Leon Haslam goes into the fifth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Snetterton determined to put his title bid firmly back on track with a winning double.
The HM Plant Honda rider underlined that by powering top of the free practice leaderboard with a lap of 1m 05.448secs, an average speed of 107.36mph, around the 1.952mile Norfolk circuit, but it was a close run thing as Tom Sykes aboard the Rizla Suzuki closed within 0.099secs of him.
“The bike is good around here, but there is still more to go,” said Haslam. “I enjoy riding this circuit and have had some good results here, though until this year I’ve not had the top speed before my move to Honda. I need to win races, starting with these and there are a lot of points to be scored, so the title is far from decided.”
Sykes shares those views as he chases a seasonal first victory: “This has a been a decent day for me - right from the off the bike felt good and I’ve been comfortable. We’ve been making some small changes during the sessions and now we have superb set-up and I’m putting in consistent lap times.”
Championship leader Shane Byrne all but matched their times. He had put in a time of 1m 05.557secs aboard his Airwaves Ducati during the first session but opted to miss the second period for what the team said were “personal reasons.”
Byrne, who has a 68 points lead in the title stakes, is ready for the challenges though he concedes: “I do see these races as being more difficult than those we have had so far, though I am feeling good about them.”
His team-mate Leon Camier ran just adrift, with only 0.399secs separating the top four riders ahead of what promises to be tightly competitive races, with the next four riders running less than half a second down.
Karl Harris, aboard the Rob Mac Racing Yamaha, put in a lap of 1m 05.923secs, ahead of North West 200 Ducati rider Michael Rutter.
Second in the title chase, Cal Crutchlow, who escaped injury in a big high-side during the morning session, ran seventh fastest aboard his HM Plant Honda with a time of 1m 06.121secs, marginally ahead of Lloyds British Jentin Yamaha rider Simon Andrews.
Michael Laverty, despite a couple of technical problems early on, ran ahead of the MSS Discovery Kawasaki duo of Billy McConnell and Stuart Easton with Gary Mason, the fastest of the Daily Star Cup, riders setting eleventh best time overall.
Mason lapped in 1m 06.758secs aboard the Quay Garage Honda and he enthused: “I’m really enjoying riding with this team, the atmosphere is relaxed but productive and we have the bike good and competitive.
“I am feeling good for the races here, and will be going all out for victories,” he added after running almost a second faster than Cup leader John Laverty aboard the Buildbase NW200 Ducati.
Superbikes on track:
Saturday 14th June
10.25-11.15 (Free practice)
15.00-15.50 Swan Combi 50 Roll for Pole grid deciding session
Sunday 15th June
09.20-09.35 (Warm-up practice)
13.15 Race one – 21 laps
16.30 Race two – 21 laps
