Karl Harris left round five of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Snetterton, today with mixed results. A wrong option of tyre choice for the opening race left the Rob Mac Racing Yamaha rider struggling with confidence in the front end of his Yamaha, around the fast Norfolk circuit.
Having qualified his Rob Mac Racing Yamaha in 6th spot, Karl was relying on a strong opening to the race to take his challenge to the leaders. With the majority of the leading pack on Pirelli Diablo Superbike two tyres, Karl had opted for the harder three compound that he’d preferred during the free practice sessions.
Although getting away with the leaders into fifth place by the second corner, Karl quickly suffered with confidence in the front end of the Yamaha YZF-R1 and came under pressure from Laverty and Crutchlow. Having been relegated back to 7th Karl was in the sights of James Ellison who finally made his move on Lap 13 to put Karl back to 8th place. Harris kept his head down to chase Ellison all the way to the flag but he missed out on 7th spot by just 0.3s.
A torrential downpour delayed the start of the second Bennetts British Superbike race and deemed the 1.95 mile Norfolk circuit wet. The riders eventually took to the grid well after the scheduled 16.30 start on full Pirelli Wet tyres.
Karl Harris made a blistering start from the sixth spot on the grid to elevate himself into second place by the first corner, Riches. Sandwiched between the Ducati riders Leon Camier and Championshp leader, Shayne Byrne, Harris needed to keep the pressure on to stay in contention for the lead.
As he exited the Esses Karl fell victim to the tremendously slippery track conditions and crashed out of the race. Byrne did a commendable job at stopping just short of the stricken Harris who was laying directly in-front of him. Although he picked his Yamaha YZF-R1 up and rejoined the race, the damage to the bike forced Karl into the garage for an early finish to his weekend.
Karl will look to the sixth round at Mallory Park in two weeks time as a platform to add further points to his championship total.
Karl Harris: “I’m gutted to be honest, I missed out on a better finish in Race 1 and we knew the reasons why. The rain ahead of Race two changed our plans but everyone is in the same position. I got a blinding start and was running in second when the bike just let go mid corner and I was down on the floor. It was a bit of a schoolboy error if I’m honest, the tyre was cold and I paid the price.“
Rob McElnea, Team Principal:“It’s been a disappointing end to the weekend. Karl got caught in the wet conditions when he asked too much from the tyre on the first lap. Obviously we are looking for a win from Karl and he rode hard to try and achieve that. It’s another set-back that we could do without but no doubt we will be back up there at Mallory on top form again.”
Race 1 Result:1. Camier (Ducati)
2. Byrne (Ducati)
3. Sykes (Suzuki)
4. Crutchlow (Honda)
5. Haslam (Honda)
6. M.Laverty (Suzuki)
7. J.Ellison (Honda)
8) Harris (Rob Mac Racing Yamaha)Race 2 Result:1. Byrne (Ducati)
2. Camier (Ducati)
3. Crutchlow (Honda)
4. Rutter (Ducati)
5. Haslam (Honda)
DNF - Karl Harris (Rob Mac Racing Yamaha)Championship Standings:1. Byrne - 235
2. Camier - 152
3. Crutchlow - 151
4. Haslam - 118
5. Ellison - 103
14. Harris - 26
