Rizla Suzuki’s Cal Crutchlow is in seventh place and within touching distance of the leaders after the first two practice sessions for the second round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Thruxton in Hampshire today. Crutchlow ended the day just over half a second behind fastest man Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati). The reigning British Supersport Champion clocked up plenty of laps tyre testing and identified a Dunlop rear that offers consistent, race-long grip. Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Walker, returning to Thruxton for the first time in seven years, spent time re-learning the super-fast and bumpy 2.35-mile long airfield track. He knocked nearly a second off his lap times from the morning to the afternoon to finish 12th. There is one more practice session tomorrow morning before a 50-minute qualification period in the afternoon decides the grid positions for Sunday’s two Superbike races. Superbike racing starts at 1300 on Sunday, April 15th, at Rizla Suzuki’s home Thruxton circuit in Hampshire. Cal Crutchlow: “I completed a 17-lap run on a Dunlop rear and at the end I was still running fast lap times. I set my fastest lap in the middle of that stint and I think the tyre is a strong candidate for using in the races. “Overall I am happy with my Rizla Suzuki but there are a couple of areas that we can still improve. A little less wheel-spin would be ideal – we have introduced a traction control system to the GSX-R1000 this weekend and hopefully that will help.” Chris Walker: “It’s been a baptism of fire coming back to Thruxton after seven years; it is a very challenging and fast circuit. After the morning session I was two seconds off the pace and in the afternoon I’d reduced that to 1.4-seconds, which means we are getting closer to the front and making progress. “My Rizla Suzuki feels good and we are working on making it a little more comfortable and user friendly. At the moment I think there is more to come from me rather than changing the bike. I’ll be thinking hard about my lines around the circuit and I’ll be stronger tomorrow.” Simon Buckmaster – Team Manager: “I’m very pleased with Cal’s performance as he is in the same ballpark as the leaders. He has tried our new traction control system and although he has not found any improvement using it yet, we are deliberately introducing only small changes so that we don’t upset the balance of his bike abruptly. There is more to come from both Cal and his Rizla Suzuki. “Chris is still learning the circuit but has shown marked improvement between the two sessions. We are working with him to refine his Rizla Suzuki so he can improve his lap times quickly. Tomorrow he should be considerably faster and we hope to see him in touch with the front runners. “There has been a lot of home support for Rizla Suzuki today and it is great to see so many fans wearing the team colours here. Come Sunday and the races, that sort of support will make a difference and really give our riders something to go for!” Friday Practice Times: 1: Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 1:15.060 2: Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +0.175 3: Jonathan Rea (Honda) +0.280 4: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +0.300 5: Leon Camier (Honda) +0.362 6: Leon Haslam (Ducati) +0.437 7: Carl Crutchlow (Rizla Suzuki) +0.636 8: Shane Byrne (Honda) +0.735 9: Tom Sykes (Honda) +0.772 10: Karl Harris (Honda) +1.163 12: Chris Walker (Rizla Suzuki) +1.449