From a press release issued by the British Superbike Championship: Shane Byrne headed off the determined challenges of Leon Haslam in free practice ahead of the Sunday’s opening round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. The two riders duelled for top spot, but it was Byrne, riding the all-new Airwaves Ducati 1098R, who came out on top, though by little more than a third of a second after the two 50 minute sessions. Byrne, who hails from nearby Sittingbourne, but who now lives in Zurich, has a special affinity with the Kent circuit: “As well as being my local circuit, it is the first place that I ever raced, and I won that day and was given the man of the meeting award.” He put in a best lap of 1m 26.657secs, 95.58mph, and is well pleased with the progress being made: “I am feeling really positive, the team has worked really well and everything has gone to plan.” Byrne last won the title in 2003, also riding for Ducati, and during close season he has switched from riding Honda to rejoin the Italian marque, while Haslam has made the move in the opposite direction, joining the factory backed HM Plant team that has powered the champion in each of the previous two years. “Shakey will be hard, but if I am to win the title, then I want to have earned it by beating the best,” said Haslam. “Having just missed out on the title twice in the past two years, I see this as a must win year and, we are still developing the bike – there is more to come.” Cal Crutchlow, the Supersport champion of two years ago, shared Haslam’s optimism as he ran third fastest, 1m 27.532secs, just ahead of Karl Harris who was looking strong aboard the Rob Mac Yamaha, while Leon Camier, on the second Airwaves bike, was fifth, a second down on his team-mate, as they adjusted to using the Pirelli control tyres. The introduction of that regulation was designed to level the playing field and equalise opportunity, and that was proving the case. Michael Rutter, riding the NorthWest 200 Ducati was sixth up, 1m 27.684secs, ahead of Simon Andrews, Jentin Yamaha and Tom Sykes who reckons a couple of minor tweaks to his Rizla Suzuki will pave the way to much improved times. James Ellison, the Superbike Cup winner of 2004, returning to the domestic series after riding MotoGP and American Superbikes, ran ninth,1m 28.800secs while Stuart Easton completed the top ten aboard the MSS Discovery Kawasaki. John Laverty headed the Daily Star Cup – the category for independent teams and riders – leaderboard with a lap of 1m 29.910secs aboard his BuildbaseNW200 Ducati while Luke Quigley ran 0.036secs down aboard the PDM Suzuki. Chris Burns lapped in 1m 30.140secs to be third best on the STP MV-Agusta with circuit specialist Steve Mercer, on the Bob Farnham Tuning/Sondel Yamaha fourth, a further tenth of a second down. The Superbikes have a further free practice on Saturday morning, 09.50-10.40 with the grid deciding session between 14.10-15.00. The two races, each over 20 laps, are on Sunday afternoon starting at 13.45 and 16.30. More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki’s Tom Sykes and Atsushi Watanabe completed free practice at the Brands Hatch GP circuit in Kent in eighth and 18th places respectively for round one of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship. The two 50-minute long sessions on the undulating 2.3 mile circuit gave Sykes time to get dialled into his Rizla Suzuki and allowed Watanabe to get to grips with the challenging track where he will make his UK race debut. Sykes improved his lap time from the morning session by 0.5secs and feels there is more to come ahead of the singular 50-minute qualifying session tomorrow. “At the moment I have one or two minor areas that I want to work on which are front end feel and engine braking,” explained Sykes. “Once they are sorted I will be able to fully commit to the corners. At the moment it is only practice so I don’t want to push too hard just yet — tomorrow afternoon is when it counts. I’m confident we can improve for qualifying and get my Rizla Suzuki onto the front row of the grid.” Watanabe showed impressive form dropping his lap times by nearly 1.5secs during the timed sessions. He said: “I am still learning the circuit but I think it is ok. We just make little changes to my Rizla Suzuki on the suspension and the engine settings. I need help to learn but I learn fast so no problem.” Team Manager Jack Valentine commented: “We have a bit of work to do to get the guys further up the field. We know what we want to change and have another practice session tomorrow morning to try those changes out. I’m impressed with the times that Atsushi has posted today considering it is the first time he has ever been on the full GP circuit. I know there is more to come from Tom so I’m looking forward to seeing improvements.” The fastest time of the day was 1min 26.657secs set by Ducati’s Shane Byrne. There is another practice session before qualification tomorrow. The Superbike racing starts at 1345 on Sunday, April 6th and will be shown live on Eurosport. Friday Practice Times: 1: Shane Byrne (Ducati) 1:26.657 2: Leon Haslam (Honda) +0.335 3: Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +0.875 4: Karl Harris (Yamaha) +0.890 5: Leon Camier (Ducati) +1.018 6: Michael Rutter (Ducati) +1.027 7: Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +1.290 8: Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +1.342 9: James Ellison (Honda) +2.143 10: Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) + 2.181 18: Atsushi Watanabe (Rizla Suzuki) +3.060 More, from a press release issued by CIA Insurance: Crutchlow joins the CIA Insurance team”¦ CIA Insurance has a proven track record within motorcycle insurance industry and with over 15 years experience CIA won’t be beaten on price or service. In a similar vein Crutchlow, a former British Supersport Champion, will be doing his utmost not to be beaten on the track in 2008. “I was keen to get back to Honda after winning the British Supersport title for them in 2006,” said Crutchlow. “Who wouldn’t want to go to Honda, after all they are the Championship winning team. Honda have won the British Superbike title twice in a row and I want to make it three in a row for them.” Cal will be writing exclusively for “Cal’s corner” on the all new CIA Insurance website which has just recently re-launched last month www.cia-insurance.co.uk/bike. CIA will bring you all the behind the scenes information from this year’s British Superbike Championship. Although motorcycle insurance is CIA’s forte don’t forget we can also offer cover on cars and caravans to keep you on the move. If you are heading further afield then CIA can assist with worldwide travel insurance. For home birds or property gurus there is household insurance together with let property insurance, holiday home and specialist commercial insurances are also available. The British Superbike season kicks off at the Brands Hatch GP circuit in Kent this information on all CIA’s insurance products please visit www.cia-insurance.co.uk. We have also attached the British Super Bike 2008 race calendar below so you don’t miss a race!:- BSB CHAMPIONSHIP 2008 1. Brands Hatch GP – 2008 06/04/2008 2. Thruxton – 20/04/2008 3. Oulton Park – 05/05/2008 4. Donington Park – GP 26/05/2008 5. Snetterton – 15/06/2008 6. Mallory Park – 29/06/2008 7. Oulton Park – 20/07/2008 8. Knockhill – 10/08/2008 9. Cadwell Park – 25/08/2008 10. Croft – 14/09/2008 11. Silverstone International – 28/09/2008 12. Brands Hatch Indy – 12/10/2008