Rizla Suzuki duo on the pace at Knockhill.

It's been a while but John Reynolds secured his first front row start of the season after qualifying fourth for the latest round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Knockhill.

The defending series champion spent most of his time during the two sessions working on the set-up of his GSX R but put in a quick lap when it mattered to clinch a front row place.

"Thank you to my team for all their hard work and efforts in helping me on to the front row," he said. "It's great to be back riding competitively. As I have said all season, there's nothing at all wrong with the Rizla Suzuki, it's a fantastic package and just needed me to ride it harder - something I can do now my leg is much better.

"I'm looking for a good start tomorrow and to hang in with the leaders for the first five laps. If I can stay with them for those opening laps, then I'll be there at the end for the reckoning. It's all about riding aggressively and I'm going to be biting the screen and giving it my all."

Team-mate James Haydon used qualifying to fine tune the suspension on his Suzuki and test various Dunlop tyres and will start behind his team-mate in eighth place.

"My team of technicians did a brilliant job today," he said. "We tested a lot of tyres and made minor adjustments to the front and rear suspension and kept up our forward momentum. On my last qualifying tyre I suffered a big slide and lost a bit of time but still managed a second row starting position. It's important to get a good start here because I know I am able to post lap times on race tyres that are similar to the guys on the front row. It's going to be fun."

With both riders on the front two rows, team manager Robert Wicks was a happy man.

"Well done to JR, James and the Rizla Suzuki team for putting in so much hard work and effort this weekend," he said. "Qualifying was incredibly tight but our guys fought their way on to the front two rows for our best team qualification of the season to date - well done to everyone in the team for pulling together.

"JR's front row is fantastic and he is riding more aggressively than at any other time this season. Listening to him after the sessions, he's absolutely determined to get good results tomorrow and is speaking like the Champion we know he is.

"James was within a whisker of JR and starting from the second row is a strong place to be. His lap times on race rubber match everyone on the front row and if he gets away with them he'll be able to challenge. There is an air of expectation about the team and we are hungry for podiums - we are looking forward to tomorrow's races."