RELENTLESS SUZUKI IMPRESSES AT WEATHER-HIT KNOCKHILL

2010-07-04 18:00
It was a case of red flag after red flag during today's weather affected round seven of the British Superbike Championship at Knockhill in Scotland, which was eventually abandoned with only one British Superbike race fully completed.

It took three separate starts to complete the aforementioned race in atrocious conditions, but Relentless by TAS Suzuki riders Alastair Seeley and Michael Laverty remained fully focused throughout: Laverty carved his way through the pack from his row-five grid slot, eventually settling for fourth place after he had used the best of his Pirelli wet front tyre, in pursuit of the leading trio. Laverty also set the third fastest lap of race one.

Series rookie Alastair Seeley got nudged out on the opening lap from his second row grid spot to 11th place but fought back bravely, eventually following his team-mate home for a well-deserved fifth placed finish on his GSX-R1000 Superbike.

Michael Laverty did lead the second outing, which was red flagged in the early laps after six riders ended up in the gravel trap, with the meeting eventually abandoned on safety grounds due to gale force winds.

The abandoned race two will now be re-run during the next round of the series at Snetterton [July 16 - 18] with grid positions as per the Knockhill race.

Michael Laverty:

"I was happy enough with fourth place in race one from a fifth row start, as you can't expect much more than that; although I did have aspirations of winning it at one point, but I over-heated my front tyre in the opening laps making all those early passing manoeuvres. My time for race one secured me a front row start for race two and after getting the holeshot I was planning on taking the win until the red flags came out. I will now have to wait until Saturday at Snetterton for that race. We had a near-perfect weekend at Knockhill apart from my small mistake in qualifying. The team has worked really well again for me this weekend and we are looking forward to the next round."

Alastair Seeley:

"I dropped back down the pack on the opening lap in race one, but I picked them off and got right back onto Michael at the end. Unfortunately by that stage, my tyre had chewed up and I was sliding going in and out of the turns. We got some good points on the board today but it's just a pity the second race was red flagged. I made a good start and had just passed Kiyo for third place and was lining up Rutter when the red flag went out. We are still in the hunt and with an extra race at Snetterton in a couple of week's time. I have a good chance to get back into that sixth place in the championship standings."

Cameron Donald's return to the National Superstock series possibly didn't produce a result the Australian was looking for, but having fought bravely from 20th on lap one to eventually finish in the points in 13th, offered the Melbourne rider some additional track time prior to the Southern 100 on the Isle of Man in just 10 days time.

Cameron Donald:

"I was happy to see the rain as I felt it was my best chance of making my way through the field. I was up at the front during morning warm-up, but got pushed out during the start of the race. I was starting to make my way through the field when the race was eventually stopped, but I enjoyed my return to BSB and we learned a lot with the GSX-R1000 Superstock machine. Hopefully I can come back again and get in amongst the front guys next time."

Philip Neill - Team Manager:

"It was a nightmare day at Knockhill with the weather and I feel for the organisers. Although it is a shame Michael Laverty found himself back in 20th place on the grid after gettingggg up to eighth before the first red flag. I did expect the grid to re-form from the positions they had been in when the red flag went out, but for Michael to come from so far back to fourth place, three times, was unbelievable - especially on a track that is normally so difficult to pass on.

"Alastair also had a good race one and made some strong passes, getting the better of some high-calibre opposition to get back behind Michael for fifth. It's just a pity race two didn't run full distance as we had high hopes for the win after Michael made a great start and who knows, we maybe could have had both boys on the podium, such was their pace.

"This was also a very useful weekend for Cameron Donald, and, as we expected, the British championship task was always going to be a tough one for him having been away for 12 months. To be fair, he will need two or three rounds to really sharpen up to racing at this level again, but he did what we asked of him and improved as the weekend went on - setting quicker laps during the whole race."


Race 1 Result:

1. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati)
2.Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +0.577s
3.Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +6.187s
4.Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +9.363s
5.Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +13.295s
6.John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +18.708s
7.Simon Andrews (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +21.149s
8.Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +23.233s
9.Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +23.233s
10.Chris Walker (CW Racing Suzuki) +28.717s

Source: Team Suzuki Press Office

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