HILL AND BYRNE SET RELENTLESS PACE BUT KIYONARI CRASHES LATE Results Free practice one: 1.Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 1m 28.063s 2.Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) +0.520s 3.Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +0.605s 4.Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +0.834s 5.Michael Rutter (Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati) +0.859s 6.Peter Hickman (Tyco Honda)+0.959s Free practice two: 1.Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 1m:34.625s 2.Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +0.281s 3.Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +1.021s 4.Michael Rutter (Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati) +1.235s 5.Chris Walker (Pr1mo Racing Kawasaki) +2.569s 6.Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) +2.681 Report Tommy Hill grabbed the early initiative in this crucial triple race ninth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship and though the Swan Yamaha rider is already qualified as a “Title-Fighter” he will be going all out for victories at Cadwell Park. Hill set the pace in the dry of the morning session, putting in a lap of the 2.18-mile Lincolnshire circuit at an average speed of 89.11mph, to head off the challenges of the series leading HM Plant Honda rider Shane Byrne. Byrne is also through to the elite six in the final three round Showdown, along with the injured John Hopkins, but the standings leader had a few scary moments early on in the first session. He explained: “I had gone out on a new tyre and on the second lap nearly lost the front three or four times. I came straight back in and changed it, returning to the session as was pleasantly surprised to be second fastest.” Josh Brookes riding the Relentless Suzuki ran third fastest in the session as he prepared for races that are vital to his title hopes and the Aussie was marginally faster than the reigning three times title winner Ryuichi Kiyonari. The Japanese rider is in sixth place in the standings and under pressure from Rapid Solicitors Bathams Ducati rider Michael Rutter and an error this afternoon saw him crash at the Mountain, although uninjured. There are only five points between Kiyonari and Rutter in the standings and by the end of a hard fought session Kiyonari had the edge over his rival though by less than a quarter of a second. Peter Hickman who is also in contention for a top six placings on the Tyco Honda was also rapidly approving. His rivals Michael Laverty on the second Swan Yamaha and Chris Walker aboard the Pr1mo Kawasaki were in close contention as was SorryMate.com Honda’s James Ellison. Glen Richards who leads the Mirror.co.uk BSB-EVO class title chase on the WFR Honda completed the top ten. The hopes of all of the riders of improving their lap times were thwarted by a heavy thunderstorm that not only delayed the programme but left the Lincolnshire circuit in a tricky mix of very wet and fast drying sections. Byrne who sat out the early part of the second session put in five laps the best of which came in 1m 34.625secs, but enough to eclipse the determined Brookes by 0.281secs. Gary Mason another rider in with a chance of becoming a title fighter was fourth fastest on his MSS Colchester Kawasaki ahead of Rutter and Walker. Jon Kirkham who is also competing for a place as a Title Fighter in the Showdown was thirteenth fastest on the lone Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki. Hill put in a hard working 15 laps in the session using the track time to good effect, he said: “We used the afternoon as a bit of test session trying various tyres. As for the races, I want to win them. I am a racer and that is what it is all about. It is down to passion, going out to win and score those important podium credits. I do not want to be in a position of losing the title by a point or two by not going all out for maximum podium credits here I’ve got to get them.” For more information please visit www.britishsuperbike.com More, from a press release issued by Swan Yamaha: SWAN YAMAHA CONFIDENT AFTER PRACTICE AT CADWELL PARK The Swan Yamaha team got the ninth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park off to a positive start with Tommy Hill setting the pace in the opening free practice session whilst Michael Laverty believes he has made some strong improvements for tomorrow’s qualifying session and opening race. The first free practice session of the day was held in dry conditions and Hill set the pace on his first visit this year to the Lincolnshire circuit whilst Laverty suffered with an electronics problem which saw him end the session in seventh place. Heavy rain at the Lincolnshire circuit in the afternoon left the track wet for the start of the session but it continued to dry out and Hill and Laverty ended the session sixth and eighth respectively but confident ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying and rescheduled race from Oulton Park. Hill said: “It felt good to have been fastest this morning in the dry conditions because we are the only team not to have tested here before this race. This afternoon was changing conditions and we just went out on a wet front and intermediate rear to play around with tyres and settings. As for the races, I want to win them. I do not want to be in a position of losing the title by a point or two at the end of the season by not going all out for maximum podium credits here so we will be pushing hard tomorrow.” Laverty said: “We started off the first session with some problems with the electronics and although we got some useful laps in we weren’t able to make any real changes to the Swan Yamaha because of the issue. We rode without them working and it felt so different as certain aspects of the bike relies on it to work. In the second session we had it working again and it was a useful test for us in those conditions although it would have been nice to have had it dry this afternoon. We managed to fix one of the issues we were having in the wet so that felt good and I had my fastest practice start of the season at the end of the session so I am feeling positive ahead of tomorrow’s first race.” For more information visit www.swanyamaha.co.uk