SCOTLAND'S Stuart Easton was denied pole position for the opening race in today's British Superbike double-header at Knockhill by just 0.052 seconds, after the Hawick racer was pipped by his PBM Kawasaki team-mate Shane "Shakey" Byrne.
The four-time British champion, who also started from pole last time out at Snetterton, clocked 48.153s round the 1.3-mile Fife circuit.
Easton, who had topped the time-sheets in the opening qualifying session, had to content himself with 48.205s.
Currently fourth in the championship, 52 points behind leader Byrne, the 31-year-old is desperate to break his duck at Knockhill.
"I've never won here on a Superbike," said Easton, who graduated to the BSB after winning the British Supersport Championship in 2013, his first full season back after recovering from horrific injuries sustained in 2011.
Easton crashed at high-speed contesting the North West 200 race on the roads of Northern Ireland, breaking both legs, shattering his pelvis and suffering internal injuries. He is undaunted here, though.
"We definitely have the pace this weekend," he said. "I was fastest in Friday's free practice, and was only 0.052s behind Shakey today, so if I get a good start, then who knows?"
Easton, who won earlier in the season at Oulton Park, starts alongside the Yamaha of third-fastest rider Josh Brookes, currently second in the title race, 17 points adrift of Byrne.
Yesterday's qualifying went ahead despite the damage caused to the Fife circuit by an overnight thunderstorm that required work to be carried out on the track.
Emergency repairs had to be made to the surface on the entry to the fast right-hander at Turn 1 into Duffus Dip.
But while the repair crew achieved their primary goal of fixing the track before 11.30am, Mother Nature dealt another blow when thick fog and poor visibility delayed the start of the day's proceedings by another 45 minutes.
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