Sykes fastest at damp Mallory

From Team Suzuki

Tom Sykes put his Rizla Suzuki into the number one spot during second free practice at a damp Mallory Park Friday ahead of round 6 of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship.

The first free practice session was in full dry conditions and Sykes completed that in a strong third place, while Honda's Cal Crutchlow set the fastest time. The difficult conditions in the afternoon reduced the lap times but should it rain on race day, the wet weather preparation will stand by Sykes.

"Free practice one was good as it was bone dry and I was putting in consistent lap times on old tires," Sykes said. "We made some geometry changes to the suspension and that helped matters too, so I'm feeling confident in our dry settings for Mallory Park.

"The second session was wet and we have made some big changes to our wet set up so it was good to get on track and try them. I felt very comfortable and confident, we will just have to wait and see what the weather brings."

Two-time Japanese Superbike Champion Atsushi Watanabe rode to a much improved sixth place during second free practice having been 17th in the dry. He is still learning the circuit and would have benefitted from more dry track time.

The singular 50-minute qualifying session takes place on Saturday with both races Sunday.

Free Practice 1 Results
1. Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 56.698
2. Shane Byrne (Ducati) +0.095
3. Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +0.151
4. Michael Rutter (Ducati) +0.337
5. Leon Camier (Ducati) +0.351
6. Leon Haslam (Honda) +0.882
7. Scott Smart (Kawasaki) +0.900
8. Karl Harris (Yamaha) +0.953
9. Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +0.996
10. Billy McConnell (Kawasaki) +1.049