John Hopkins celebrates his first British Superbike pole position of the season with daughter Everleigh. Photo Courtesy of Tyco Suzuki.
Tyco Suzuki’s John Hopkins earned his first British Superbike pole position of the season today at Donington Park. Joining Hopkins on the front row is Buildbase BMW’s Ryuichi Kiyonari and Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Shane Byrne.
In a sort of déjà vu from yesterday’s second practice session, Byrne had initially set the pace in Q3, but Hopkins saved his best lap for last to take away the pole position. Not only was Hopkins happy to be leading the grid again, but it was also a big relief for the Californian after technical issues earlier in the day sidelined him from the morning practice session.
“It feels really good to be on pole at a track that has always been good to me,” Hopkins said. “I have really enjoyed riding here this weekend so far. Unfortunately we had an electrical glitch that stopped us this morning, so that was the first lap we did in qualifying after that. The boys did a good job and I am really happy to be on pole – my goal was the front row so this is an added bonus.”
Kiyonari also pushed past Byrne to qualify second as the pair continue to battle for a record-breaking fourth title.
In fourth was RAF Reserves Honda’s Peter Hickman, his best qualifying result of the season. Behind Hickman was Byrne’s teammate Stuart Easton. Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes rebounded to qualify sixth after crashing this morning and in qualifying.
Hopikin’s Australian teammate Josh Waters leads the third row ahead of Milwaukee Yamaha’s Tommy Bridewell and BMW Buildbase’s James Westmoreland. Rounding out the top 10 was Dan Linfoot on the Quattro Plant Kawasaki.
2014 British Superbike Series
Donington Park Qualifying Results:
1. John Hopkins (Tyco Suzuki)
2. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW)
3. Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki)
4. Peter Hickman (RAF Reserves Honda)
5. Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki)
6. Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha)
7. Josh Waters (Tyco Suzuki)
8. Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha)
9. James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW)
10. Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki)
