FRONT ROW START FOR SYKES AT CROFT
2007 Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Rounds 19 & 20 – Croft, North Yorkshire
Sunday 12th August 2007

Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport rider Tom Sykes continued his impressive form by qualifying on the front row for round ten of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at a warm and sunny Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire today.

The 21 year old Huddersfield rider was holding provisional pole position time for most of the 50 minute session as he continued to impress in his rookie season, but towards the end of the session he dropped back to fourth position but importantly will start tomorrow's two 20 lap races from the front row of the grid.

If the qualifying session was good for Sykes it was a disaster for team mate Shane 'Shakey' Byrne who slid off not once, but twice and as a result will start from row three of the grid on what is only his second visit to the Yorkshire circuit.

Byrne had a technical problem during this morning's free practice session and was hoping to improve but a couple of mistakes hampered his bid as he goes into tomorrow's two races.

Shane Byrne: "There's not a lot I can say. I'm extremely disappointed and I've given myself a mountain to climb tomorrow. I will be giving it my all and we've yet to find out whether it will be wet or dry which could have a bearing on our result."

Tom Sykes: "I'm happy enough with my race set up and I was one of the quickest on race tyres. We put a qualifier in early on and that paid off as I got a clear lap and posted my fastest time. Towards the end of the session I got caught up in a lot of traffic but a front row start is perfect and is what we were aiming for. I just want a decent start tomorrow and hope I can get away with them and I'm looking forward to it."

Paul Bird: "I'm pleased for Tom with a front row start but we needed both riders on the front row. I hope Tom can carry it forward tomorrow and I wouldn't write him off for his first win. I just hope Shakey has got all his crashing out of the way today."

The first of the Bennetts British Superbike races gets underway at 13.20 with the second one screened live on ITV1 at 15.20.

Qualifying
1, Cal Crutchlow (Suzuki) 1m19.108s,
2, Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1m19.191s,
3, Leon Haslam (Ducati) 1m19.209s,
4, Tom Sykes (Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport Honda) 1m19.269s,
5, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) 1m19.373s,
6, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 1m19.456s,
7, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 1m19.462s,
8, Leon Camier (Honda) 1m19.589s,
9, Chris Walker (Suzuki) 1m19.920s,
10, Karl Harris (Honda) 1m20.257s,
11, Shane Byrne (Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport Honda) 1m20.362s.

Sunday 12th August
12.00 – 12.15 Warm Up
13.20 Race 1 - 20 laps
15.20 Race 2 - 20 laps
ITV4 Broadcast: 12.30 – 14.30
ITV1 Broadcast: 14.30 – 16.00
Sky Sports Xtra: 21.00 - 00.30

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