The Samsung and Padgetts Honda teams have completed their final day of testing today (Friday) ahead of next weekend's (6-9 April) opening round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch.

Michael Laverty continued to set the pace as he ran lap times in the mid 1m:27s barrier as he continued to try and overcome the chatter problem that he had suffered yesterday. He had set the pace last week at Snetterton and last year's Title Fighter believes he is in a strong position ahead of the opening round in a few days' time. Jon Kirkham also reported a big improvement compared to their previous test at the Lincolnshire circuit, lapping faster than he had done in practice at the track last season by running a best lap time of 1m:28.0s.

Laverty said:

"I am happy enough with today; I did want a bit more but I suppose that's the racer in me! We have made some improvements to try and cure the chatter we had yesterday and that has been a good step although we still need to find that little bit more. The nature of Cadwell Park means it will always through up issues that we wouldn't have had on other tracks but it has been good to experience this now and have some ideas on where we can move forward. At Brands Hatch and Snetterton we were fine tuning and now we are feeling confident for the first round."

Kirkham said:

"It has been grand the last two days and I am really buzzing. I have done about 170 laps of Cadwell Park and we have just tested a whole range of different settings and parts to see what suited me best so I need to thank the team. Today I tested different shock set ups and after lunch I tested the GPMS swingarm that Michael tested at Snetterton. We have been getting good life out of the tyres and I don't usually do the lap times in testing but I was faster today than I was in practice at the event last season so I am feeling good for Brands Hatch."


The Padgetts Honda team of Ian Lowry and Luca Scassa also reported a positive final day on circuit, with Lowry admitting that they were running in the 1m:28s barrier and with the help of K-Tech had been able to make steps forward with their suspension setting. Scassa suffered a crash early in the day but he bounced back to end the test on a positive note as he prepares for his MCE BSB debut next weekend.

Lowry said:

"It has been a really good two days to finish up our testing ahead of the season. We have been able to find a really good base setting and at the same time we did a 16 lap race run and we were still setting consistent lap times. My times are still faster than what I managed last year in practice and we the whole team have made good progress from the start of testing and kept going forward all the time. These two days have given us time with K-Tech to work around the suspension and the balance of the bike. I think we still need some fine tuning in some areas still, but everything is looking like it should ahead of the first round."

Scassa said:

"Yesterday was a better day for us, but today wasn't that far off. We have been able to improve our pace since we tested here before and I think I am perhaps just under a second off Michael's (Laverty) fast lap and he knows the track much better than I do! I am feeling happy and ready for the first round now; I had a crash this morning but I just got caught out on an out lap and it was a stupid one really. It was ok though as this afternoon was better for me; we are working well as a team and we are in a better position now."

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