Shane Byrne left it late, saving the best for last, as he charged to his first pole start in four years ahead of the fifth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Snetterton.

The former champion had been on the pace throughout practice and carried that speed into the grid deciding session, stunning his rivals with two extra-fast laps in the closing moments of a dramatic session.£

He powered his Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport Honda to a lap of 1m 05.016secs, but next time around the 1.9517mile Norfolk circuit, he was even faster, averaging 108.24mph, to break any challenges to his supremacy.

Byrne, who had used his second machine to head the action after his first choice bike developed a technical problem, reflected: “We had a bit of problem which the team spotted - they had the second bike ready and I used that one with the qualifier fitted.£

“I'm feeling good, and this circuit always provides something interesting for me, with a mix of good and bad luck. I hope for good luck especially after last year when I had that big crash and bounced down the track at 180mph. All credit to my team though for this pole, I hope now to carry the speed through into the races.”

Jonathan Rea, riding the HM Plant Honda, starts alongside Byrne on the front row of the grid, having run just two tenths of a second adrift, while series leader and former champion, Gregorio Lavilla, who had gone fastest with five minutes remaining, found himself back in third place.

The Spanish rider's best lap came in 1m 05.129secs, a split second ahead of his team-mate Leon Haslam, while Ryuichi Kiyonari, the double race winner here last year, ran fifth on his HM Plant Honda, with a best time of 1m 05.239secs.

Tom Sykes, riding Stobart Honda, starts also the reigning champion, with Tommy Hill, Virgin Media Optoma Loans Yamaha, and Chris Walker, on the Rizla Suzuki completing the second row line up.

Simon Andrews rode his Jentin Yamaha impressively into ninth place on the leaderboard, ahead of Hydrex Honda rider Karl Harris and Cal Crutchlow, who escaped injury in a tumble at the Bomb Hole, with Michael Rutter on the Isilon MSS Discovery Kawasaki was twelfth best.

Marty Nutt, twenty first overall aboard the NuttTravel.com Yamaha, was the best of the British Superbike Cup riders, running a quarter of a second up on James Buckingham riding the Quay Garage Honda.£ Tom Tunstall on the Hardinge Ice Valley Honda, Paul Barron - PBM Ireland Yamaha, and Malcolm Ashley, who tipped off his MAR Kawasaki at Russells for a second time in two days, completed the Cup qualifiers.