ISILON MSS Discovery Kawasaki riders Michael Rutter and Stuart Easton are both in a positive frame of mind for tomorrow’s races at Thruxton in Hampshire. Despite being on a new Ninja ZX-10R machine which is down on development compared to its rivals, 33-year-old Rutter put the green-machine in 11th on the grid for the two 22-lap Bennetts British Superbike races, just behind last year’s title runner-up Leon Haslam in 10th.
In contrast, 23-year old Stuart Easton had a tougher time, having engine problems dog him in yesterdays sessions before taking 14th position on the grid for tomorrow’s MAXXIS British Supersport race. The Scotsman – who won the title in 2002 – will be making some changes overnight to improve his chances in tomorrow’s 20-lap race.
Michael Rutter, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R (11th – 1m 15.287s)“I think our position is quite positive really, I’m certainly not going to knock it. 11th place is pretty good considering the company I’m in just ahead. For the race I’m hoping to get dragged along with the others. I think what we’ve been lacking isn’t so much the top-end, but more the mid-range, which is what you need to fire it out of the corners. Hopefully we’ll work on the bike overnight to get more grip from the bike and see if that will help. For the races, I’ll be happy if we could have two top ten finishes like Brands and then we’ll build on that at the subsequent meetings.”
Stuart Easton, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R (14th – 1m 18.458s)“I’m not over the moon with 14th, but it’s all so close in qualifying. We’re going to change the fuelling in the morning and make some changes to the front forks and with these changes I hope we can be a bit closer for the race and get stuck in. I would be happier if we were ready with a better race set-up tonight, but this is a new bike and we’ve made many changes. I don’t know what we can achieve in the race, but I’m going to be giving it my all tomorrow.”
Nick Morgan, Team owner“We’re pretty happy with where we’re at on the Superbike, especially as we had to use our qualifier quite early in the session. Michael is something like 16th and 17th in the speed traps, but 11th on the grid, which shows his ability. We know it’s going to be tough with this quality of field, but if the conditions favour us we’re hopeful of another pair of top 10 finishes with Michael and the ‘big-bike’, although it will not be an easy task. We’re still chasing a setting that will make Stuart feel fully at home on the Supersport bike. We’re going to be making some big changes to his bike both to the suspension and the motor to try and make the bike a little easier to ride, which hopefully will build his confidence with the bike still further.”
Stuart Simmonds, joint team owner“Michael has done a superb job to net 11th considering the depth of talent on the grid. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that a little luck can see us in the top 10 once more. With Stuart we’re hopeful that some changes will give him a little more confidence in the bike for tomorrow’s race. I’m sure his boys will be working hard tonight to ensure that happens. Then, with two weeks before the next round we can really get stuck into some extra development on both bikes in time for the third round at Silverstone.”
Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Saturday qualifying:1. Tommy Hill
2. Gregorio Lavilla
3. Shane Byrne
4. Johnny Rea
5. Tom Sykes
11: Michael Rutter, ISILON MSS Discovery Kawasaki
MAXXIS British Supersport Championship, Saturday qualifying:1. Jamie Robinson
2. Dennis Hobbs
3. Martin Jessopp
4. Billy McConnell
5. Steven Neate
14: Stuart Easton, ISILON MSS Discovery Kawasaki
Related Linkswww.mssdiscoveryracing.com
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