Dixon beats Mackenzie by 0.004s for pole, Haslam P3

Full BSB qualifying results from Assen

Jake Dixon has secured back-to-back pole positions for the first time in his Bennetts British Superbike career to ramp up the pressure on title rival Leon Haslam, with Tarran Mackenzie splitting the two on the front row ahead of race one at Assen.

Dixon beats Mackenzie by 0.004s for pole, Haslam P3

Full BSB qualifying results from Assen

Jake Dixon has secured back-to-back pole positions for the first time in his Bennetts British Superbike career to ramp up the pressure on title rival Leon Haslam, with Tarran Mackenzie splitting the two on the front row ahead of race one at Assen.

Moto2-bound Dixon produced a final lap flyer in Q3 to push Mackenzie off provisional pole by just 0.004s for his third pole position of the season and maintain a perfect start to his BSB Showdown for the RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki rider following pole position and a double victory weekend at Oulton Park two weeks ago.

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With McAMS Yamaha’s Mackenzie securing his best qualifying result in his rookie BSB campaign in second place it meant BSB championship leader Haslam could only take third place for JG Speedfit Kawasaki.

Fellow BSB Showdown contender Glenn Irwin heads up the second row for Be Wiser Ducati, two-tenths of a second back from Haslam who he replaces at JG Speedfit Kawasaki for 2019, with Tommy Bridewell bouncing back from a heavy crash in FP3 to take fifth place in Q3 for Moto Rapido Ducati.

2015 BSB champion Josh Brookes completes the second row for McAMS Yamaha despite struggling in qualifying for outright pace, while Christian Iddon battled back from injury which ruled him out of the Oulton Park round to take seventh place for Tyco BMW.

Honda Racing duo Jason O’Halloran and Dan Linfoot rounded out the Q3 challengers in eighth and ninth respectively.

Peter Hickman narrowly missed out on the top nine session for Smiths Racing BMW, dampening his BSB Showdown hopes, while Gino Rea crashed out of his final lap in Q2 to deny him a chance of progressing any higher than 11th place for OMG Racing Suzuki.

James Ellison claimed 12th place for Anvil Hire Yamaha, running Ohlins suspension for the first time this year, with Michael Laverty 13th (Tyco BMW) and Andrew Irwin 14th (Be Wiser Ducati).

Final BSB Showdown challenger Bradley Ray endured a disappointing qualifying down in 16th place behind Buildbase Suzuki team-mate Richard Cooper.

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