Brookes smashes lap record for pole, Byrne 10th
Click here for full BSB qualifying results from Silverstone
Josh Brookes has set the timesheet alight during qualifying by setting a new MCE British Superbike lap record at Silverstone, while there was a shake-up behind him with John Hopkins taking second and Christian Iddon grabbing his first front row start of the year.
The BSB championship leader was untouchable during each qualifying session at the Northamptonshire circuit, comfortably leading the way in Q1 and Q2, before turning up the wick in Q3 and setting a phenomenal 2m 03.984s lap - almost 2.5 seconds faster than the previous BSB lap record.
Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati's Hopkins was his nearest challenger nearly three-tenths behind to take second while Bennetts Suzuki's Iddon made an impressive jump on the rest to take the final place on the front row.
Brookes' closest title rival Shane Byrne suffered an underwhelming qualifying performance after not being able to run with the pace of the top ten in Q3 and could only manage tenth on the grid for race one at Silverstone.
Fellow Showdown contender JG Speedfit Kawasaki's James Ellison was bumped down to fourth place after Iddon's late hot lap and is joined by Quattro Plant Kawasaki's Luke Mossey and Milwaukee Yamaha's Jakub Smrz on the second row.
RAF Reserves BMW's Peter Hickman also got heads turning by taking seventh ahead of Friday's fastest rider Michael Laverty in eighth with Dan Linfoot completing row three.
Brookes demonstrated his dominant free practice pace instantly in Q1 with his opening flyer to duck under his own lap record. As if that wasn't a big enough warning by Brookes, on his first flyer in Q2 he went even faster with a 2m 04.360s and made it a hat-trick with a new lap record.
Byrne kept himself within touching distance of Brookes by breaking into the 2m 04s bracket for the first time as the rest of the field battled out for the top ten slots to progress to Q3. Showdown contender Tommy Bridewell was the unfortunate rider to be pushed out of the pole position shootout by a late flyer from RAF Reserves BMW's Hickman.
