Honda's Shane Byrne sealed pole for Croft's BSB round on Saturday afternoon.

Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne will start from pole position for tomorrow’s opening race of the day at Croft after setting the fastest time onboard the HM Plant Honda in the final session as the conditions continued to change.

“It was a difficult qualifying session with the changing conditions and that final Q3 is critical for the first race tomorrow,” Byrne said. “It rained and then fortunately it passed long enough for my lap and I just went out there and was behind Linfoot.

“He was pushing so I used him as a bit of a gauge as to the conditions so thanks to him! I was able to pass and pushed as hard as I thought was possible in the changing conditions – I stayed upright and lucky for me it was enough for pole.

“This is a big round for HM Plant and so I am really happy that I could secure the pole position for them for tomorrow’s first race at Croft.”

In the opening qualifying session it was a tough start for Matteo Mossa who crashed with 14 minutes still remaining and was unable to rejoin which ended his session prematurely. Patric Muff and Jenny Tinmouth then both lost time when they fell at Clervaux, both were able to rejoin but failed to move through to Q2.

Stuart Easton led the first session on the MSS Colchester Kawasaki, setting the pace from Tommy Hill and Alex Lowes with just over ten minutes remaining. It was drama for HM Plant Honda’s defending champion Ryuichi Kiyonari who was languishing outside the top 20 and looked set to miss out on Q2; the Japanese ace left it until his final lap in the dying seconds to put himself through when he went 14th fastest.

It was Michael Laverty and Swan Yamaha that set the pace in the opening session, stealing the top spot from Easton with five minutes remaining. Hill able to remain third ahead of Michael Rutter who went fourth in the closing stages on the Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati ahead of Alex Lowes who continued to impress on his Evo specification WFR Honda.

In the second qualifying session Kiyonari continued to struggle and he could only qualify 14th, giving him fourth row start for the opening race tomorrow. Josh Brookes was another rider to suffer disappointment as he got nudged outside the top ten to twelfth behind Gary Mason on the second MSS Colchester Kawasaki in the final stages.

Laverty topped the session for the second time on the Swan Yamaha, taking the spot back from Dan Linfoot then Hill who took the early advantage. Lowes set the fastest time of the Mirror.co.uk BSB Evo Championship contenders in 13th despite a crash during the session at Tower.

The final top ten shoot for pole position was delayed by rainfall at parts of the circuit, but after the short interlude it was restarted in dry conditions. Byrne was able to set the fastest time from Laverty and Baz, with Rutter completing the front row for tomorrow’s opening race. James Westmoreland had his best qualifying result in fifth ahead of Easton and Linfoot and Hill.

Australia’s Josh Brookes was 12th for Relentless Suzuki, while Glen Richards was 15th and second Evo runner.

In the opening Supersport race of the weekend Billy McConnell was fourth aboard his Triumph, while teammate Paul Young was eighth.

The Superstock 1000 category saw Jason O’Halloran slot into sixth, with David Johnson directly behind in ninth.

Ben Burke qualified 31st in the Superstock 600 category.

2011 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship
Round Three – Croft

Superbike Qualifying:
1. Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 1:20.069s
2. Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) +0.125s
3. Loris Baz (Motorpoint Yamaha) +0.195s
4. Michael Rutter (Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati) +0.749s
5. James Westmoreland (Motorpoint Yamaha) +0.871s
6. Stuart Easton (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +0.911s
7. Dan Linfoot (Sorrymate.com Honda) +1.001s
8. Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) +1.519s
9. John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing) +1.685s
10. Peter Hickman (Tyco Honda)