From a press release issued by Hawk Kawasaki:

BSB Round 7, Rockingham
PRACTICE
Friday July 4
Track length: 1.736 miles

Rockingham practice scrapped as white lines cause chaos

Friday practice for the seventh round of the British Superbike Championship, at Rockingham, was scrapped after track officials were unable to satisfactorily remove two slippery painted lines that caused havoc during the Supersport session.

The lines, laid this morning to discourage competitors from riding too close to the outer track wall next to the start/finish straight, were deemed too dangerous to ride on after 600 Supersport rider Dean Thomas lost control of his machine on the freshly applied paint just before the first chicane.

Attempts were made to remove the lines, but after several hours the track surface was still considered too slippery for use and all practice sessions, including the two scheduled BSB slots, were cancelled.

Hawk Kawasaki Team Principal Stuart Hicken was understandably disappointed that his three riders were unable to use Friday’s valuable practice time. He said: ‘It’s a sad day for motorcycling when we can’t come to a circuit that’s hosting a British Championship round and practice. Race regulations worldwide stipulate the use of non-slip paint, and then we get to a circuit with a strip of paint all the way round that’s like an ice-rink. Then they make an even bigger disaster by trying to clear it up without talking to people who know how to clear it up. Not only that, we’ve missed really valuable testing time and we haven’t a clue what gearing we’re going to be pulling, so we’re now going to be playing catch-up.’

Superbike qualifying is scheduled to start at 10.10am, Saturday July 4.