Leon Haslam, with the fastest ever lap of the Thruxton circuit, claimed pole start for the Easter Monday double race third round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship.

The Airwaves Ducati rider dominated a session run in blustery conditions during which some riders experienced tyre wear problems, but Haslam had no worried, setting a series of consistent laps, and then upping the power to break the three year old record.

He put a 1m 14.851secs lap midway through the 50 minute grid deciding session, but had even more in reserve, returning to the 2.356mile Hampshire circuit, having fitted new tyres, to clock a lap of 1m 14.626secs, at an average speed of 113.65mph.

That ensured he topped the qualifying leaderboard for the first time, and also put him into contention for the Audi Performance Award, a season long competition that rewards speed during qualifying and rewards the fastest overall rider with a £50,000 special edition Audi S4 Cabriolet.

"That was just perfect," smiled Haslam as he reflected on his ultra-fast lap. "Finally we've got there, having battled all weekend. We have good race tyres and have been running consistently, with the bike well set-up so I am feeling confident for the races."

Karl Harris, riding the HM Plant Honda, closed within half a of a second of him - the Sheffield rider is aiming to take a career first Superbike victory at the circuit where he enjoyed his first success in Supersports, en-route to three British titles in that category.

Series leader, and defending champion Gregorio Lavilla was just a split second down, aboard the second Airwaves Ducati, having also run a number of consistently fast laps, while Dean Thomas aboard the Hawk Kawasaki completes the front row of the grid.

James Haydon rewarded the hard work of the Rizla Suzuki technician to rebuilt his and Shane Byrne's bikes after a series of crashes in the rain at Donington Park the previous Sunday as set fifth best time, just ahead of Michael Rutter, Stobart Honda, and Ryuichi Kiyonari, who grabbed seventh best time with a late charge, to finish just ahead of Jonathan Rea on the Red Bull Honda.

James Buckingham, the defending British Superbike Cup Champion, set eleventh best time aboard his Quay Garage Honda, emabarassing an number of factory riders, among them Scott Smart, who gave the Vivaldi Suzuki team their first ever victory in at Donington Park. But, he took a bruising as he crashed in the last couple of minutes of the session, to qualify twelfth fastest, and with it a third row start.

Leading Qualifying times for the third round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Thruxton

1, Leon Haslam (Ducati) 1m14.626s,

2, Karl Harris (Honda) +0.559s,

3, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +0.593s,

4, Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) +0.871s,

5, James Haydon (Suzuki) +0.969s,

6, Michael Rutter (Honda) +1.115s,

7, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +1.149s,

8, Jonathan Rea (Honda) +1.184s,

9, Shane Byrne (Suzuki) +1.514s,

10, Jon Kirkham (Suzuki) +1.740s.

Audi Performance Award points standings

1 Gregorio Lavilla 22

2 Leon Haslam 21

3 Karl Harris 20

4 Michael Rutter 11

5 Dean Thomas 10

6= Ryuichi Kiyonari 8

6= Jonathan Rea 8

8 James Haydon 5

9 Michael Laverty 2

10 Shane Byrne 1

Monday (raceday) weather forecast: Sunshine - 15 degrees.