Pole position for Whitham

Motor cycling

Motor cycling

Pole position for Whitham

James Whitham took pole position for today's Motor Cycle News British Superbike Championship fourth round at Snetterton from his Cadbury's Boost Yamaha team-mate Niall Mackenzie. Both clipped the lap record in a furious tussle, with the 29-year-old Whitham, a winner last week at Oulton Park, marginally the quicker, lapping in 1min 09.84sec. Mackenzie, the series leader, clocked a best lap of 1:09.91. Meanwhile, the world 500cc champion, Michael Doohan, left it late to edge out local favourite Alex Criville for pole position in the Spanish 500cc Grand Prix. He clipped one-tenth of a second off Criville's time in the last minute of yesterday's final qualifying session to set a lap record for the Jerez circuit.