Beyond Byrne, there was disappointment for the remaining five British riders that made it into Superpole. Leon Camier was the first to be eliminated during the opening phase, the Airwaves Yamaha rider struggling with his spare bike, equipped with race tyres, having damaged his number one machine during Q2. He will start 17th.

Four would go on to miss out in Q2 after a series of late lap times shook up the final order. Leon Haslam was bitterly disappointed to miss out on the shootout after being bumped down by a late Michel Fabrizio effort, the Stiggy rider being prevented from progressing by just 0.003secs.

Tom Sykes was also punished for not going back out on circuit in the latter stages having believed he was safe, the Yamaha rider ending up tenth, while Jonathan Rea was on course to reach the shootout when he final sector time let him down to leave him 12th. James Ellison on the second wild-card Airwaves Yamaha starts 14th.

Elsewhere, John Hopkins put in a good performance to qualify in 11th position, although Gregorio Lavilla – a consistent top ten performer all weekend – was left a frustrating 13th on the Guandalini Ducati.

Other disappointments included 2008 winner Ryuichi Kiyonari, the Japanese rider's dismal Donington weekend continuing to leave him a lowly 20th position.