Rizla Suzuki’s John Reynolds and James Haydon each recorded hard-fought fifth place finishes at the 12th round of the British Superbike Championship at Donington Park in Leicestershire today. A change of fork settings before the opening dry race allowed reigning Champion Reynolds to set the third fastest lap on his way to taking fifth place. A rainstorm before the second race meant the riders started on a damp track with a drying racing line and Reynolds fell foul of the conditions when he strayed onto a wet patch and crashed unhurt early on. Haydon crashed without injury on the opening lap of the first race. His crew then made the same change to his forks that Reynolds had found beneficial and that gave him extra confidence to fight through to fifth in the second race despite a poor start. Rizla Suzuki will be racing again at the final round of the 2005 British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch GP circuit in Kent, on Sunday, October 9th. John Reynolds: “I’ll go away from Donington and focus on the positives we have achieved here. We have been struggling to set up the front end of the Rizla Suzuki but today we made a change that has given me much more feeling and confidence in my bike. “Well done to my team for working so hard all weekend. I’m just gutted that early in the second race I came off the dry line onto a wet patch and crashed without getting a proper chance to show what I could achieve”¦I guess that will have to wait until we are racing at Brands Hatch.” James Haydon: “I was disappointed to crash out of the first race when I lost the front end without any warning. We sat down after that and decided to make the same change to my forks that ‘JR’ found beneficial. Thanks to that change my bike felt much better in the second race. “I got caught behind a couple of riders from the start and because it was wet off the racing line it took time to get past them. Once I did, the extra confidence in my Rizla Suzuki let me get a move on and I was catching the leaders towards the end. I’m really excited about going to Brands Hatch and can’t wait to get racing again.” Robert Wicks – Team Manager: “Well done to the team for working so hard and providing both riders with new fork settings that gave them confidence to go faster than before. “For ‘JR’ to lap more than one second faster than this time last year shows the solid progress we have made in 12 months. The good news is that there is still more performance to come as we learn more about the GSX-R1000. On top of that, advances in tyre performance by Dunlop means that we will go to Brands Hatch with real aspirations to mix it at the front and hopefully score strong finishes with both riders at the final round.” Race One Result: 1: Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 30:49.746, 2: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +2.054, 3: Leon Haslam (Ducati) +11.856, 4: Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +14.456, 5: John Reynolds (Rizla Suzuki) +19.583, 6: Michael Rutter (Honda) +28.931, 7: Scott Smart (Kawasaki) +38.386, 8: Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +38.831, 9: Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) +38.921, 10: Gary Mason (Honda) +39.184. Race Two Result: 1: Lavilla 21:26.230, 2: Haslam +4.022, 3: Kiyonari +5.970, 4: Rutter +11.612, 5: James Haydon (Rizla Suzuki) +14.758, 6: Thomas +17.401, 7: Mason +29.427, 8: Smart +29.974, 9: Karl Harris (Honda) +51.731, 10: Michael Laverty (Honda) +54.798. Championship Points (After 12 of 13 rounds): 1: Lavilla 416, 2: Kiyonari 403, 3: Rutter 353, 4: Haslam 305, 5: Richards 231, 6: Harris 195, 7: Thomas 176, 8: Mason 156, 9: John Reynolds (Rizla Suzuki) 139, 10: Laverty 119, 12: James Haydon (Rizla Suzuki) 110. More, from a press release issued by Stobart Honda: SEVENTH HEAVEN FOR MASON BIRD SET TO RING THE CHANGES FOR BRANDS HATCH Stobart Honda rider Gary Mason overcame difficult damp conditions to record a best result of seventh position at the penultimate round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Donington Park today. The 26 year old from Lichfield followed up a tenth place finish in the dry opening leg with a battling seventh place finish after a torrential rain shower dampened the Leicestershire circuit. Mason steadily clawed his way through the field and stayed on board whilst others around him fell and as a result remains in eighth position in the Championship. “It was very difficult conditions and a lot of people crashed out. If you went in too hard, you went down, it was that simple. You needed to be up at the front of the grid to benefit as it was a bit of a freight train really and you couldn’t get a dry line to overtake” said Mason. Meanwhile team mate Michael Laverty weighed in with a tenth place finish in leg two after crashing out whilst well placed inside the points on the final lap in race one. The 24 year old from Toomebridge struggled during the early part of the weekend due to injury but battled back to record his first points of the Championship since his Snetterton podium back in July. “I’m reasonably happy with that considering where I qualified. I’m still not riding as strong as I could be and it’s taken time this weekend, so I have to build on that. Earlier in the season I would have been happy with a tenth place, but not now. Hopefully we can get back to normal at Brands Hatch in two weeks time and get back on the pace again” said Laverty. After a weekend of frustration, team owner Paul Bird revealed that he is planning on putting a third rider out for Brands Hatch in the championship finale in two weeks time: “We have an obligation to our sponsors and to the team to end the season on a positive note and I’m already making plans to bring in another rider at Brands Hatch who could do just that for us. Michael and Gary have struggled recently and it could just be the tonic they need to spur them on but for a team that is used to winning championships, racking up a few points here and there is not what we are interested in. We need to move on from here and fast and it has to be our aim to round the season off in style.” commented the Penrith businessman. Bennetts British Superbike Race One Result 1, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 30m49.746s, 2, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +2.054s, 3, Leon Haslam (Ducati) +11.856s, 4, Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +14.456s, 5, John Reynolds (Suzuki) +19.583s, 6, Michael Rutter (Honda) +28.931s, 7, Scott Smart (Kawasaki) +38.386s, 8, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +38.831s, 9, Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) +38.921s, 10, Gary Mason (Stobart Honda) +39.184s. Bennetts British Superbike Race Two Result 1, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 31m26.230s, 2, Leon Haslam (Ducati) +4.022s, 3, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +5.970s, 4, Michael Rutter (Honda) +11.612s, 5, James Haydon (Suzuki) +14.758s, 6, Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) +17.401s, 7, Gary Mason (Stobart Honda) +29.427s, 8, Scott Smart (Kawasaki) +29.974s, 9, Karl Harris (Honda) +51.731s, 10, Michael Laverty (Stobart Honda) +54.798s. Bennetts British Superbike Championship Standings (after Round 24) 1, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 416pts 2, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 403pts 3, Michael Rutter (Honda) 353pts 4, Leon Haslam (Ducati) 305pts 5, Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 231pts 6, Karl Harris (Honda) 195pts 7, Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) 176pts 8, Gary Mason (Stobart Honda) 156pts 9, John Reynolds (Suzuki) 139pts 10, Michael Laverty (Stobart Honda) 119pts