Relentless Suzuki riders Michael Laverty and Ian Lowry both scored solid points in their respective British Championship classes [Superbike and Supersport] earlier today at Snetterton in Norfolk. Laverty finished his first race in an impressive sixth; then in a wet second race, Michael made his way through the field after a poor start to again finish in a solid sixth position. Unfortunately, Laverty had used the best of his wet weather Pirelli tyre chasing down the leaders, and having been as high as fourth at one stage, the current British Supersport champion’s first BSB podium on the Relentless Suzuki cannot be too far away.
Ian Lowry had shown consistency during the qualifying sessions on Friday and Saturday posting P3 for the final grid positions in the British Supersport class. But after struggling to get his GSX–R600 Relentless Suzuki off the line in the race, the Moira man was down in 13th position at the end of the opening lap. After a struggle with the mid pack runners, Lowry pulled himself back into a creditable fifth place just before the race was ended prematurely with a red flag situation.
Michael Laverty“Again we showed good progress in the first race and we were right with the leaders at the end, and not just for five or six laps like we had been previously. My lap times were consistent and I was quite happy with the result. I was losing a bit of time on one corner, which stopped me from challenging the leaders but it was a solid result. In race two I just spun off the line; I think there were only three riders behind me into turn one! I pushed my way through quite easily and got past the likes of Sykes and Rutter without much bother, but with four laps to go I had no tyre left: I’d torn the centre right out of it! The Ducatis seemed to have fewer problems with their tyres in the wet than the ‘fours’, but it’s a good enough result. The boys in the team did a great job and we’ve moved forward since the last round again. Every week we’re getting closer to the factory boys and it wont be long before we’re mixing it with them regularly.”
Ian Lowry“I’m totally frustrated with that today. We tried using launch control on the bike as I’ve been having problems getting it off the line, but it just bogged itself and I was left to watch everyone heading into the first turn. I was raging as I was about sixteenth on lap one which meant I had to ride in amongst the kamikaze men. Some of them were making crazy passing moves on me. I did eventually get through to tenth, then through that pack and up to fifth when the red flags came out. I’m so frustrated as it had been almost a perfect weekend up to that point – a great opportunity for me to get some points back. The lap times I had been doing in qualifying were more than good enough to win the race today. Hopefully that’s my bad luck over.”
Philip Neill – Team Principal“The boys both worked very hard this weekend. Michael has again proved how competitive, both he and the Relentless Suzuki GSX–R1000 Superbike can be in this class. I keep reminding people, this is our first year in the superbike class, but week on week we are making giant steps forward.
Ian has had a frustrating time, not just this weekend, but on more than a few occasions this year. He battled very hard at Donington and got his reward with a win, and today he has had to battle even harder for a fifth place – that’s racing. His pace is certainly strong enough to win more races this season. He just needs to put everything together on race day and find some consistency. If he can do that, then he’ll be up there giving Glen and Hudson a run for their money in the championship.”
Results
British Superbike Championship [Race 1]:
Winner – Leon Camier [Ducati]
2nd – Shane Byrne [Ducati]
3rd – Tom Sykes [Suzuki]
4th – Cal Crutchlow [Honda]
5th – Leon Haslam [Honda]
6th – Michael Laverty [Relentless Suzuki]
British Superbike Championship [Race 2]:Winner – Shane Byrne [Ducati]
2nd – Leon Camier [Ducati]
3rd – Cal Crutchlow [Honda]
4th – Michael Rutter [Ducati]
5th – Leon Haslam [Honda]
6th – Michael Laverty [Relentless Suzuki]
British Supersport Championship:Winner – Steve Plater [Yamaha]
2nd – Glen Richards [Triumph]
3rd – James Westmoreland [Honda]
4th – Hudson Kennaugh [Yamaha]
5th – Ian Lowry [Relentless Suzuki]6th – Steve Brogan [Honda]
The next round of the BSB series [Round 7] takes place at Mallory Park – June 27/28/29
