MILWAUKEE YAMAHA READY TO MAKE AMENDS AT SNETTERTON The Milwaukee Yamaha team head to Snetterton in Norfolk this weekend (5/6/7 July) ready to get their title assault firmly back on track at the fifth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship. Ellison and Waters both tested at the 300 circuit last week as part of the official test and start the weekend in a confident mood as the pair target a turnaround in fortune after a tough event last time out at Knockhill. For both riders this will be their first race on the 300 configuration but Ellison is aiming for a return to the podium as Waters bids for a return to the top ten. Ellison said: “We are ready for Snetterton and after the test I think that normal service has been resumed! We started at Knockhill on the back foot and you can’t afford to do that in this championship, but at Snetterton we had the test last week and we have turned things around. We are well prepared for this event and the team did a great job last week and we have a good base setting to get started with on Friday and a direction we need to head in for the rest of the weekend. I really enjoyed my first real laps of the track at the test in the dry and I think this should be a better track for the Yamaha. We really want to turn our luck around this weekend and we are ready to come out fighting for it to happen.” Waters said: “I am looking forward to this weekend. The test at Snetterton was much better for me and I felt like I had discovered something at the end of the sessions that gave me some more confidence to push harder. The test was really useful for me as it gave me the chance to do some laps around the 300 circuit as the testing earlier in the season we didn’t do many laps because of the weather. As long as we can keep the good feeling rolling into the weekend then I will be happy. We can go into this weekend in a good place because of the test and hopefully we can build from there and try and push ourselves up the order.” For more information visit www.milwaukeeyamaha.com More, from a press release issued by Honda: LOWES TARGETS SERIES LEAD WHILE KIYONARI CONSOLIDATES Alex Lowes is eager to make up lost ground as he powers his Samsung Honda into the fifth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Snetterton while his team-mate, the former three times title winner Ryuichi Kiyonari is looking to build on the solid progress he made in the previous round at Knockhill. Both riders took part in a busy test session at the Norfolk circuit, following on from the Scottish races, working hard with the team to maximise their potential for these races which come at the mid-point of the “main championship”, the series of 19 races that sorts out which six riders will go through to the title deciding “showdown” sequence of seven races. Lowes, currently third in the standings, broke his run of six consecutive podium finishes, including a winning ride at Oulton Park, with a tumble out of third place in the first of the two races at Knockhill, but he bounced back strongly to take fourth next time out. Importantly, as well as being on the pace at the Snetterton test, topping the leaderboard until the final minutes when former World Superbike rider Jakub Smrz scorched to a time 0.186secs faster, Lowes took the time to put together a race distance run. He maintained a competitive pace throughout, which boosts his confidence of being able to push for victories. Kiyonari, who has a pedigree of six race wins at this circuit, having also enjoyed his most recent BSB winning ride there back in 2011, continued his work to gain a fuller understanding and feel for the bike in a determined effort to build on his form at Knockhill. Then, back fresh from a holiday in Japan, he showed the form and style that had made him a champion as he rode hard to a pair of third places, his best results so far. Kiyonari has work to do at Snetterton, his best lap in the recent test was some 1.586secs down on Smzr, but the emphasis was more on trying new settings rather than the outright speed of the machine. Kiyonari now needs to find consistent points if he is to move clear of the middle order riders, among them Chris Walker and Keith Farmer both riding Kawasaki, the BMW pair of James Westmoreland and Jon Kirkham and Yamaha’s James Ellison. Dan Linfoot and Peter Hickman, both riding in Lloyds British GB Moto Honda colours also tested strongly while Michael Rutter and Tommy Bridewell, missing the test, expect to make up any ground lost in opening free practice. Robbin Harms, riding Doodson Honda, and Jenny Tinmouth, who enjoyed a confidence boosting victory in the Thundersport series, aboard her Two Wheel Racing machine add to the Honda challenge. At the sharp-end of the standings reigning champion Shane Byrne has underlined his credentials for a record fourth crown by winning six of the eight races so far, with the Kawasaki rider opening up a 30 points advantage over Suzuki’s Josh Brookes, who is just six points up on Lowes. Honda rider quotes Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda): Championship position 3rd 130 points “We had a positive test at the circuit last Tuesday (25 June) during which I did a race simulation run. I got into a bit of traffic but I was still able to do good laps which I was happy with and if we can do those lap times in the race, it will be good. We know that we can arrive at the circuit for the race ready to go. I made a mistake at Knockhill but we got a fourth place in the second race and if that is classed as a bad weekend I will take that, because Knockhill has always been my bogey circuit. I am feeling good, the team are working well and hopefully we can move forward and fight for the wins.” Ryuichi Kiyonari (Samsung Honda): Championship position 7th 59 points “At Knockhill in the previous round I was much happier, I was able to push and although it wasn’t a win it was better for me and for the team. I come to Snetterton feeling more confident because we have tested at the track and also because of our improvements we made before Knockhill. Snetterton has been a good track for me before; this was the last track that I won at in this Championship so I will be pushing as hard as ever.”