Tommy Hill shrugged off being denied pole position on his return to British Superbike competition at Mallory Park, the Suzuki Worx Crescent rider labelling his second place on the grid as 'fantastic'.

Hill, competing in his first BSB qualifying session for more than two years, looked to be on the verge of beating all comers to the top spot having dominated through practice on the GSX-R1000.

However, despite lowering his best time during the top ten shootout, Hill could do nothing to prevent Leon Camier from going even quicker on the Airwaves Yamaha and demote him to second.

Nonetheless, the World Superbike exile was thrilled with his performance, while he is confident with his prospects over a race distance too.

“This is fantastic, I'm over the moon. We started in P1 in the first practice and stayed there. It would have been nice to have started on pole but front row is fine and I feel comfortable with my race setup this weekend.

“I've really gelled with the Worx Crescent Suzuki team, its all working very well, and I'm really impressed with the way they pushed to improve even where we are already ahead. This is a circuit where anything can happen so I'm looking for a good start then get into a rhythm and see what comes.”