2024 British Superbikes: Snetterton - Qualifying Results

Results from qualifying at the fifth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Snetterton, with Ryan Vickers taking a home pole position.

Lisa Lewis

06 Jul 2024

Ryan Vickers, BSB, 2024, Snetterton, Qualifying, 6 July
© Ian Hopgood Photography

A soggy qualifying saw local rider Ryan Vickers bale to hammer home his home advantage at a wet Snetterton for the fifth round of the British Superbikes championship at Snetterton, taking pole position.

The OMG Grilla Yamaha rider looked comfortable in the tricky conditions as he chipped away at his lap to finish with a best of 2m 05.868s.

Confidence on the track was key and that meant it was two riders who came through Q1 and had learned where the track had the most grip that would join him in the front row slots.

Billy McConnell lead Q1 and was immediately fast again in the second session, but he found the limit at the end of the session on his Look Forward Racing Honda, with a late crash. The Australian had already done enough for second, 0.199s behind Vickers time.

UPDATE:

McConnell who looked shaky after his fall withdrew from race one after the session.

Tommy Bridewell looked set to move up to third but was followed over the line by another Q1 graduate, Storm Stacey, who also improved to take the position.

Arriving with the best practice time, Tommy Bridewell looked ready to lean into the form he showed at the Norwich track in 2023, where he won all three races, but showed caution in the damp, thinking of his title hopes so back to back poles were not on the cards.

Andrew Irwin saw rapid improvement as he got to grips with the conditions on his Honda, climbing to fifth, while Kyle Ryde had done enough to claim sixth on the second OMG Grilla Yamaha before his heavy fall at Brundle.

Josh Brookes made steady progress up to seventh for FHO Racing, but was over a second away from Vickers in the wet.

On pole last year at Snetterton, Jason O’Halloran placed eighth for Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki, while Cheshire Mouldings BMW rider Rory Skinner was ninth.

Christian Iddon saw his session start with running repairs after his FP3 fall. His Oxford Products Ducati mechanics got him out in the extra time he had for them by going straight to Q2, for tenth.

Danny Kent saw his time slip back to twelfth, behind Charlie Nesbitt after a fall, while Glenn Irwin was the first to crash, leaving him to slip back to 14th for PBM Ducati.

Lee Jackson was another rider needing repairs after FP3, so never really got going placing 15th for MasterMac Honda.

British Superbikes Round Five - Snetterton - Qualifying
Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Ryan Vickers	GBR	OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing (Yamaha)	2m 05.868s
2	Billy McConnell	AUS	C&L Fairburn/ Look Forward Racing (Honda)	+0.199s
3	Storm Stacey	GBR	LKQ Euro Car Parts (Kawasaki)	+0.325s
4	Tommy Bridewell	GBR	Honda Racing UK (Honda)	+0.824s
5	Andrew Irwin	GBR	Honda Racing UK (Honda)	+0.885s
6	Kyle Ryde	GBR	OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing (Yamaha)	+0.943s
7	Josh Brookes	AUS	FHO Racing BMW Motorrad(BMW)	+1.177s
8	Jason O'Halloran	AUS	Completely Motorbikes (Kawasaki)	+1.357s
9	Rory Skinner	GBR	Cheshire Mouldings BMW Motorrad (BMW)	+1.440s
10	Christian Iddon	GBR	Oxford Products Racing (Ducati)	+1.723s
11	Charlie Nesbitt	GBR	MasterMac Honda (Honda)	+2.322s
12	Danny Kent	GBR	McAMSRacing (Yamaha)	+2.921s
13	Luke Hedger	GBR	Whitecliffe CDH Racing(Kawasaki)	=3.068s
14	Glenn Irwin	GBR	Hager PBM (Ducati)	+4.386s
15	Lee Jackson	GBR	MasterMac Honda (Honda)	+5.157s
		Q1
Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
16	Danny Buchan	GBR	DAO Racing (Kawasaki)	2m 09.870s
17	Dean Harrison	GBR	Honda Racing UK (Honda)	2m 10.195s
18	Peter Hickman	GBR	FHO Racing BMW Motorrad(BMW)	2m 10.205s
19	Brayden Elliott	AUS	DAO Racing(Kawasaki)	2m 11.105s
20	Max Cook	GBR	Completely Motorbike(Kawasaki)	2m 11.503s
21	Franco Bourne	GBR	Rapid Honda (Honda)	2m 11 817s
22	Tom Neave	GBR	STAUFF Fluid Power (Kawasaki)	2m 11.285s
23	Alex Olsen	GBR	Cumins by Team IWR(Honda)	2m 12.887s
24	Louis Valleley	GBR	NP Racing (Kawasaki)	2m 14.440s
25	Jamie van Sikkelerus	NED	TAG Honda (Honda)	2m 14.558s
26	Lewis Rollo	GBR	IN Competition/SENCAT(Aprilia)	No Time
27	Leon Haslam	GBR	ROKiT Haslam Racing BMW Motorrad(BMW)	No Time

Official British Superbike Snetterton Records:

Lap record: Tarran Mackenzie (Yamaha, 2022) 1m 47.079s

Snetterton in 2023:

Round 4
Qualifying:
1: Jason O’Halloran
2: Glenn Irwin
3: Tito Rabat

Race 1 (Sprint):
1: Tommy Bridewell
2: Josh Brookes
3: Jason O’Halloran

Race 2:
1: Tommy Bridewell
2: Josh Brookes
3: Leon Haslam

Race 3:
1: Tommy Bridewell
2: Glenn Irwin
3: Leon Haslam

Q1- No laps for Haslam and Rollo

The weather at Snetterton had been causing crashes galore before qualifying with Leon Haslam and Lewis Rollo amongst those hitting the deck hard.

Rollo had topped the session before pushing too hard, while Haslam had already hit the deck in the dry on Friday so was already sore. Neither could get their bikes ready for the Q1 session which started shortly afterwards, so will line up at the back of the grid.

On track, it was the start of a good run for Billy McConnell, who moved on with the best time, with Luke Hedger (13th) and Storm Stacy joining him in progressing, the latter only making it through thanks to a last run as the chequered flag waved after running his LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki through the grass moments earlier.

Danny Buchan thought his lap, which lead for much pf the session would stand the test, so was sat in the pits as he was demoted to fourth in the session, so will sit in 16th on the grid for DAO Racing.

Dean Harrison also came close but missed out, as when pushing for the extra tenths needed he suffered a painful crash at Oggies in the closing seconds.

There were also Q1 spills for Alex Olsen, who will be the best pathway rider in 23rd after Jamie van Sikkelerus joined him in the grass, with Franco Bourne also slipping off.