Byrne Tops Tight British Superbike Field In Practice At Oulton Park

Byrne Tops Tight British Superbike Field In Practice At Oulton Park

© 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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From a press release issued by Hawk Kawasaki:

BSB Round 9
Oulton Park
PRACTICE
Friday August 8

Track length: 2.692 miles
Weather: dry, hazy sunshine, 25°C
Track: dry, 44°C

HAWK’S UPHILL STRUGGLE AT CHESHIRE TRACK

Oulton Park once again proved to be one of the toughest circuits on the British Superbike calendar for Hawk Kawasaki, as the team’s three riders pushed hard during today’s practice sessions for round nine of the championship. Despite having arguably the nimblest chassis in the series, Hawk’s 750cc ZX-7RRs couldn’t match the drive of the 1000s up many of the Cheshire track’s uphill straights.

Glen Richards, who ended the day ninth quickest, explained: ‘We’ve got a lot of revs and power, but it’s the hills that really work against the Kawasaki here. When you’ve got a bike with less torque, because you’ve got a smaller engine, it’s going to struggle to make it up the hills as well, but that’s just the way it goes I guess. You try to pinch a bit back on some of the corners and you end up pushing a bit too hard. Then, when you push a bit too hard, you end up going slower.’

Mondello front-row qualifier Scott Smart was unable to recapture his superb form from three weeks ago due to back pain, but is hoping to settle the injury before tomorrow’s important qualifying sessions. ‘I’ve strained my back and I can’t move around the bike enough because I find it too uncomfortable,’ confessed Scott. ‘I don’t know what I’ve done to it, but I’ll get it looked at before I go out tomorrow. As far as the bike goes, we’re just missing out on horsepower here. It’s a shame because you’d think this was a riders’ circuit, but there’s only so fast you can go around the corners here.’

Lee Jackson was encouraged to be back on comparable times with his Hawk Kawasaki team mates, after struggling to get comfortable with his bike during qualifying for the last few meetings. ‘I’m much happier today because I’m a lot closer to the pace of Scott and Glen, so I can’t grumble really,’ said the Lincoln rider. ‘We struggled the first time we came here, because you need the grunt out of the corners to do a fast lap. Because we’ve not got as much grunt as the 1000s, but a good handling chassis, we’re tending to over-ride in the fast corners and we’re making mistakes. Even so, I definitely feel a lot further forward than when I was here last time. Hopefully we can build on that over the weekend.’

PRACTICE TIMES
1) Shane Byrne, Ducati: 1:37.152
2) Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki: 1:37.354
3) Michael Rutter, Ducati: 1:37.559
4) Sean Emmett, Ducati: 1:37.572
5) John Reynolds, Suzuki: 1:37.707
6) Steve Plater, Honda: 1:38.554
7) Gary Mason, Yamaha: 1:38.562
8) Mark Heckles, Honda: 1:39.075
9) Glen Richards, Hawk Kawasaki: 1:39.106
10) Dean Ellison, Ducati: 1:39.297
11) Leon Haslam, Ducati: 1:39.499
12) Dave Wood, Suzuki (P): 1:39.925
13) Scott Smart, Hawk Kawasaki: 1:40.339
14) Jason Vincent, Yamaha: 1:40.425
15) Lee Jackson, Hawk Kawasaki: 1:40.538
16) Francis Williamson (P): 1:41.440
17) Paul Young, Yamaha: 1:41.489
18) Sam Corke, Suzuki (P): 1:41.635
19) Nick Medd, Ducati: 1:42.030
20) James Buckingham, Suzuki: 1:42.166

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