Samsung Honda's Jon Kirkham posted the second fastest time while two-time BSB champion Shane Byrne was third and Tristan Palmer completed the front row.

Freddy Foray completed the top five on his Quattro Plant Kawasaki ahead of former World Superbike rider Noriyuki Haga.

Hill will start Easter Monday's first race from the eighth row of the grid after he fell in wet conditions during the first part of the session.

"I was coming out of Druids and had to get past another rider as I wanted to get in a couple of fast banker laps before the rain came down," Hill said.

"I squirted around him but then hit a damp patch and lost the front end and was down. I picked the bike up but the bar had snapped and there was too much damage, so that was it."

Improve

Hill can to improve his grid position for the second race by performing well in the opener.

He added: "I have to get out there in the first race, get what I can out of it, and get in fast race laps as they formulate the grid for the second race, and I need to be up there."

Brookes timed his challenge for top spot perfectly, moving ahead of Kirkham with little more than a couple of minutes of the session remaining.

"I'm really happy - sometimes these conditions suit me and here the Suzuki worked really well and that fills me with confidence for the races if they are run in the wet," Brookes said.

"It was tough out there and the tyres were squirming around; you could really feel the bike moving.

"I was not the fastest for a number of laps, but then pushed on, got pole, and that was the best I could get as I was riding close to the limits."