Leon Haslam is determined to convert his third pole start of the season into victories in the seventh round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Snetterton where he recorded the fastest ever motorcycle racing lap. The 22 year old Derbyshire rider has been consistently fast throughout free practice and then proved to be the dominant force in the grid deciding session, improving his times with hard charging, determined riding that kept him out front.
The best lap of the 1.952 mile Norfolk circuit came in a time of 1m 04.500secs, an average speed of 108.94mph and that delighted the Airwaves Ducati rider. “The laps all felt good, the bike is good, and is well set for the races.
“It is important now for me to convert this pole start into my first victories of the season into victories if I am going to have any chance of taking the title, which is my goal.”
Haslam, will face a tough challenge as his team-mate, the defending champion and series leader, Gregorio Lavilla, showing no ill effects from his tumble during Friday practice, starts alongside him. The Spanish rider’s best lap was less than half a second down, but still a performance that keeps him just ahead of Haslam in the Audi Performance Award standings.
Lavilla won at the circuit last year, and is intent on a strong points haul again to increase his 62 points advantage, but, qualifying proved particularly close, and at this point of the season, a number of riders have realised that in their game of catch-up, time is running short.
Ryuichi Kiyonari, a winner in the previous Mallory Park round, has answered the hurry-up call and is again riding strongly, recording the third best time aboard the HM Plant Honda with a best lap of 1m 05.020secs, ahead of Tommy Hill, who has shrugged aside the after effects of a bout of food poisoning, to complete the front row on his Virgin Mobile Yamaha.
Karl Harris, riding the second HM Plant Honda, heads the second row, while Michael Rutter, a previous race winner here, was sixth best, with a time of 1m 05.443secs, aboard the Stobart Honda, with both James Haydon, Rizla Suzuki, and Jonathan Rea, Red Bull Honda, running within a split second of him.
Simon Andrews has proved to be something a revelation, marking his debut into the top flight by qualifying the Jentin Yamaha ninth fastest, ahead of Hawk Kawasaki’s Dean Thomas, Michael Laverty on the Stobart Honda and Jon Kirkham who is deputising for the injured Shane Byrne in the Rizla Suzuki team.
The former champion suffered concussion and a bruising in a high speed tumble early on in Friday’s free practice and has been ruled out of the races, though he is expected to be at the circuit to watch the action.
James Buckingham, riding the Quay Garage Honda, was the fastest of the British Superbike Cup qualifiers, running fifteenth overall, with a time of 1m 06.092secs, almost a second faster than his rivals for the title Chris Martin and Marty Nutt.
Related Linkswww.britishsuperbike.com
Related News
