BSB qualifying set for 2020 changes

Bennetts British Superbike championship organisers have made adjustments to its qualifying format for 2020 with the fastest six riders from free practice heading straight into Q2.

Following a meeting between teams and series organisers MSVR, the current Datatag Extreme Qualifying format has been tweaked from next season while keeping its familiar Q1, Q2 and Q3 session format.

From the combined practice session times the fastest six riders will automatically progress into Q2 with the remaining riders heading into Q1.

The 15-minute Q1 session will see the top 12 riders graduate into Q2 and join the six riders who qualified from the practice times.

Q2 will also last 15 minutes with the top 12 riders progressing into Q3 and the fight for pole position.

Q3 will now last 10 minutes and duly decide the order for the first four rows of the starting grid for Race 1.

“The three sessions (Q1/Q2/Q3) will be maintained with modifications designed to increase the purpose of the free practice sessions and to make Q1 and Q3 in particular an improved spectacle,” Stuart Higgs, BSB Series Director, said.

“In the case of Q1, currently the fastest riders set an initial time and then sit the rest of the session out.

“This new format will give more teams and riders exposure in that session, whilst Q3 will be slightly longer with 12 riders on track deciding the grid positions for the first four rows for Race 1.”

BSB is expected to retain its current system for ordering the starting grid for Race 2, and Race 3 at triple-headers, by using the fastest race lap of each rider – meaning the rider who sets the fastest lap starts from pole position for the subsequent race of the BSB round.