From a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Rizla Suzuki’s Tom Sykes and Atsushi Watanabe completed a successful but rain-hit qualifying session at Brands Hatch in Kent today, finishing in fifth and ninth places respectively. The 50-minute session took place in cooler conditions than yesterday’s free practice but came to a premature halt with 5 minutes left to run due to heavy rain hitting the challenging 2.3 mile circuit. Sykes improved his times from the morning free practice session and was running close to a front row position when the rain started to fall. “My lap times improved by 1.5secs taking us from 1min 28s this morning to 1min 26s, so just one more step forward and we will be there,” explained Sykes. “I’m disappointed at missing out on the front row but we have been working on improving front end feel. I was on the front row of the grid and just got pipped as I came in for some adjustments. “Shame the rain started as I think the lap I was on would have put me and my Rizla Suzuki on the front row for sure. The second row of the grid is ok I feel a podium is achievable from there. I’m looking forward to race day tomorrow. We have a few changes to make and looking at the data we can make another step forward so I can’t wait to get racing.” Watanabe continued to impress on his UK debut placing his Rizla Suzuki within the top ten which was the team’s aim. He spent his free practice sessions learning the demanding circuit and progressively dropped his lap times, improving by 1sec from free practice to qualifying. “I am not so happy being ninth,” he said. “I wanted to be top five but my team is happy and we all work well together. I am still learning the track but now I look forward to the race that will teach me more.” Team Manager Jack Valentine was happy with the team’s progress over the weekend. He commented: “I’m pleased with how qualifying has gone. Shame it rained as Tom was on a quick lap and would have made the front row of the grid. Watanabe has been fantastic; we had hoped for top ten, and that is what he has achieved. He is competitive and has beaten riders who have raced here for years on his first time on track. All in all it has been a solid qualifying. We have good race set-up so I’m looking forward to it.” Pole position was taken by Ducati’s Shane Byrne with a time of 1min 25.832secs. Racing gets under way tomorrow with race one at 1345 and race two at 1630. Qualifying Results: 1: Shane Byrne (Ducati) 1:25.832 2: Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +0.323 3: Karl Harris (Yamaha) +0.532 4: Leon Haslam (Honda) +0.720 5: Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +0.809 6: Leon Camier (Ducati) +1.001 7: Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +1.094 8: Michael Rutter (Ducati) +1.142 9: Atsushi Watanabe (Rizla Suzuki) +2.061 10: Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +2.1 05 More, from a press release issued by Hydrex Bike Animal Honda: RAIN RUINS BRANDS QUALIFYING FOR HYDREX BIKE ANIMAL HONDA 2008 Bennetts British Superbike Championship Rounds 1 & 2 – Brands Hatch GP, Kent 5/6th April 2008 Hydrex Bike Animal Honda riders James Ellison and Guy Martin finished fourteenth and eighteenth respectively after a weather-affected opening qualifying session at the first round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch today. After a successful and intense three days of testing in Spain aboard the factory-backed Honda Fireblades, the team arrived at Brands Hatch with high hopes and following the free practice sessions, whereby the riders were regularly in the top ten, the team mood was optimistic. But 27 year old Ellison from Kendal suffered a problem with his main machine and had to revert to his spare, whereas 26 year old Humbersider Martin, continued to get used to the Pirelli tyres in the fifty-minute session. However with the rain clouds threatening throughout the one and only qualifying session this afternoon, everyone was hoping the rain would hold off but both riders saw their hopes of progressing up the grid dashed as going into the final ten minutes, a heavy rain shower put paid to any further track action leaving them languishing down the grid. Shaun Muir (Team Owner): “It is disappointing that James didn’t get enough time on the bike. He had a problem with the HRC bike and had to change to the PI electronics bike. He was just about to put his softest rubber in and the clouds opened up, so we’ll be hoping for rain tomorrow. I’m pretty happy with Guy, he’s just getting his confidence up with the Pirellis and he’s been in the top ten all weekend up until the last session and I think he can run with the top boys in tomorrow’s race.” James Ellison: “We had to change bikes as we had a problem and then we had some issues with that bike also, but it’s really just a lack of time. We crammed all of our testing into three days and it didn’t really give us much chance to find out any problems with the bike. We’ve not really got a setting for the dry so wet conditions will probably be better for us tomorrow. It’s a shame I didn’t get a chance to go for it in the last session.” Guy Martin: “I’m struggling a bit with the tyres, but I’m getting there. The weather didn’t help at the end of the session as I wanted to put a fast lap in but we’re making little tweaks here and there and remember Rome wasn’t built in a day – but we’re getting there.” Race one gets underway at 1.45pm on Sunday, with race two at 4.30pm. Qualifying 1, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 1m25.832s, 2, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 1m26.155s, 3, Karl Harris (Yamaha) 1m26.364s, 4, Leon Haslam (Honda) 1m26.552s, 5, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 1m26.641s, 6, Leon Camier (Ducati) 1m26.833s, 7, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) 1m26.926s, 8, Michael Rutter (Ducati) 1m26.974s, 9, Atsushi Watanabe (Suzuki) 1m27.893s, 10, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 1m27.937s.. 14, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 1m28.873s, 18, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 1m29.059s. Round 1 – 4th/6th April – Brands Hatch GP, Kent Round 2 – 18th/20th April – Thruxton, Hants Round 3 – 3rd/5th May – Oulton Park, Cheshire Round 4 – 24th/26th May – Donington Park, Leics Round 5 – 13th/15th June – Snetterton, Norfolk Round 6 – 27th/29th June – Mallory Park Round 7 – 18th/20th July – Oulton Park, Cheshire Round 8 – 8th/10th August – Knockhill, Fife Round 9 – 23rd/25th August – Cadwell Park, Lincs Round 10 – 12th/14th September – Croft, North Yorkshire Round 11 – 26th/28th September, Silverstone, Northants Round 12 – 10th/12th October – Brands Hatch Indy, Kent