TIMES IMPROVE FOR RIZLA SUZUKI
 Rizla
Suzuki's Tom Sykes and Atsushi Watanabe got their team's home
round off to a good start today during free practice for the
second round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship
at Thruxton in Hampshire, finishing in fifth and 19th places
respectively.
Sykes improved his lap times by 0.8secs between free practice
one and two, while his team-mate Watanabe knocked an impressive
1.4secs off his time as he got to grips with the fastest track
on the calendar.
"We are just refining my Rizla Suzuki's set-up now,"
explained a confident Sykes. "We have a good direction
to go in. However, there are two or three corners where I'm
not so strong. Once we get to the bottom of that I will be
able to push harder. I'm fast in the first sector so we need
to concentrate on the second sector, we will find the cure
and be up there for sure."
The high speed 2.4 mile track is a new challenge for two
times Japanese Superbike Champion Watanabe. He said: "I
am still learning; the circuit is very, very fast but the
lay-out is easy. It has a different feeling to Brands Hatch
and is very bumpy. My lap times improved but my result has
not and I'm not so happy with this. I got my fastest lap early
in the session, then I tried a new tyre and think I should
go faster but I didn't improve. It is a very wide and fast
track; there are lots of lines, but I need to find Atsushi
line."
Team Manager Jack Valentine was happy with how free practice
went. He said: "We were working on tyre duration and
we have further improvements to make so I know we can step
up. I'm pleased with how Atsushi has dropped his times as
he is in at the deep end again learning a new circuit. I've
looked at our lap times we are definitely in contention with
the front runners and our Rizla Suzukis are up there on top
speed too. I'm looking forward to tomorrow; I just hope it
stays dry for qualifying. We have had two good sessions today
and I know we have a good race set-up I'm confident we will
improve."
The fastest time was set by Honda's Cal Crutchlow with a
time of 1min15.071secs.
Third free practice takes place tomorrow at 10.25 followed
by a 50-minute qualifying session at 14.15.
Practice Times:
1: Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 1:15.071
2: Leon Haslam (Honda) +0.581
3: Karl Harris (Yamaha) +0.721
4: Shane Byrne (Ducati) +0.899
5: Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +1.040
6: Michael Rutter (Ducati) +1.081
7: Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) +1.619
8: Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +1.900
9: John Laverty C (Ducati) +2.112
10: Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +2.132
19: Atsushi Watanabe (Rizla Suzuki) +3.172
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