MCE INSURANCE BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 04 SUNDAY 27 MAY SNETTERTON PREVIEW HONDA RIDERS TO RE-GROUP TO PUT TITLE AMIBTIONS BACK ON COURSE Michael Laverty and Jon Kirkham will be looking to repeat their pre-season testing pace at Snetterton as they power their Samsung Hondas into the fourth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship. Both need strong results to put their title aspirations firmly back on track, with the first ideal being to secure placings in the top six of the standings ahead of the Showdown sequence of races that finally decides the outcome of the crown. Kirkham, the winner of the opening race of the season, will be back in action after his horrific 150mph crash during the previous round at Oulton Park. The Derby rider suffered concussion in the incident and was aiming to test ride his bike before going into this meeting at the Norfolk circuit where he is aiming to claw back the points, moving back towards the fourth place in the standings he held before the crash. He had good results last year in the corresponding round, securing a front row start and running in sixth place. Laverty meanwhile is chasing a first podium finish of the campaign. The Ulsterman has so far managed two best finishes of sixth and that has seen him slide down the leaderboard to eleventh place, two adrift of Kirkham. He has had a difficult time, not helped in anyway by the rains and changeable conditions, with a struggle for grip and concerns about tyre wear. Laverty sees this round as an important turning point in his campaign having tested well on two occasions there and now holding a good base-setting for this circuit. Ian Lowry is the best placed of the Honda riders currently. The Padgetts entered Ulsterman is fifth overall, with his maiden victory in the series at Thruxton largely the key to that position as he had a tough time last time out in Cheshire, scoring only three points. Lowry reflected on a lack of data as he and the team went into the action compounded by niggling technical issue but he is confident that he can be back on the pace for this fourth round. Like the Samsung Honda duo he tested well at the circuit and is aiming to carry that forward into the meeting. Lowry’s team-mate Luca Scassa will also be looking for better returns after a modest start to the campaign while the WFR Honda riders James Westmoreland, Alex Lowes and Graeme Gowland have still to show their full potential amid a series that has produced six different race winners in the six races so far. Reigning champion Tommy Hill, riding Yamaha, heads the standings by six points from Suzuki’s Aussie Josh Brookes with the former two times British title holder Shane Byrne in third place, a further four points down. HONDA RIDER QUOTES Michael Laverty (Samsung Honda): “I need to get strong points and the season turned around in this round and have good base settings going into the meeting based on two good testing sessions at the circuit. The bike worked really well there on those occasions. We had pace at both Brands Hatch and Thruxton, but struggled a bit at Oulton Park and here it is important to get podium credits and points to be back at the sharp-end. It has been a topsy-turvy start to the season, the new technical rules and then the weather threw a spanner in the works with some dealing with the conditions better than others. My start is similar to that of last season so I am not panicking rather concentrating on getting back to the front.” Jon Kirkham (Samsung Honda): “I’m getting back to full fitness, not quite 100%, but by the time I get to Snetterton I will be. I took a big knock to the head in the crash and have needed a fair bit of rest to get over it, but now I am glad to be able to bet back on the bike. Prior to the race meeting the intention is to get a few miles in on it, blow the cobwebs out. I need it because I missed so much track time at Oulton Park because of the crash. Snetterton is important to me in terms of pegging points back. I was lying fourth in the standings before the crash, now I’m ninth but not far off in terms of points. I need to stay on the bike and score strongly and consistently, then I can turn it around and still be well in contention.” Ian Lowry (Padgetts Honda): “Oulton Park wasn’t the best weekend for us, but we are learning all the time and everyone is so close that it can be anyone’s race. We just didn’t find the right setting at the weekend and that put us down the order a bit, but the team have the experience to put it right. I think Snetterton should be a stronger track for us; we had a good pace there in pre-season testing and we have obviously all moved on since then. In theory the bike set up we have should translate better there and then all being well the results should come from that as we want to be back up there like we were at Thruxton.”