Sykes fourth at Oulton Park

From Team Suzuki

Rizla Suzuki's Tom Sykes finished in fourth place Saturday at Oulton Park during free practice for round 3 of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, lapping the challenging Cheshire track in 1:37.344.

Sykes and his crew worked steadily through a number of chassis changes to dial his Rizla Suzuki into the undulating 2.69-mile circuit and set his fastest lap right at the end of the session.

Atsushi Watanabe rode to 16th place during the dry 50-minute sessions putting his new found circuit knowledge to use, having completed a track day with John Reynolds at Oulton Park ahead of the race weekend.

The fastest rider during the session was Honda's Cal Crutchlow.

Qualifying takes place Sunday and racing on Bank Holiday Monday.

"I could have got a better run on my fast lap but I made a little mistake, otherwise I would have been lapping in the 1:36s which is where we need to be," Sykes said. "We are working on the chassis and have plenty more changes to try; I know what direction I want to go in. I hope we get more dry track time but if we don't then it is the same for everyone and we can gamble on the settings."

Free Practice Results
1. Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 1:36.596
2. Leon Haslam (Honda) +0.151
3. Shane Byrne (Ducati) +0.448
4. Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +0.748
5. Michael Rutter (Ducati) +1.022
6. Leon Camier (Ducati) +1.197
7. Karl Harris (Yamaha) +1.245
8. Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +1.782
9. Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) +2.001
10. James Ellison (Honda) +2.170