Shane Byrne secures first pole of the season at Oulton Park

Byrne and Haslam exchanged the lead in the final qualifying session but once Byrne set a lap time of 1:34:016 Haslam just couldn't catch up and make up the gap.

It's the defending champion's first pole of the season after enduring a frustrating start to opening few races.

Haslam has been in fine form and he will be disappointed not to have taken pole.

Luke Mossey makes up the front row with Josh Brooks just missing out.

“I feel pretty happy; we have worked and chipped away with the bike," Byrne said. "It is good at a certain lap time and then we wanted to push on a little more and that then changes the feel. We have gone through qualifying and it has got better and better because when you override the Ducati it punishes you.

“It started to spit with rain as I started my lap and I thought ‘oh no, now what do I do!’ I committed and there were spots of rain on my visor. Your heart says go but then your head says no not yet just in case.

"Either way it was a decent lap and it was good enough for pole position. I feel at the end we could have pushed and tried again but I knew I had a gap so the front row was enough.”

1 - Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) 1m:34.016s

2 - Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.184s

3 - Luke Mossey (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.728s

4 - Josh Brookes (Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha) +0.927s

5 - Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.939s

6 - Jake Dixon (RAF Reserves Kawasaki) +0.953s

7 - Jason O'Halloran (Honda Racing) +0.978s

8 - Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +0.997s

9 - Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) +1.175s