Sykes on Oulton front row

From Team Suzuki

Tom Sykes put his Rizla Suzuki firmly on the front row of the grid in third place for round 3 of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park on Sunday.

The single 50-minute qualifying session was held in difficult conditions as the track was drying out following heavy rain which had fallen until just prior to the session.

Sykes' team spent the weekend honing the chassis settings on his Rizla Suzuki which paid dividends during qualifying. His team opted to run the same tire which he intends to use on race day; this allowed Sykes to build up to his fast lap in the tricky conditions. Just as the chequered flag came out Sykes posted his fastest time sealing third place.

His teammate Atsushi Watanabe started the session on his number one machine running wet settings. As the track was drying rapidly he came in to change to dry settings which cost him some time. Once back out on track his number one machine stopped leaving him to make his way back to pick up his second bike which he ran for the remainder of the session, working hard to achieve 17th place.

"I started the session on intermediate tyres but when I got on track I realized it was pretty dry," Sykes said. "I came in, changed to slicks and got back out there. I stayed on the same race tire and posted my fastest lap on lap 20, so to pull off third place on the front row of the grid is not too shabby."

Qualifying Results
1. Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 1:36.605
2. Shane Byrne (Ducati) +0.583
3. Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +0.639
4. Leon Haslam (Ducati) +0.785
5. Michael Rutter (Ducati) +0.905
6. Karl Harris (Yamaha) +1.303
7. Leon Camier (Ducati) +1.484
8. Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +1.960
9. James Ellison (Honda) +2.048
10. Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +2.107