2023 British Superbike Snetterton- Qualifying Results
Results from qualifying for the fifth round of the Bennetts Superbike Championship at Snetterton.
Jason O’Halloran put in the fastest lap of the weekend to secure pole position at round five of the British Superbike championship at Snetterton.
Quickest after practice, the McAMS Yamaha rider wasted no time in getting up to speed and put in a lap that came close to the circuit record early in the session to earn pole with his 1m 47.111s run.
The Australian put to bed his last race at Knockhill which saw him sat in the gravel again after a positive start.
Second on the grid for the Snetterton 300 will be Glenn Irwin. Bike issues on Friday which saw him off the pace were all fixed and that allowed the BeerMonster Ducati rider to get the hammer down and chase down the benchmark time from O’Halloran, falling just 0.262s short. Irwin showed his pace when he topped the FP3 session earlier in the day in similar humid conditions.
- Tito Rabat joins McAMS Yamaha in BSB
- British Superbikes: double delight for Irwin at Knockhill
- Jack Miller: “They tell you ‘you may be killed’ - I lost friends, broke bones”
Rabat Returns with front row start.
The second seat at McAMS Yamaha is filled for this round and the next at Brand Hatch by Tito Rabat. With BSB experience already under his belt at Thruxton last season, and race ready straight from a World Superbike appearance at Donington, the former MotoGP rider and 2014 Moto2 world champion has made a return to the paddock fresh from more success as the most recent Spanish Superbike championship winner.
Back in BSB, the Spaniard, once again running his trademark #53, immediately impressed at his temporary home and made a good first impression with fifth in FP1, though as the pace intensified, he just missed out on moving directly to Q2, finishing day one 14th.
Moving up with the fastest time in Q1,Rabat went on to lower his lap time further and collect a front row start alongside his teammate, just 0.345s slower on his first visit to the Norfolk track.
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Tommy Bridewell, who enters the Snetterton weekend with a small championship lead of eight points, will start fourth on the second BeerMonster Ducati.
He is joined on row two by Josh Brookes, already in race mode as he rode under and tore past a struggling Kyle Ryde on his way to the fifth best time. The Australian is the top BMW on the grid for FHO Racing.
That move pushed Leon Haslam, who was in close proximity, out wide and onto the grass. The Rokit BMW rider regrouped and bounced back for the sixth best time.
Charlie Nesbitt impressed after moving through Q1 on his way to seventh, the best of the Honda riders in seventh for the MasterMac Team.
Danny Kent (Lovell Kent Honda) lead much of Q1 but sat out the final moments of the session, along with Jack Kennedy (Mar-Train Yamaha) both feeling they had done enough to progress, allowing for some fine tuning to their bikes.
That paid off with the duo securing eighth and ninth respectively.
Danny Buchan snatched up the final spot inside the top ten with his final run for Synetiq BMW Motorrad.
Christian Iddon lead the way in FP1 but could not move his times on quite as well as the rest of the field, leaving him eleventh for Oxfrod Products Ducati.
A session to forget for LAMI OMG Yamaha.
Ryan Vickers arrived with high hopes ahead of his home race, after scoring podiums in the last two rounds. The local rider crashed early in the session, at Agostini, leaving him unable to compete, finishing 18th and last with his only time on the board almost four seconds adrift.
With the same bike that won the triple at Snetterton in 2022 (with Bradley Ray aboard) fellow OMG rider Kyle Ryde, currently second in the title hunt after a strong Knockhill- including a race two win - came ready to make progress in the title race.
The #77 was never really on the pace and was passed with ease by Brookes. Struggling to find a competitve lap, Ryde qualified down in 16th -over one and a half seconds adrfit of the pole time.
They were not the only names putting in an unexpected shift at the lower end of the timesheets. Peter Hickman still has bike issues to deal with. Following a tough Knockhill meet, bringing him down to earth with a bump after the elation of his Isle of Man TT wins, the FHO Racing rider continued to struggle, working out his bike gremlins. The #60 crashed late in the session, another victim of the left at Agostini, leaving him 17th at the chequered flag.
Official British Superbike Snetterton Records:
Lap Record: Tarran Mackenzie (Yamaha) 1m 47.029s (2022)
2022 at Snetterton:
Round eight - pole: Christian Iddon (2ndKyle Ryde, 3rd Tommy Bridewell)
Race One:
1:Bradley Ray
2:Tarran Mackenzie
3:Kyle Ryde
Race Two:
1:Bradley Ray
2:Tarran Mackenzie
3:Tommy Bridewell
Race Three:
1:Bradley Ray
2:Peter Hickman
3:Tarran Mackenzie
Last Round - Knockhill:
Pole: Glenn Irwin (2nd Ryan Vickers, 3rd Jason O’Halloran)
Race One:
1:Glenn Irwin
2:Ryan Vickers
3:Jason O’Halloran
Race Two:
1: Kyle Ryde
2:Tommy Bridewell
3:Jason O’Halloran
Race Three
1:Glenn Irwin
2:Tommy Bridewell
3:Ryan Vickers
What happened in Q1?
Bradley Perie was shuffled out of the six progression places by a last fast lap from Luke Mossey, so he will start 19th for Lee Hardy Racing.
Dean Harrision (DAO Racing Kawasaki) is one place further back - he was comfortably in the top six when he became the only faller in Q1, off at the only corner to claim any fallers,Agostini, and needing to hurdle out of the way of the next bike approaching.
Rabat is not the only replacement rider, with Superstock rider Franco Bourne (25th) making his debut with Honda Racing UK, in for the injured Andrew Irwin.
