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Strong starting positions for Rizla Suzuki racers

Author: Rizla Suzuki Press Release
Posted on: Saturday, Apr 23 2005



Scott worked hard during both qualification sessions on the handling of his Rizla Suzuki. He eventually qualified 7th, disappointed not to have had a clear lap at the end of the session to improve his time.

JR suffered from cramp in his broken right leg in the morning session. A massage helped the British Superbike Champion through second qualifying and he took an impressive 9th place to head the third row on the grid. Honda's Ryuichi Kiyonari will start from pole position.

Both Rizla Suzuki riders were well under the 1.39-mile long Mallory Park track record of 51.722s. Superbike racing starts at 13:15 tomorrow, Sunday, April 24th. It will be covered live on Sky Sports and a highlights programme will be broadcast by Channel 4 the following Sunday.

Scott:
"We worked to refine the handling on my Rizla Suzuki today and we have achieved a lot. I will now sit down with my crew and decide on a final set-up for the races. We will then trial that in morning warm-up and hopefully go even faster than today.

"Seventh on the second row is a fair starting position, but I was only one tenth of a second behind fourth. I didn't get a final flying lap at the end of qualification but I am sure I could have challenged for the front row."

JR:
"In first qualifying I was suffering from cramp in the back of my right leg. Now the bones are healing, I am asking more of the muscles and they are protesting. I had a massage in-between qualification sessions and felt 100 per cent better in the afternoon. I'll be going back to the physiotherapist tomorrow before the races.

"My Rizla Suzuki crew has been incredible again. Everything I ask for I get and my GSX-R1000 is absolutely on the money. It is capable of going a full second faster if I was fully fit. I'm starting to enjoy my riding and racing again and that is the best feeling in the world."

Robert Wicks, Team Manager:
"Both riders improved their lap times from this morning and are starting from strong top 10 positions on the grid. They will be forces to be reckoned with in the races tomorrow.

"If Scott and JR can get good starts and away with the lead group, we know that Mallory Park provides plenty of overtaking opportunities for them to work their way up the field. Being such a short lap, backmarkers are also likely to play their part in the outcome. One thing's for sure, the entire Rizla Suzuki team will be giving its all and the racing will certainly be exciting."

Mallory Park Qualification: 1: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 50.593, 2: Michael Rutter (Honda) +0.223, 3: Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +0.390, 4: Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) +0.651, 5: Karl Harris (Honda) +0.665, 6: Leon Haslam (Ducati) +0.702, 7: SCOTT SMART (RIZLA SUZUKI) +0.752, 8: Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +0.846, 9: JOHN REYNOLDS (RIZLA SUZUKI) +0.904, 10: James Buckingham (Suzuki) +0.944.


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