Spain’s Xavi Forés mastered the wet conditions in Bennetts British Superbike Championship Datatag Qualifying at Knockhill to celebrate his first pole position in the series and Honda Racing’s first pole position since 2017.
Datatag Qualifying was initially delayed due to heavy rain, which resulted in one 40 minute session at the Scottish circuit, and after a huge duel at the top of the times it was Forés who held the advantage by 0.135s at the chequered flag to become the first Spanish rider to claim pole position since 2007 in Bennetts BSB.
Forés had been dicing with Farmer at the top of the times and he was second fastest on the times, but the Tyco BMW rider crashed exiting turn three in the closing ten minutes of the session, he became tangled with his machine. Following transfer to the medical centre he has been diagnosed with and treated for bilateral fractures of both lower legs. Farmer has now been transferred to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for further assessment and treatment.
Danny Buchan made it three different manufacturers in the top three as the FS3-Racing Kawasaki rider completed the front row; maintaining a position inside the top five for the majority of the session as he bids to repeat his double podium finish from 2018 at Knockhill.
Tarran Mackenzie narrowly missed out on the front row in Datatag Qualifying, but climbed the order to head row two for McAMS Yamaha ahead of Andrew Irwin, who had hit the top of the times on multiple occasions during the extended session.
Christian Iddon completed row two for Tyco BMW ahead of Luke Stapleford on the leading Suzuki and Jason O’Halloran with Ben Currie having a strong performance on his return in ninth for Quattro Plant – JG Speedfit Kawasaki.
Championship leader Tommy Bridewell was tenth fastest and the leading Ducati as the Be Wiser Ducati pairing Josh Brookes and Scott Redding ended the wet session in 15th and 16th respectively.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Knockhill, Datatag Qualifying result:
- Xavi Forés (Honda Racing) 51.557s
- Keith Farmer (Tyco BMW) +0.135s
- Danny Buchan (FS3-Racing Kawasaki) +0.135s
- Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +0.166s
- Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing) +0.210s
- Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +0.489s
- Luke Stapleford (Buildbase Suzuki) +0.737s
- Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.799s
- Ben Currie (Quattro Plant – JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.801s
Xavi Forés – Honda Racing
Pole position – Knockhill
“I’m so, so happy with my first pole position in BSB and especially in the conditions, I honestly didn’t expect to do it in wet conditions on a track I have not rode in the wet before. After the first two laps I had a good feeling with the Fireblade and this was the key to be consistent with the laps and to improve lap-by-lap.
“I was pushing in order to find the limit with the bike and it’s just working so well in these conditions. We made some big improvements from Brands Hatch when we raced in the wet and it paid off today! Hopefully tomorrow we will enjoy our racing, even if it is dry, but we have a good set-up with the bike and starting from the front row it will be interesting! But we will defend our position in order to get good points for the championship!”
