HASLAM FASTEST IN FREE PRACTICE
Round four of the Bennetts British Superbike championship
started well for the Airwaves Ducati team at Oulton Park today.
Leon Haslam was 2nd and 1st and Gregorio Lavilla recorded
a 6th and 4th place finish, in the day’s two free practice
sessions.
In first practice Greg and Leon had only completed a few
laps when the session was halted due to a red flag. When they
returned to the track both Airwaves Ducati riders lapped consistently
and quickly improved their best times. With 20 minutes left
in the session Greg went into 1st position with a time of
1:36.617; this remained his best lap and eventually resulted
in a 6th position finish. In the closing minutes of first
practice Leon took the lead with a 1:36.394, however this
was bettered by Jonathan Rea in the final minute pushing Leon
into 2nd place.
In second practice Greg and Leon both completed a full race
run with Dunlop race tyres. The 50 minute practice session
saw Greg complete 26 laps and Leon 25. It was a closely fought
session, with the top 6 riders all setting times within half
a second of each other. Leon improved his best time on 3 consecutive
laps to take the lead towards the end of practice; he set
the fastest time of the day, 1:35.871 on lap 20 to finish
in 1st place. Greg finished 0.29 seconds behind his team mate
in 4th, having recorded his best time of the day, 1:36.161
on lap 23.
After practice Greg commented, “My focus today was
to complete a full race run so I could test some tyres. I
finished 4th in the second session which is not too bad, but
we know that the weather is going to be changeable this weekend
so we have to keep working to make sure we are ready for that.
I am feeling good and I am sure we will be competitive this
weekend.”
Leon is also feeling confident for the weekend saying; “I
am feeling good at the moment; I was worried my crash at Silverstone
would affect my season and my performances, but I am feeling
fine. I am taking some painkillers for my leg as there is
some nerve damage but it is not affecting my riding. Today
we were testing different tyre combinations to establish the
best one for the race. Obviously the weather will play its
part so I plan to do another race run tomorrow, wet or dry!
I am looking forward to the races and confident we will do
well.”
|
