Round 9 of the British Superbike championship got underway at Cadwell Park today with Shane Byrne and Leon Camier finishing the day 3rd and 6th fastest. Shane and Leon used first free practice to familiarise themselves with riding the Airwaves Ducati 1098R around the 2.173 mile Lincolnshire circuit, finishing 2nd and 6th fastest respectively. The Airwaves Ducati team then concentrated on longer race runs in the afternoon with Shane completing more laps than any other rider. His fastest time of 1:28.456 came on lap 27 of 31. Leon’s fastest time of 1:28.916 had secured him the 5th fastest time of the day until he was pushed down to 6th place with less than a minute of the session remaining. Following practice Leon commented, “This morning was all about me getting into the flow of Cadwell Park on the Airwaves Ducati. We tried quite a few different things but went through our normal Free Practice 1 procedure with everything going to plan. We made a couple of changes for this afternoon’s practice but there are still some areas which need more work ahead of qualifying tomorrow. I’m not exactly where I want to be right now but we’ll be working hard to understand why and make improvements.” Shane was feeling positive about his day saying, “It’s been great to get back on the Airwaves Ducati, especially here at Cadwell Park. Right from the start of first practice the Airwaves Ducati has been good. I have been struggling a bit on the last sector so tomorrow morning I’d like to look at gearing solutions. It’s just a matter of finding a couple of tenths here and there but we’re not a million miles away from where I want to be. In myself I’m feeling fine and looking forward to tomorrow’s qualifying.” Qualifying for round 9 of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship commences at 14.00 tomorrow, Sunday 24th August 2008. More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki’s Tom Sykes set the pace today at the arduous Cadwell Park circuit in Lincolnshire ahead of round nine of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, dominating both free practice sessions. The Huddersfield ace has been on top form since taking his debut win at Oulton Park and adding two more to his tally. He looked comfortable aboard his Rizla Suzuki which has been working well and is determined to keep his successful momentum going. Dry weather allowed Sykes to work through settings on both his machines during free practice and perfect his set-up ahead of qualifying tomorrow. Double Japanese Superbike Champion Atsushi Watanabe put in an impressive performance at the difficult 2.18-mile track. He was running in the top 10 for the bulk of the session and finished in a healthy 12th place. The Suzuka Eight Hour podium finisher has been getting to grips with his braking points and has more to come going into qualifying. The new Formula One-style qualifying session will take place on Sunday at 1400. Race one is on Bank Holiday Monday at 1345 and race two at 1630. Tom Sykes: “I’m really pleased with how today went. My team has been working hard and my Rizla Suzuki is performing well. We have just been making small changes, fine-tuning really, and it is all going in the right direction. I like Cadwell Park. It is a real rider’s circuit and I think the new qualifying will keep things interesting for the fans and give us riders a bit more space on track. Bring it on.” Atsushi Watanabe: “When I first came to Cadwell I thought it was a ‘scary circuit’ but now I am learning and it isn’t so bad. I need to work on my braking points and then I can go faster. I want to stay inside the top 10 and I was there during both sessions today. My aim for tomorrow is to go forward to the final qualifying session with a clear track. British fans will see what Watanabe can do.” Jack Valentine – Rizla Suzuki Team Manager: “Today has gone well for us and I’m very happy with how everyone has performed. Our Rizla Suzukis are on top form and haven’t missed a beat, Tom is on fire and Atsu is really starting to show what he is capable of. “Tom has been working on some geometry changes to get his Rizla Suzuki turning even better. He has covered race distance on a set of tyres and is still producing fast, consistent lap times showing he has good race pace so it has been a very productive day on track for him. “Cadwell is about the toughest circuit that we will visit this year and Atsu is rising to the challenge. He has been running consistently in the top 10 and that is his aim for this weekend. He just needs to get as many laps under his belt as he can and I think he will do us proud. I feel there is more to come from everyone and we just need to keep that going into tomorrow.” Free practice results: 1: Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) 1:27.945 2: Leon Haslam (Honda) +0.111 3: Shane Byrne (Ducati) +0.511 4: Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +0.600 5: Karl Harris (Yamaha) +0.901 6: Leon Camier (Ducati) +0.971 7: Michael Rutter (Ducati) +1.075 8: Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +1.652 9: Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +1.789 10: Scott Smart (Kawasaki) +1.903 12: Atsushi Watanabe (RizlaSuzuki) +2.057 More, from a press release issued by British Superbike Championship organizers: Confident Sykes takes charge BENNETTS BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP Round nine 23/24/25 August Cadwell Park Tom Sykes plans to leave Cadwell Park in second place in the Bennetts British Superbike title stakes after the Holiday Monday ninth round of the Championship and the Rizla Suzuki rider underlined that with a dominant performance through free practice. He ran fastest during the morning and improved on his lap times during the afternoon as he headed off the determined threats posed by HM Plant Honda rider Leon Haslam who had escaped injury in a tumble while cresting the ‘Mountain’ section. Sykes ended with a best lap of 1m 27.945secs, an average speed of 89.23mph and reflected: “Things are going well at the moment and we’ve done a lot of work with the bike, making one or two changes and we’ve more to come. “I enjoyed a winning double at Oulton Park last month and want the same again here to try and close down the championship and want to be in second place leaving here I’m only eight points down on that and am feeling confident ahead of these races.” The 23 year old Huddersfield rider’s immediate target is to finish ahead of Cal Crutchlow to take second place away from him, and though the HM Plant Honda rider was little more than half a second down on him, running fourth on the leaderboard, he had a machine problem in each of the sessions which cost him track time. Shane Byrne, the series leader, by 110 points over Crutchlow, set the third best time on his Airwaves Ducati, with a lap in 1m 28.456secs, and is recovered from the battering he took in a heavy tumble last time out at Knockhill. He has a good pedigree at Cadwell Park, having clinched his first title there in 2003 and is anxious for strong results to thank his team for their efforts to rebuild his bike after his Scottish demise: “I know that I gave them a lot of work to do after Knockhill so I want to repay them with some results to really celebrate about.” Karl Harris ran fifth fastest aboard the Rob Mac Yamaha, ahead of Leon Camier on the second Airwaves Ducati with Michael Rutter, a second down on Sykes, seventh fastest on the North West 200 Ducati. Michael Laverty closed in, with a lap of 1m 29.597secs,just ahead of Simon Andrews riding the Lloyds British Jentin Yamaha and Hawk Kawasaki riding Scott Smart. Chris Burns was the fastest of the Daily Star Cup runners, with a time of1m 30.926secs aboard his STP MV Agusta, a third of a second up on series leader Buildbase NW200 rider John Laverty with Martin Jessopp third from Kenny Gilbertson in sessions that saw Gary Mason tumble twice. The Swan Combi 50 Roll for Pole on Sunday afternoon takes on a new, exciting format with an F1 style shoot out, eliminating slower riders in the first two sessions to leave ten in a ten minute ‘shoot-out’ for pole for the two races which for the first time will form up on a three by three grid. Top ten free practice times: 1.Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) 1m:27.945s 2. Leon Haslam (HM Plant Honda) +0.111s 3. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) +0.511s 4. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) +0.600s 5. Karl Harris (Rob Mac Racing Yamaha) +0.901s 6. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) +0.971s 7. Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati) +1.075s 8. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +1.652s 9. Simon Andrews (Lloyds British Yamaha) +1.789s 10. Scott Smart (Hawk Kawasaki) +1.903s