Leon Haslam goes into the fifth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Snetterton determined to put his title bid firmly back on track with a winning double. The HM Plant Honda rider underlined that by powering top of the free practice leaderboard with a lap of 1m 05.448secs, an average speed of 107.36mph, around the 1.952mile Norfolk circuit, but it was a close run thing as Tom Sykes aboard the Rizla Suzuki closed within 0.099secs of him. “The bike is good around here, but there is still more to go,” said Haslam. “I enjoy riding this circuit and have had some good results here, though until this year I’ve not had the top speed before my move to Honda. I need to win races, starting with these and there are a lot of points to be scored, so the title is far from decided.” Sykes shares those views as he chases a seasonal first victory: “This has a been a decent day for me – right from the off the bike felt good and I’ve been comfortable. We’ve been making some small changes during the sessions and now we have superb set-up and I’m putting in consistent lap times.” Championship leader Shane Byrne all but matched their times. He had put in a time of 1m 05.557secs aboard his Airwaves Ducati during the first session but opted to miss the second period for what the team said were “personal reasons.” Byrne, who has a 68 points lead in the title stakes, is ready for the challenges though he concedes: “I do see these races as being more difficult than those we have had so far, though I am feeling good about them.” His team-mate Leon Camier ran just adrift, with only 0.399secs separating the top four riders ahead of what promises to be tightly competitive races, with the next four riders running less than half a second down. Karl Harris, aboard the Rob Mac Racing Yamaha, put in a lap of 1m 05.923secs, ahead of North West 200 Ducati rider Michael Rutter. Second in the title chase, Cal Crutchlow, who escaped injury in a big high-side during the morning session, ran seventh fastest aboard his HM Plant Honda with a time of 1m 06.121secs, marginally ahead of Lloyds British Jentin Yamaha rider Simon Andrews. Michael Laverty, despite a couple of technical problems early on, ran ahead of the MSS Discovery Kawasaki duo of Billy McConnell and Stuart Easton with Gary Mason, the fastest of the Daily Star Cup, riders setting eleventh best time overall. Mason lapped in 1m 06.758secs aboard the Quay Garage Honda and he enthused: “I’m really enjoying riding with this team, the atmosphere is relaxed but productive and we have the bike good and competitive. “I am feeling good for the races here, and will be going all out for victories,” he added after running almost a second faster than Cup leader John Laverty aboard the Buildbase NW200 Ducati. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Rizla Suzuki’s Tom Sykes set the second fastest lap time during free practice for round five of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at the high-speed Snetterton circuit in Norfolk today. Sykes ran at the front during both the 50-minute free practice sessions putting in consistent laps as he got dialled -in to the fast 1.952 mile circuit. His powerful Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000 is perfectly matched to the historic airfield track that boasts two long straights and top speeds of around 200mph. Combined with an agile chassis, he feels he has a winning package. Team mate Atsushi Watanabe, who has just returned from podium success at the Suzuka 300Km race in Japan, also had a productive day on track. This is the first time that he has ridden at Snetterton so he spent his first session familiarising himself with the track before setting about dropping his lap times. He completed second free practice in 15th place but intends to improve on that tomorrow. Honda’s Leon Haslam set the quickest time today. Qualifying takes place on Saturday at 1500 with race one kicking off at 1315 on Sunday and race two at 1630. Tom Sykes: “It’s been a decent day. Right from the off my Rizla Suzuki has felt good and I’ve been comfortable. My Crew Chief, Pete Jennings, had a list of small changes for us to work through during second free practice and that took up the bulk of the session. We now have a superb set-up and I’m putting in consistent times on race tyres. We have a perfect direction for my GSX-R1000 tomorrow for qualifying.” Atsushi Watanabe: “This is my second visit to Snetterton but this is the first time that I get to ride. We had a little problem this morning but this afternoon free practice went well and I made a big improvement of two seconds. My third place finish at the Suzuka 300Km race in Japan has given me a good feeling and my Rizla Suzuki has a strong engine which is ideal for Snetterton. I believe it will be a good weekend.” Free Practice Results: 1: Leon Haslam (Honda) 1:05.448 2: Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) 1:05.547 3: Leon Camier (Ducati) 1:05.847 4: Karl Harris (Yamaha) 1:05.923 5: Michael Rutter (Ducati) 1:05.974 6: Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 1:06.121 7: Simon Andrews (Yamaha) 1:06.146 8: Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 1:06.485 9: Billy McConnell (Kawasaki) 1:06.495 10: Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) 1:06.579 15: Atsushi Watanabe (Rizla Suzuki) 1:07.480 More, from a press release issued by GSE Racing/Airwaves Ducati: STRONG START FOR AIRWAVES AT SNETTERTON Airwaves Ducati made a positive start to round 5 of the British Superbike Championship at Snetterton today, finishing in the top three in both practice sessions. Shane Byrne and Leon Camier completed more laps than their competitors in first practice, with Shane’s fastest time of the day, 1:05.557, coming on lap 22 of 34. Leon then led for much of second practice, setting his fastest time of the day, 1:05.847 with 30 minutes of the session remaining. However he was pushed into 3rd place in the last 5 mins. Due to personal reasons, Shane was unable to ride in second practice but he commented; “I was really pleased with this mornings practice session; I completed a lot of laps and the Airwaves Ducati was feeling really good. It is such a fast circuit and we thought we might struggle with our top speeds on the long straights here but I was pushing hard, my times were consistently fast and I was feeling strong. I was looking forward to getting back out there this afternoon, however, my fiancée, Petra, was taken ill and I felt it was important for me to be with her. I will be back out tomorrow when I will be aiming for a front row start in qualifying.” Leon was pleased with his progress; “Today was better than I expected, my fastest time was on a part worn Pirelli tyre during a race run, so I am feeling confident. I am aiming to put my Airwaves Ducati on the front row tomorrow, then I will need a good start on Sunday so I can get in amongst it at the front of the field and hopefully secure a couple of podium positions.” The Airwaves Ducati’s will return to the circuit tomorrow, Saturday June 14th, for final practice followed by qualifying at 3pm.