STRONG RESULTS FOR RELENTLESS SUZUKI
 Relentless
Suzuki riders Michael Laverty and Ian Lowry both scored solid
points in their respective British Championship classes at
the Snetterton British Superbike and Supersport round in Norfolk
on Sunday.
Laverty finished his first race in an impressive sixth; then
in a wet second race, made his way through the field after
a poor start to again finish in a solid sixth position. Unfortunately,
Laverty had used the best of his wet weather Pirelli tyre
chasing down the leaders, and having been as high as fourth
at one stage, the current British Supersport champion's first
BSB podium on the Relentless Suzuki cannot be too far away.
Lowry had shown consistency during the qualifying sessions
on Friday and Saturday posting third for the final grid positions
in the British Supersport class. But after struggling to get
his GSX-R600 Relentless Suzuki off the line in the race, the
Moira man was down in 13th position at the end of the opening
lap. After a struggle with the mid pack runners, Lowry pulled
himself back into a creditable fifth place just before the
race was ended prematurely with a red flag situation.
Michael Laverty:
"Again we showed good progress in the first race and
we were right with the leaders at the end, and not just for
five or six laps like we had been previously. My lap times
were consistent and I was quite happy with the result. I was
losing a bit of time on one corner, which stopped me from
challenging the leaders but it was a solid result. In race
two I just spun off the line; I think there were only three
riders behind me into turn one! I pushed my way through quite
easily and got past the likes of Sykes and Rutter without
much bother, but with four laps to go I had no tyre left:
I'd torn the centre right out of it! The Ducatis seemed to
have fewer problems with their tyres in the wet than the 'fours',
but it's a good enough result. The boys in the team did a
great job and we've moved forward since the last round again.
Every week we're getting closer to the factory boys and it
won't be long before we're mixing it with them regularly."
Ian Lowry:
"I'm totally frustrated with that today. We tried using
launch control on the bike as I've been having problems getting
it off the line, but it just bogged itself and I was left
to watch everyone heading into the first turn. I was raging
as I was about sixteenth on lap one which meant I had to ride
in amongst the kamikaze men. Some of them were making crazy
passing moves on me. I did eventually get through to 10th,
then through that pack and up to fifth when the red flags
came out. I'm so frustrated as it had been almost a perfect
weekend up to that point - a great opportunity for me to get
some points back. The lap times I had been doing in qualifying
were more than good enough to win the race today. Hopefully
that's my bad luck over."
Philip Neill - Team Principal:
"The boys both worked very hard this weekend. Michael
has again proved how competitive, both he and the Relentless
Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike can be in this class. I keep reminding
people, this is our first year in the Superbike class, but
week on week we are making giant steps forward.
Ian has had a frustrating time, not just this weekend, but
on more than a few occasions this year. He battled very hard
at Donington and got his reward with a win, and today he has
had to battle even harder for a fifth place - that's racing.
His pace is certainly strong enough to win more races this
season. He just needs to put everything together on race day
and find some consistency. If he can do that, then he'll be
up there giving Glen and Hudson a run for their money in the
championship."
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