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KAGAYAMA GRABS FIRST EVER POLE AT RECORD PACE THINK! British Superbike Championship - seventh round - Brands Hatch Yukio Kagayama starts the seventh round of the THINK! British Superbike Championship from pole position having set the fastest ever lap of the Brands Hatch grand prix circuit by a motorcycle racer. The Japanese rider, still recovering from a broken right collarbone, left it late, putting in a scorching lap to top the leaderboard for the first time ever in the series. His lap of the 2.608mile Kent circuit, aboard his Rizla Suzuki, came in a time of 1m 26.177s, some 0.007 seconds faster than the previous pole record, and half a second inside the racing lap record, and it was just enough to relegate Sean Emmett to second place on the grid. The MonsterMob Ducati rider, aiming for back to back wins in the series, having won last time out at Thruxton had earlier clocked a lap of 1m 26.230s was not too disappointed at missing out on a second pole start of the season: ''you don''t get any prizes for pole - what is important is that I''m on the front row and my bike is well set-up for the races.'' Completing the front row of the grid are Gary Mason, with his best ever qualifying performance aboard the Virgin Mobile Samsung Yamaha, and title chasing Michael Rutter, riding the HM Plant Honda Fireblade, who had taken a tumble in the final minute of the first session. Local hero Tommy Hill was fifth fastest for Yamaha, marginally faster than the Championship leader John Reynolds, riding despite breaking his left collarbone in the previous round was sixth fastest, with a lap of 1m 26.818s aboard his Rizla Suzuki. ''I thought I would have been a bit higher up the grid than that,'' reflected the twice former champion, adding ''I am aiming for a strong points score in these races.'' Currently Reynolds leads Rutter by eight points in the rankings. Dean Thomas and James Haydon complete the second row of the grid, with six times Isle of Man TT winner John McGuinness ninth fastest on his debut for the Hawk Kawasaki team, while his team-mate Scott Smart, third in the points, was a disappointing twelfth after tumbling out at Paddock Bend. World Superbike regulars, Noriyuki Haga and Leon Haslam are sandwiched between the two Kawasaki riders on the third row.
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