The ISILON MSS Discovery Kawasaki team suffered their first DNFs of the season today at the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk. In the two Bennetts British Superbike races, Michael Rutter took a strong 11th place in the first race before crashing out at Russell Bend in the second. Stuart Easton suffered a DNF when he encountered a technical problem with his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R on the third lap of the MAXXIS British Supersport race. Despite the results both riders learned more about their machines ahead of next month’s British championship round at Mondello Park. Rutter, 34, from Kirkby Mallory, now heads to the Isle of Man with his ISILON MSS Discovery Kawasaki team to take on the legendary 37.73 mile TT circuit.
Michael Rutter, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R (11th & DNF) “I was fairly pleased with the first race as we didn’t do too bad a time in the race. Obviously we want to be further up the order, but with a race almost every weekend we simply don’t have time to improve the bike, so we can only do what we can do. In race two the crash was disappointing but it shows how hard I was trying. I want the results for the team, as they’ve been working so hard for me. All we can do is put this weekend to the back of our minds and hope that the Isle of Man TT races will give us a chance to shine once more.”
Stuart Easton, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R (DNF)
“It’s fair to say we didn’t get to have much of a race. I was so up for doing well here it’s mega disappointing to suffer this sort of DNF – but that’s what can happen in racing. I’m hoping that we can look forward to getting the sort of results the team deserves in the second half of the season. This is a fantastic team with amazing spirit, so I’m sure we’ll bounce back.”
Nick Morgan, Team Owner “Our first Superbike race was encouraging and Michael did a lap time which we were very pleased with. I think he was something like six-tenths quicker with 17 litres of fuel and a race tyre than he was with a qualifier and only three litres of fuel! This has given us a lot more data to work with before Mondello next month and we need to address a few deficiencies that we have before then. It’s a shame that Stuart had the technical problem but again – like Michael’s crash – that’s part of racing. All we can do is hope that we can enjoy a good TT and come back stronger at Mondello.”
Stuart Simmonds, Joint Team Owner “We’re disappointed with the results, but we can’t change them. Now is the time to dig deep and look forward to the Isle of Man TT races. We’ve learned a lot about the bikes and hopefully in between the TT and the next BSB races we can make some improvements in time for the next Bennetts British Superbike race at Mondello next month.”
Bennetts British Superbike Championship: Race 1
1. Ryuichi Kiyonari
2. Jonathan Rea
3. Leon Haslam
4. Tom Sykes
5. Leon Camier
11: Michael Rutter, ISILON MSS Discovery Kawasaki
Bennetts British Superbike Championship: Race 2
1. Ryuichi Kiyonari
2. Jonathan Rea
3. Shane Byrne
4. Tom Sykes
5. Leon Haslam
DNF Michael Rutter, ISILON MSS Discovery Kawasaki
MAXXIS British Supersport Championship race: 1. Ian Lowry
2. Michael Laverty
3. Dennis Hobbs
4. Billy McConnell
5. Jamie Robinson
DNF Stuart Easton, ISILON MSS Discovery Kawasaki
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