BYRNE SLASHES MONDELLO LAP TIME
 Shane
‘Shakey’ Byrne cut half a second off his morning
best lap time in today’s afternoon practice session
for the fifth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship
at Mondello Park in the Republic of Ireland.
The Rizla Suzuki rider ended up sixth fastest on the timesheets
but happy with progress at the 2.176-mile twisty and bumpy
track. His Rizla Suzuki team mate James Haydon ended the day
15th as he continues to develop the latest generation of the
GSX-R1000 racer.
Rain threatened both practice sessions and briefly interrupted
proceedings in the afternoon. Honda’s Ryuichi Kiyonari
topped the afternoon’s timesheets but was eclipsed by
fellow Honda rider Jonathan Rea who set the fastest lap of
the day in the morning session at 1:39.872.
Superbike racing starts at 13:40 on Sunday, May 21st at Mondello
Park in County Kildare.
Shakey Byrne:
“It’s been a decent day for us. This morning
I reacquainted myself with the twists, turns and bumps of
Mondello Park and made some minor changes to my Rizla Suzuki
for the afternoon. Those helped, the lap times came down,
and we now have more ideas how to improve further.
“After feeling so ill at the last round it is nice
to be riding the bike at full fitness and strength. I’m
relaxed and there is a lot more to come tomorrow, I think
we can compete with the front runners this weekend.”
James Haydon:
“This afternoon we made some changes to my GSX-R1000
that took us in the wrong direction and I ended up posting
a time slightly slower than in the morning. That was disappointing
but at least we learned a lot.
“I am riding the latest development version of the
Rizla Suzuki with the new fuel cell designed to centralise
mass and improve braking and direction changes. The potential
is huge and we come closer to unlocking it with every session.”
Niall Mackenzie - Race Operations Manager:
“Shakey made good solid progress today and while some
other riders struggled to better their morning times this
afternoon. He slashed his lap time by half a second which
is impressive. He’s happy and confident on the bike
and looking forward to qualification.
“James is building his confidence and experience at
the circuit on a development bike. He is riding well and giving
useful feedback to his technicians that I’m sure will
see him improve quickly tomorrow and be challenging for the
front two rows of the grid.
“The weather was rain and shine today. Regardless of
if it is wet or dry, we are confident we can race for the
podium positions on Sunday.”
Afternoon Practice Session:1: Ryuichi Kiyonari
(Honda) 1:40.018, 2: Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +0.004, 3:
Leon Haslam (Ducati) +0.10, 4: Jonathan Rea (Honda) +0.173,
5: Michael Rutter (Honda) +0.353, 6: Shane Byrne (Rizla Suzuki)
+0.872, 7: Karl Harris (Honda) +1.056, 8: Glen Richards (Honda)
+1.228, 9: Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +1.358, 10: Craig Coxhell (Kawasaki)
+1.524. 15: James Haydon (Rizla Suzuki) +2.305.
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