British Superbike Championship 2005 - Round Eight - Snetterton

Ryuichi Kiyonari clipped a third of a second off the Snetterton lap record to head off the challenge of his series leading HM Plant Honda team-mate Michael Rutter during free practice for the eighth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship.

Rutter, who had set the record during his strong results in the corresponding round last year, had set the pace but Kiyonari upped the tempo, and the pressure with a scorching lap in the final couple of minutes.

He lapped the 1.953 mile Norfolk circuit in a time of 1m 05.696secs as he underlined his determination to add to the eight race victories he has enjoyed so far this season: “I ride hard, very fast, but races will be tough as Michael is also very fast.”

Rutter has a 43 points advantage and has been the consistent force throughout the first half of the season, but he admits: “I have to start winning races and beat him. It is a bit frustrating for me, but I enjoy this circuit and have the bike well set. I have to be ahead of him to stop him pegging points back.”

They were sure footed, but a number of riders tumbled, among them the Airwaves Ducati duo of Leon Haslam and third in the title stakes Gregorio Lavilla. Haslam recovered to set third best time, but Lavilla was back in tenth place.

Tommy Hill, riding the Virgin Mobile Samsung Yamaha moved into fourth place on the leaderboard with a lap of 1m 06.531s, marginally faster than James Haydon who was capitalising on the development works carried out by the Rizla Suzuki team in a recent test at Croft.

Haydon also slid out of the afternoon session, but hit back to be running faster than Dean Thomas aboard the Hawk Kawasaki, with the reigning champion John Reynolds continuing his recovery from the leg injuries sustained in a pre-season testing crash, seventh fastest from Scott Smart who took a tumble from his Vivaldi Kawasaki.

Rizla Suzuki

RIZLA SUZUKI'S John Reynolds spent today's practice sessions for the eighth round of the British Superbike Championship at Snetterton in Norfolk testing new Ohlins gas forks on his GSX-R1000.

Today was the first time the reigning British Champion tried the latest specification forks and he adapted quickly, setting the seventh fastest lap time just over a second behind quickest man on the day, Honda's Ryuichi Kiyonari.

Rizla Suzuki's James Haydon was fifth fastest and threatening to climb further up the timesheets with five minutes to go when he suffered a high-side crash coming out of Russells chicane. He is receiving treatment for muscle damage to his right shoulder and will undergo a medical examination tomorrow morning to assess his fitness to continue racing this weekend.

Superbike racing starts at 1:15pm on Sunday, July 10th, at the 1.95-mile long Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk. The action will be covered live by Sky Sports. Channel 4 will broadcast a highlights package of the race action one week later.

JR:
"When James went more than a second faster than me at the recent Croft test using new Ohlins gas forks I knew I was going to try the same suspension here at Snetterton. We have worked hard and I think the gas forks are a step forward in performance.

"Using new forks means that we are having to revisit the overall set-up of my Rizla Suzuki. I am still not completely comfortable but we are making progress every time we go out on track and there is quite a bit more to come tomorrow."

James:
"Russells corner is the only left hand corner on the track that you are on the gas and pushing the rear tyre to its limits. Right at the end of the session I asked too much of the tyre when I was on a very fast lap and I high-sided.

"I have hurt muscles in my right shoulder and it is now under an ice-pack to control the swelling. I am resting and preparing for a medical examination in the morning. If I can get through that, I know that my Rizla Suzuki is pretty well sorted and capable of running at the front for the rest of the weekend."

Dean Thomas

"Well we're at round eight of the Championship now and we're over in Norfolk at Snetterton Race Circuit. I've been testing a few things out on the bike today to try and get myself a good race set up for Sunday. Luckily for me whilst I've been doing that and taking things fairly steady the other riders were falling down like skittles. Johnny Rea, Karl Harris, Steve Brogan, Gregorio Lavilla, Leon Haslam and my team mate Glen just to name a few. It was pretty messy and there are some very sorrow looking bikes and riders around the paddock this evening.

"I ended up 6th in the second session and 5th in the first session this morning. The thing we will struggle most with this weekend is power as it's a very demanding circuit and very fast and the Honda's certainly have the edge on top end speed. The main thing for me this weekend is to bag a couple of good results and then I will be happy. I know I have my work cut out but I really need to get my head down and keep myself motivated. I'm feeling happy and confident for the weekend and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some good results as I really do need them."