Second row start for Swan Honda duo at Knockhill

The Swan Honda team are gearing up for tomorrow's two races at Knockhill following this afternoon's Swan Combi Roll for Pole race one grid decider with both James Ellison and Stuart Easton qualifying on the second row.

Ellison put in an impressive performance to make it through to the final Q3 shootout before a consistent improvement saw him climb up the order to fifth place just 0.314 seconds adrift of the pole position lap. Easton meanwhile was unable to repeat his time from this morning's final free practice session and an electronics problem hampered his Q3 performance, but he will line up on the second row from seventh place.

Ellison said: "I am fairly happy with fifth, as that is obviously an improvement on last weekend's qualifying at Mallory Park. It has been another tough weekend for me; it started really well and then despite getting faster every session I was dropping further down the order as everyone was improving and the times are so close. Shaun (Muir) has been out corner spotting for me and I had a chat with Christian Iddon as he had followed me for a bit and told me where he thought I was losing time. We then sat and looked at the data and it all paired up so I could work on those areas and that is where we have improved. We made some small tweaks to the Swan Honda but generally I am happy with how we finished the day and looking forward to scoring some more points in the races tomorrow."

Easton said: "I am disappointed with a second row start as in free practice this morning I topped the times and I couldn't match that lap this afternoon. I know I have a good race pace for tomorrow, but I had a small problem with the blipper system when I was changing down gear, which meant I had to be more precise and that slowed me down a little. The second row isn't the end of the world though and I know that with a good start tomorrow I can be up there and challenging for that home win. I know everyone is talking about the conditions but come rain or shine I know I need to be on the top step here tomorrow so I will be doing everything I can for the home crowd."

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Knockhill, Swan Combi Roll for Pole:

1. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 48.486s
2. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +0.150s
3. Tommy Hill (Quay Garage Honda) +0.212s
4. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +0.305s 
5. James Ellison (Swan Honda) +0.314s
7. Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +0.388s