most of the circuit. A light threat of rain remains.

McAMS Yamaha’s challenge is headed by Jason O’Halloran from fourth on the grid, while team-mate Tarran Mackenzie struggled in qualifying for only 12^th but is more confident regarding race pace. Fellow joint championship leader Josh Elliot will start tenth on the Race 1 grid for OMG Racing Suzuki. The rest of the top placings will be occupied by Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon in fifth from FS-3 Racing Kawasaki’s Danny Buchan and Be Wiser Ducati’s Scott Redding on his first Oulton race outing. Redding suffered a light crash at the Hizzy’s Chicane in this morning’s Warm-Up.

Ryan Vickers has been a star of the weekend so far, lining up ninth on the grid for the RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki team despite this being just his second outing in the top BSB class. It has been a difficult weekend for reigning Champions Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki; Ben Currie is recovering in hospital from a broken leg sustained in Saturday practice, whereas team-mate Glenn Irwin was eliminated in the first qualifying phase and starts 24^th. Like Currie, Fraser Rogers was also hurt on Saturday; the Gearlink Kawasaki man has suffered a broken arm.

BSB Race 1 will start at 1:30pm, with live coverage on Eurosport 2