SYKES DIALLED IN TO DONINGTON PACE
 Tom
Sykes and Atsushi Watanabe spent the two 50-minute free practice
sessions with their Rizla Suzuki technicians today at Donington
Park, dialling in both their GSX-R1000s ahead of round four
of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship.
Sykes, who favours the 2.5 mile GP circuit, worked on perfecting
his already-excellent handling Rizla Suzuki chassis, reducing
his lap times to 1min 32.718secs, just 0.566secs off Leon
Haslam who put in the fastest time of 1min 32.152secs.
Watanabe also worked hard and had a productive first free
practice finishing in 12th place. But his second session ended
prematurely when he slipped off uninjured at Coppice corner.
He had been making progress towards the top 10 as the session
unfolded and that will be his target tomorrow for qualifying.
The 50-minute qualifying session will take place tomorrow
at 1410. Race one takes place on Monday at 1300 with race
two at 1530.
Jack Valentine - Team Manager Rizla Suzuki:
"I'm quite happy with today as we are in contention;
we are just half-a-second off pole position and there is more
to come tomorrow: We were making small changes to the chassis
and Tom put in his fastest time on lap 18 which is full race
distance. All in all I'm pleased with how things have gone.
"Atsu did well in the first session but unfortunately
he stepped off during the second session which slowed his
progress. His time from this morning's session would put him
13th overall so again there is more to come and I know tomorrow
he will dig deep and push hard to get into the top 10."
Free practice results:
1: Leon Haslam (Honda) 1:32.152
2: Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +0.073
3: Karl Harris (Yamaha) +0.104
4: Shane Byrne (Ducati) +0.267
5: Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +0.566
6: Michael Rutter (Ducati) +0.825
7: Leon Camier (Ducati) +0.949
8: Billy McConnell (Kawasaki) +1.355
9: James Ellison (Honda) +1.418
10: Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) +1.557
13: Atsushi Watanabe (Rizla Suzuki) +2.333
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