Haslam tops day two but Laverty still holds the edge at Snetterton test
Leon Haslam proved he had mastered the Snetterton 300 circuit as the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider set the fastest time of the second day during the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship official test, as the Pocket Rocket moved to within 0.175s of Michael Laverty’s fastest overall time from yesterday (Wednesday).
The top 13 riders were covered by just 0.7s after the two days on track and Tyco BMW’s Laverty held the marginal advantage ahead of the next round of the championship at Knockhill in Scotland next weekend (June 24/25/26).
The five different sessions throughout the two days were topped by five different teams and riders, but on the second day Haslam held the advantage, holding off the challenge from Honda Racing’s Jason O’Halloran who moved up the order to end the test third in overall combined times.
Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne arrived back in the country ready for the second day, completing a handful of initial laps yesterday. The four-time champion progressed up the order throughout the day to move fourth fastest despite a small crash at Murrays, to finish ahead of local contender Luke Mossey, who only completed the first day with Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki.
Dan Linfoot had set the pace in the first session today (Thursday) but the Honda Racing rider was forced to settle for sixth position, holding off Alastair Seeley on the RAF Reserves BMW, who ended his day prematurely when he crashed out unhurt at Riches.
James Ellison held eighth position to make it two JG Speedfit Kawasakis inside the top ten with Glenn Irwin improving his pace on the second day to fire the second Be Wiser Ducati into ninth place as he continues his rookie campaign.
Bennetts Suzuki’s Tommy Bridewell completed the top ten, which featured five different manufacturers and seven different teams ahead of the next round of the season in Scotland.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Snetterton official test, combined times:
1. Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) 1m:48.102s
2. Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.175s
3. Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing) +0.282s
4. Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.315s
5. Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki) +0.354s
6. Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) +0.412s
7. Alastair Seeley (RAF Reserves BMW) +0.423s
8. James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) +0.531s
9. Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) +0.562s
10. Tommy Bridewell (Bennetts Suzuki) +0.672s
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Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki)
Fastest rider day two
“We finished the test here at Snetterton which finishes up a couple of busy weeks for me after the testing in Japan for the Suzuka Eight Hour. We did struggle a bit on day one with some technical issues and didn’t get as many laps in as we would have liked, especially as the 300 circuit was new to me.
“Today though we got two dry sessions and ended up fastest which was really good and I know the new circuit now too which is really positive. Now we move on to Knockhill, a circuit where I have won at in the past and enjoy so hopefully we have two good races there and try and maintain the championship lead.”
More, from a press release issued by ePayMe Yamaha:
Positive progress for ePayMe Yamaha at Snetterton test
The ePayMe Yamaha team completed a positive test at Snetterton yesterday (Wednesday) ahead of the next round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Knockhill next weekend (June 24/25/26).
John Hopkins and Stuart Easton returned to the Norfolk circuit to continue their development work of the Yamaha YZF-R1 with new components to test since the previous round off the season at Brands Hatch. Both riders were able to utilise the track time to work through a multitude of changes and are feeling positive about the next round. Hopkins ended the day tenth fastest on combined times with Easton 18th.
Hopkins said: “We actually did some changes to the front end that were a huge, huge improvement to us. We found we have more confidence under braking now and into the hairpins and it has completely made the front end feel how I want it to feel and it is starting to feel like mine. That is giving me more confidence to really throw it into the corner and brake late like my riding style normally accounts for.
“That was one of our big problems at Brands Hatch and we have massively corrected that here and I feel we have made huge steps forward. We have more work to do with some issues in the faster corners but the main thing is the front end and we have achieved that today.”
Easton said: “Today was a really good day and we had three dry sessions which made the long trip here worthwhile. We tried a couple of things on the bike and we had plenty of time to do that. Snetterton historically has never been a great place for me but it has felt good today, the timesheets maybe don’t reflect that but I think session two I did my best time.
“I didn’t go any faster in the last session but we made some changes and were reverting back so I was happy to break into a 1m:49s lap and I am looking forward to coming back here and starting off where we finished today.”
Team owner Tommy Hill commented: “John was a little but gutted at the end of the day as he didn’t quite connect it all up to get a time in, but he has shown really good signs, including the first session this morning when he was running P2 with a brand new compound of tyre we tested which was really good to see.
“The biggest thing for this test was I had some components we built to test and that has had positives and negatives but John seems happy and Stuart has had more time on the SC2 tyre and isn’t one to bite the screen in testing. Next up is Knockhill and I felt Stuart could have done the double there last year and hopefully now it is onwards and upwards for ePayMe Yamaha.”