From a press release issued by Hawk Kawasaki:

THINK! BSB Championship, Round 12, Sept 10

National Superstock Cup, Round 11

Oulton Park, Cheshire

Track length: 2.692 miles

Weather: heavy showers, slight mist, 15ºC

Track: wet, 19ºC

PRACTICE

SMART QUICKEST DURING RAIN INTERUPTED OULTON PRACTICE

Practice for the twelfth round of the THINK! British Superbike Championship, at Oulton Park, was almost cancelled today after torrential rain flooded parts of the 2.692 Cheshire track. Weather conditions deteriorated rapidly during first BSB practice and many riders elected to abandon the session once the heavens opened.

Hawk Kawasaki’s Scott Smart set the fastest lap, in the short time the track was dry, despite only completing three circuits of the track. “Once it started raining, that was it,” he said. “If it rains tomorrow I’ll go out, but after seeing the conditions today I preferred to stay dry!”

The second BSB practice session was reduced to just 20 minutes, after being scrapped and then reinstated, once standing water and oil was cleared from the track. Smart’s team-mate, Glen Richards, was the only Hawk Kawasaki rider to venture out in the wet afternoon session, finishing a respectable seventh fastest – and fourth quickest in the morning’s brief dry spell.

“I wanted to try a few changes we’ve made to the bike and also get some wet weather laps under my belt,” said Glen. “The other guys have done quite a few wet laps, but I’ve not really done any so it’s a useful thing for me. The bike feels heaps better than it did here last time so hopefully we can be more competitive this weekend.”

Like Smart, John McGuinness also opted against riding in the wet. “I’ve only got one bike, so I don’t really want to be throwing that up the road on Friday,” commented John, who was eighth quickest in the dry. “There’s always tomorrow and by all accounts it’s going to be wet then as well, so I might as well wait until then.”

Hawk Kawasaki National Superstock Cup star, Peter Hickman, only managed two laps during today’s combined Superstock practice after losing most of the session while his mechanics fixed a loose throttle sensor on his ZX-10R. Hickman will race in the eleventh round of the Cup tomorrow.

BSB PRACTICE

1) Scott Smart, Hawk Kawasaki, 1:40.392. 2) Sean Emmett, Ducati, 1:40.647. 3) Gary Mason, Yamaha, 1:41.477. 4) Glen Richards, Hawk Kawasaki, 1:42.150. 5) John Reynolds, Suzuki, 1:41.186. 6) Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, 1:42.300. 7) Michael Rutter, Honda, 1:42.684. 8) John McGuinness, Hawk Kawasaki, 1:43.643. 9) Steve Plater, Yamaha, 1:43.832. 10) James Haydon, Yamaha, 1:44.269. 11) Dean Thomas, Ducati, 1:44.591. 12) Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, 1:45.416. 13) Tommy Hill, Yamaha, 1:46.049. 14) James Ellison, Yamaha (P), 1:46.185. 15) Kieran Clarke, Yamaha, 1:46.706


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

REYNOLDS FASTEST AT OULTON BSB
Team Suzuki Press Office – September 11, 2004.


John Reynolds was fastest and Yukio Kagayama fourth on their Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000s in Friday’s wet practice for the 12th and penultimate round of the Think! British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park.

Championship leader ‘JR’ was in supreme control as he carefully navigated his way around the circuit, riding well within his ability and ending the session pleasantly surprised at being more than half a second ahead of his nearest rival.

Yukio, who has won the last three races at Oulton Park, toyed with his wet settings for a handful of laps before returning to the pits to discuss the changes with his team of technicians. His fourth fastest time was a bonus as he declared he was riding with maximum safety in mind.

The British Superbikes visited Oulton Park in blazing sunshine in May this year and Rizla Suzuki scored its best ever results with Kagayama and Reynolds finishing first and second in both Superbike races. The weather forecast for this weekend is to be wet but both racers are happy that they can compete regardless of the conditions.

Reynolds has a 33-point lead in the Championship and Kagayama is pushing for third in the overall standings with just four races remaining in the 2004 season.

John Reynolds:

“My bike is doing exactly what I want it do in these conditions. I am riding comfortably and there is more to come if required, but I am not going to push myself to my limits in practice because there are no points awarded today.

“The weather forecast is pretty wet for the entire weekend but that doesn’t bother me at all. Wet or dry, I think my Rizla Suzuki has the pace around here and I’ll be racing at the front whatever the conditions.”

Yukio Kagayama:

“Maybe today we don’t learn so much because the track has much water on the surface. I try some small changes to the wet setting and these are okay, but I do not try as hard as I think riding maximum safety is important and I didn’t want a crash.

“I am so relaxed I could maybe fall asleep. Tomorrow, I will wake up and go for good qualifying position. Then on Sunday we will have fun in the races whatever the weather is like. Dry is more fun because it is faster, but the wet is good as well because the Rizla Suzuki is easy to ride.”

Friday Practice Times:

1: JOHN REYNOLDS (RIZLA SUZUKI) 1:49.859, 2: Michael Rutter (Honda) +0.624, 3: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +0.895, 4: YUKIO KAGAYAMA (RIZLA SUZUKI) +3.012, 5: Steve Plater (Yamaha) +4.420, 6: Gary Mason (Yamaha) +4.670, 7: Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +4.707, 8: James Haydon (Yamaha) +4.992, 9: James Ellison (Yamaha) +5.094, 10: James Buckingham (Suzuki) +5.468.