Relentless Suzuki by TAS riders Ian Lowry and Michael Laverty can both take positives from Sunday’s BSB round at Mallory Park. Lowry secured a strong podium finish after a very wet British Supersport race in third place. Laverty’s results [11th and a DNF] do not reflect the strength of his performances at the Leicestershire venue.
In race one, Laverty was in the front five fighting for the win but after being punted out of second place at Shaw’s Hairpin by Shane Byrne on lap 7, then getting caught out by backmarkers in the closing stages – the Toomebridge rider lost the front going into Charlie’s while holding a solid fifth place. He eventually remounted to finish 11th.
In race two, the team took a calculated risk opting to run with a wet front tyre and having stormed to the front, gapping the pack by over five seconds, Michael looked odds on for his first podium of the year. Unfortunately as Michael pushed to increase that lead in the early stages he was again caught out at Charlie’s. This time he was unable to continue posting a disappointing DNF.
Ian Lowry“I must admit I’m happy enough with that. We found a good set up for the wet during our second session on Friday, then on Saturday we also found a very good set up in the dry with my GSX–R600 Relentless Suzuki. I was putting in consistent times in the dry and was pretty confident of winning. In saying that, I’m over the moon to have found so much grip and feedback today in the wet and it’s given me a lot of confidence with our wet set up. I did think I could have got Steve Plater right at the end, but I had a couple of moments and didn’t want to throw it down the road – it was a secure third place. The exit of Edwina’s was treacherous and quite a few boys went down, but I was getting loads of feel even though the bike was moving about quite a bit. I’ve a three week break now before we go to Oulton which is my favourite circuit.”
Michael Laverty“We didn’t have much luck there today, but again we can take positives from both races. I was pretty much quickest through qualifying; then in the first race I was comfortable behind Cal until Shakey hit me. I was just waiting for the last ten laps to have a go but I got caught up in backmarkers and lost the front. In race two we made a decision to go with a wet front and I knew what I had to do. I’d made up five seconds in three laps at the front of the field, but I was too confident and pushed just too hard. As I say, we’ve made progress with the bike this weekend and the boys gave me an extra tenth with the set up. I now have real confidence in the package and having now opened a few eyes I’m confident we can be up there every weekend.”
Philip Neill – Team Principal“It was very pleasing to watch Ian laying his demons to rest this weekend in the wet, also proving the doubters wrong. Now he has that wet weather confidence he’ll never lose it and it was very encouraging to see him coming through from fifth to third. He’s still in the hunt in the championship after beating the series leader today and I’m particularly pleased that the boys in the team gave him an almost perfect set up on our GSX–R600 Relentless Suzuki.
Overall it has been a frustrating weekend but I must focus on the positives. To have both riders on the front row in their respective championships and to see Michael challenging for pole position – only losing out in the final twenty seconds was encouraging. The boys in the garage have also given Michael a proven package with our GSX–R1000 Relentless Suzuki, so we have really found our feet in this championship. Mallory in its nature is a bar bashing circuit but unfortunately Michael was in the wrong place at the wrong time in race one when Shane Byrne made a rash move at Shaw’s Hairpin.
We made the right decision in race two to run with a wet front as Michael is normally very easy on the front tyre, but as he said, he pushed a little too hard after making such a good start to lead the race and ended up taking nothing from the race. After such a positive start to the weekend and with the confidence Michael has shown, I must say we are a little frustrated and disappointed to have taken so few points away from Mallory, although we have again proved how good our package is working in amongst the factory teams.”
Results BSB Race 1:1st. Shane Byrne [Ducati]
2nd. Leon Haslam [Honda]
3rd. Cal Crutchlow [Honda]
4th. Tom Sykes [Suzuki]
5th. James Ellison [Honda]
6th. Billy McConnell [Kawasaki]
11th. Michael Laverty [Relentless Suzuki] BSB Race 2:1st. Michael Rutter [Ducati]
2nd. Shane Byrne [Ducati]
3rd. Cal Crutchlow [Honda]
4th. Tom Sykes [Suzuki]
5th.. Karl Harris [Yamaha]
Michael Laverty [Relentless Suzuki] – DNF British Supersport:Winner – Hudson Kennaugh [Yamaha]
2nd – Steve Plater [Yamaha]
3rd – Ian Lowry [Relentless Suzuki]4th – Ian Hutchinson [Yamaha]
5th – Glen Richards [Triumph]
6th – James Westmoreland [Honda]
Championship:1. G. Richards [116]
2. H. Kennaugh [96]
3. I. Lowry [79]
