The Bennetts Suzuki team is all set for Oulton Park this weekend and the third round of the MCE British Superbike championship.

After the second round at Brands Hatch, the team was in testing action at the Cheshire venue last week, and is ready to hit the ground running in the first free practice session.

Despite missing the test after breaking his leg at the previous round, Christian Iddon is in good spirits ahead of the weekend. He has spent nearly 17 hours in a hyperbaric chamber to aid his recovery and has been training as much as possible to be as fit as he can.

Christian Iddon:

"I've been in the hyperbaric chamber twice a day since Brands. There's only so long you can spend in there, but I've been doing an hour-and-a-half in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, and it's really helped with the recovery. After the second race at Brands Hatch I did more damage to my leg. I could feel it moving as I was riding and for days afterwards I really struggled with the pain. The swelling was really bad and it was actually filled with blood. But that's all gone down with time in the chamber.

"Training to start with was quite difficult. It's hard to do cardio work with a leg injury but I've been using a hand bike. In the last few days I've been able to get on the turbo trainer too, first with no resistance but I've been building that up, so the leg is feeling good."

Despite not being fully fit, Iddon is still setting his usual high standards ahead of the Oulton Park round.

He added,

"There's no change in the target this weekend. The only thing I'm worried about is movement. But if we're good to go on a normal setting I think we'll be right. It's a shame I missed the test but I went along and the guys were all working well. We'll get the first session out of the way and then we'll know where we're at, but I'm approaching this weekend with the same frame of mind as any other." 

Josh Waters and the team spent the Oulton Park test working hard on finding the right set-up for the GSX-R1000 and came away happy with the day's progress. After studying the data from the test, the team has more things to try in the first free practice session, and Waters is looking forward to the weekend.

Josh Waters:

"We found a few things at Oulton Park and think we've identified the specific areas where we've been struggling and where we can improve. We tried a few different things during the test and the guys have worked really hard to try and get us where we know we can be, and we made a good step last week. It's so competitive in BSB this season and everyone is so close. You just have to look at Brands where if we could have found an extra-tenth in qualifying, we'd have been in the top-10 in Q3. But I'm really looking forward to getting on track again now, we'll keep working and I'll keep trying my best and hopefully we can get ourselves up the order."

Jack Valentine - Team Manager:

"With Oulton Park being our local track, everyone in the Bennetts Suzuki team is in high spirits ahead of this weekend. I've been really impressed with Christian's dedication to getting himself fit for this weekend. He's spent a lot of time working on his fitness and working on the strength in his leg. It will be damage limitation a bit with him this weekend because it's still only two weeks since breaking it, but if we can come away with a good points haul with him this weekend I'll be very happy with that.

"We had a good test with Josh at Oulton Park last week. We spent the test working on set-up and trying various different things rather than looking for an overall lap-time. We made a step forward and after looking at the data after the test we have some things to try in practice to keep moving in the right direction. Even though Christian wasn't riding, we also have some ideas to try with his set-up too. Everyone in the Bennetts Suzuki team works together as a unit to achieve the best results we can and everyone is really happy with our GSX-R1000s and the package that we have; from the Yoshimura engine performance to the bike's chassis. It's just a case of fine-tuning the bikes for the riders and their different riding styles. But we're looking forward to a good weekend."


The first free practice session gets underway at 10:10am on Saturday May 2nd, with qualifying from 14:35 on Sunday. Racing action will take place on Monday May 4th.

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