MSVR PR:

Leon Camier, the leader of the ViSK British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli, rewarded the hard work of his Airwaves Yamaha team to change the settings of his bike by claiming his second pole start of the campaign ahead of the Holiday Monday third round at Donington Park.

It was, however, a close run thing with Sylvain Guintoli moving within 0.064secs in a dramatic ending to the final phase of the Swan Combi 50 Roll for Pole, having opted to pit and fit a new rear tyre to his Worx Crescent Suzuki in what proved a vain attempt to snatch top spot on the leaderboard.

Camier had been well on the pace across the weekend but he saved the best for when it mattered most, putting in a lap of 1m 31.047secs, which underlined both the added power of his new, uprated engine, and also the changes to the set-up of his bike.

“Now everything is working so well, and we’ve change things on the bike to get the speed on the corners, it is feeling good,” said Camier. “I’m well pleased because I’ve been able to put in consistent laps, and in each session the bike has been getting better and better.

“We’ve got a pretty good set-up as well for the race, so now it is up to me to keep it going across the races. The new engine has made a difference, more power, more speed.

“I am feeling confident for the races, though for sure Sylvain is again going to be a real threat,” reflected Camier, who with wins in the previous three races has an 11 points lead over his rival who starts alongside him at the front of the grid.

Guintoli put in a best lap of 1m 31.111secs, but, the former MotoGP rider blamed himself for not doing better: “I made two little mistakes, and felt that I really should have had the advantage. I pushed to the max on that last lap, but, I am confident for the races – they should be fun.”

James Ellison, riding the second Airwaves bike, ran third best, 1m 31.442secs, despite a tumble to be ahead of Simon Andrews who was claiming his first front row start in the series, aboard the MSS Colchester Kawasaki.

Local favourite Chris Walker ran fifth on the Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha with third in the rankings Glen Richards starting his HM Plant Honda alongside him. Karl Harris, another rider to take a tumble, and his Hydrex Honda team-mate Stuart Easton completed the second row.

Julien da Costa and Ian Lowry completed the top ten qualifiers ahead of Graeme Gowland, who crash at Starkeys red-flagged the second part of the grid decider, and Josh Brookes who also tipped off.

Gary Mason, the unbeaten leader of the Mirror.co.uk Cup, looks all set to continue that rich vein of form, running his Quay Garage Honda fastest in class with a time of 1m 32.838secs, to start from the fourth row of the grid, 13th fastest overall.

Top ten qualifiers – round three

1 L Camier Airwaves Yamaha 1m 31.047s
2 S Guintoli (FRA) Worx Suzuki 1:31.111
3 J Ellison Airwaves Yamaha 1:31.442
4 S Andrews MSS Colchester Kawasaki 1:31.585
5 C Walker Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha 1:31.805
6 G Richards (AUS) HM Plant Honda 1:31.863
7 K Harris Hydrex Honda 1:31.940
8 S Easton Hydrex Honda 1:32.076
9 J da Costa MSS Colchester Kawasaki 1:32.246
10 I Lowry Relentless Suzuki 1:32.891

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