Swan Honda race ready after challenging qualifying

The Swan Honda team had a challenging qualifying session in the Swan Roll for Pole at Brands Hatch this afternoon. Stuart Easton and James Ellison both made it through to the final Q3 shootout, finishing in ninth and tenth respectively.

Easton put in a time of 46.371s to put him ninth on the grid for the opening race of the season tomorrow, despite still suffering from a leg injury sustained in testing. Ellison suffered a disappointing final session, when he suffered a technical problem at the end of Q2 which forced him out of contention in Q3. He will start from row three in the first race tomorrow. The team will get the chance to improve their grid position for race two though, with the fastest laps in the opening race of the day deciding the grid for the second outing.

Ellison said: "It is of course disappointing for me to not have had a chance to set a lap in Q3. We had such a promising start to qualifying, but it could have been worse as it could have happened in one of the earlier sessions and I would have been further back down the grid. I need to get a good start in the first race tomorrow and then for race two, because of the grid changes, I should be higher up the grid. We have shown we have the pace and I am confident that when it comes to the races we can have two strong finishes for the Swan Honda team."

Easton said: "I am happy with how qualifying has gone; it was my goal to be inside the top ten for the final session so to finish ninth is good for me. I was doing lap times in the low 46s', but in the final session we had a problem with the rear disc so I was using a scrubbed tyre in Q3, hence why the times were slightly slower. I know that I have a consistent race pace though and the Swan Honda is improving all the time. I want to come away with two solid results tomorrow, but I am looking forward to the first race of the season for sure."

Team Manager Shaun Muir concluded: "I am happy with Stuart's performance in qualifying; he still has the leg injury from testing so to qualify inside the top ten is a bonus. It looked like it was going to be a tough weekend for him, but so far he has really salvaged it so hopefully he can maintain that for tomorrow. A mechanical failure forced James out of Q3, but his pace in the previous session showed that he had the potential to qualify on the front row, so it is disappointing. However, he has a strong race pace and he is confident he can challenge tomorrow."

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Roll for Pole:

1. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 45.565s
2. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +0.126s
3. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +0.234s
4. Dan Linfoot (Motorpoint Yamaha) +0.278s
5. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +0.296s
6. Tommy Bridewell (Quay Garage Honda) +0.522s
7. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +0.542s
8. Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +0.693s
9. Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +0.806s
10. James Ellison (Swan Honda)