Source: Supplied.

Leon Haslam will start from pole position for tomorrow’s opening MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race at Oulton Park after snatching the pole position on the JG Speedfit Kawasaki, just ahead of his teammate James Ellison.

In a dramatic Datatag Qualifying Haslam kept his cool in a hectic wet Superpole session, with five different riders holding the top spot during the eight minute battle for the pole position.

Initially Alastair Seeley had set the first flying lap on the Royal Air Force BMW, but before long Christian Iddon pushed ahead to make the Tyco BMW the target at the top. Ellison was relishing the wet conditions and he launched to a faster time in the final minutes, but it was short lived as Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran then carved his way to the top.

Ellison was instantly on the counter attack and he returned to the top position with his next flying lap. Haslam wasn’t done with his last run though and in the final minute the Derbyshire rider stole the pole position.

Dan Linfoot will head the second row of the race one grid for the Honda Racing team after he climbed ahead of Iddon in the closing stages of the session, with the Tyco BMW pairing completing the second row with Michael Laverty.

Seeley will start from the third row ahead of Team WD-40 Kawasaki’s Jack Kennedy who had his best qualifying performance of the season so far in eighth with Lee Jackson completing the top nine.

It was a difficult session for Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne; the four-time champion will start 18th on the grid after a tough Q2; the Be Wiser Ducati rider had a moment through the gravel at Lodge at the mid-way point of the second stage before crashing out unhurt a lap later at Hizzys.

It was also a tough session for the second Be Wiser Ducati; Glenn Irwin suffered a clutch problem on his first lap and was forced to miss the remainder of Datatag Qualifying; he will start on the back row of the grid.

Danny Buchan was also left disappointed after Datatag Qualifying after he was ruled out on medical grounds for the remainder of the weekend after suffering concussion in a crash at Knickerbrook during Q1.

Ben Currie took a measured Dickies British Supersport win on his Pacedayz Trackdays Yamaha YZF-R6. Luke Jones took the holeshot but was reeled in by Currie in difficult conditions with standing water and spray. Currie took the lead on lap eight and was dominant until the red flag cut the race short.