Mixed Fortunes for Championship Leaders
12.09.09
Leon Camier will start on pole for tomorrow's two British Superbike races at Croft. James Ellison secured a second row spot, qualifying 5th.
The Airwaves Yamaha pair made it through to the final qualifying phase with James 2nd fastest and Leon 3rd. In the final 10 minute Roll for Pole, Leon immediately went to the top of the timesheets. He then produced his fastest time, 1:20.124 on his second flying lap. James best time, 1:21.079 initially placed him 2nd. He was unfortunate not to improve and dropped down the order after experiencing a technical problem with his bike.
After qualifying James said, "I'm pretty frustrated with final qualifying. Like Cadwell Park, I've produce the 2nd fastest time of the day, but in the wrong session! Overall I'm pleased with how much we've progressed over the weekend. My time in Qualifying 3 was easy, and I know I can go consistently quicker so I'm confident ahead of the races tomorrow."
Reflecting on his 8th pole position of the season, Leon said, "The times weren't as fast as we were expecting, but another pole start is awesome. The circuit seems to be well suited to the Airwaves Yamaha, but the high track temperature made it quite slippery. There were a couple of moments when I scared myself a bit! We'll keep pushing tomorrow and look to make a few set-up changes depending on the track temperature. As usual, I'll probably get a bad start to both races but I'll be pushing the guys around me and hopefully Airwaves Yamaha can get another good result."
Race One is scheduled to commence at 1330 and Race Two at 1635.
Qualifying Results:
1. Leon Camier – Airwaves Yamaha 1:20.124
2. Simon Andrews – MSS Colchester Kawasaki 1:20.974
3. Stuart Easton – Hydrex Honda 1:20.980
4. Josh Brookes – HM Plant Honda 1:21.072
5. James Ellison – Airwaves Yamaha 1:21.079