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In a fast-changing lottery of weather conditions Superpole at Donington Park was switched from the single-lap shootout to the wet-weather 12-lap dash to sort out tomorrow’s grid positions.
With patches of the circuit still wet from an earlier deluge it was a risk for each rider to venture out on track, precariously picking their way through the wet spots in search of a quick time.
Steve Plater set the pace early on in the 45-minute long session, topping the timesheets with a fine string of six laps, establishing a fast pace in the opening stages of the session.
Plater, who took a tumble in this morning’s timed session – thankfully uninjured after tipping off the all-new factory Yamaha R1 at Redgate Corner on petrol dumped on track by another bike – was flying early on and was quickly usurped by his team-mate, Kiwi Simon Crafar, with the quickest time.
The personal bests continued to tumble from a host of riders and the final times were being picked out in the last few minutes of the session
There was a desperation about the final throws of the session and grabbing a quick time turned into a game of luck as time and tyres ran out.
Simon said: ‘I made a couple of mistakes on the fast laps and they robbed me of time. But I felt really good with the front of the bike, very much able to attack corners and be closer to where I like to be.
‘The Yamaha was definitely better here today and has been every time I have been out on it. During the session I was immediately aware of how much better the front end of the bike is feeling.
‘We have cured the tendency of the bike to push the front end. The whole team has been working on the problem and here it felt like we really had another big step forward in the development of the bike.
‘My bike still has a try to run wide when I have it leant right over at maximum lean angle but that means we are now working on the next step. As we get faster new things are presenting themselves and that is where the development programme is working. We are maintaining the momentum well.’
Superpole result:
Pole position: Michael Rutter, 2 Steve Hislop, 3 Shane Byrne, 4 Paul Brown, 5 Sean Emmett, 6 John Reynolds, 7 Karl Harris, 8 Simon Crafar ,Yamaha, 9 Steve Plater Yamaha, 10 Glen Richards, 11 Dean Thomas, 12 Dean Ellison, 13 Gary Mason, 14 Mark Burr, 15 Shane Norval Yamaha, 16 Phil Giles
