The Samsung Honda team had a challenging start to the British Superbike Championship Showdown at the TT circuit Assen as Michael Laverty took a brace of seventh places.

Laverty dropped to fifth in the overall standings after struggling to find the best setting for the tyre longevity and despite hitting the front of the field in the early stages of both races, later dropped down the order in each outing.

Jon Kirkham meanwhile endured more disappointment after having shown good form in recent rounds. A bad start in the first race was difficult to recover from, scoring 13th at the line and in the second race he was forced to retire with a mechanical problem.

Michael Laverty:

“That was a horrible day for me that had promised so much – coming at the start of the Showdown this is my worst day of the season. We had been working so hard and had a good pace but we were always worrying about tyre choice for the races. In the first race we used the softer compound which had good pace, but it wore and I dropped back down the field to seventh. For the second race we used the harder tyre but we couldn’t get the grip. That has put me on the back foot and I have to come back strongly at Silverstone – it has been so frustrating as I couldn’t get the result that I wanted.”

Jon Kirkham:

“Disappointing time for me. We had some a mechanical issue that cost me. In the first race I had made a bad start, dropping back to 18th place, but fought back, picking up five places but there was nothing else that I could do about it. Then in the second race the clutch started slipping badly and I had to pull in late on in the race. I rode it really hard but there was not much I co do in the end.”

Havier Beltran, Team Manager:

“It has been a disappointing day and the results were not what we needed or were capable of. It wasn’t the start to the Showdown that we needed but there is still all to play for and we need to come back stronger at Silverstone and Brands Hatch.”

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