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British Supersport Championship – Round 7 – Snettterton – Race
Roundup
TAS Suzuki rider Tom Sykes has certainly been ‘Mr Consistent’ during
the first half of the season, scoring points at every round, but today at Snetterton
in 29 degree heat he collected a new Supersport lap record for his troubles [103.97mph] – and
only for backmarkers he may well have topped the podium instead of taking home
16 points in third place.
Tom had been on the pace all weekend and with his newfound confidence and controlled
aggression on-board the Pirelli shod TAS Suzuki he posted a P3 time in qualifying
only two–tenths off pole setter Eugene Laverty. In morning warm-up both
he and Eugene could only be separated by three–hundredths of a second at
the top of the timing sheets.
A sluggish start had Tom fighting for track position in the opening few corners
of the race but at the end of the opening lap he crossed the line in second place,
spending the next 10 laps pegging back Laverty’s lead which resulted in
the aforementioned new lap record. Such was the pace, that Tom, Eugene and Cal
Crutchlow were lapping over a second quicker than the rest of the field.
The final result hung in the balance during the 19-lap effort, but as is always
the case on the shorter tracks, someone gains an unfair advantage through the
backmarkers, and on this occasion it was Laverty. Crutchlow stole in on the final
circuit to take second place with TAS Suzuki Sykes in third.
Team–mate Ian Lowry had also been embroiled in a battle for top 10 honours,
but in the final third of the race his GSX–R600 TAS Suzuki suffered slightly
in the unfamiliar temperatures – he eventually finished in a creditable
15th.
Tom Sykes
“That was a great race but I’m disappointed at losing out to Cal
at virtually the final corner. We have been strong all weekend but the bike developed
a slight problem and overheated in the race. We had good top end, but lost out
a little coming out of the slow corners, which cost me second place. I’m
more disappointed for the lads in the team as they worked so hard this weekend,
as did K-Tech and Pirelli who gave me an unbelievable set-up. That’s three
podiums on the trot, so we’re going in the right direction. The rest of
the season is looking good and maybe it would be nice to have a crack at the
Brands World Supersport round in August on the TAS Suzuki.”
Ian Lowry
“I was in an express train and 5th or 6th place could have been on the
cards but I developed the same problem as Tom with the bike slightly overheating.
I’m disappointed with 15th but it’s a finish and points so we wont
complain.”
Philip Neill – Team Manager
“That was a very positive weekend. The fastest lap of the race, a lap record
and the quickest speed trap time [164mph] shows the evolution of the Suzuki – impressive
indeed. Traffic caused a big problem this weekend but Tom is now looking like
the Tom of old, and I really thought he was going to win that one today. He looked
stronger in nearly every department than his rivals, so yes I’m pleased.
Ian is a bit frustrated that he dropped out of the top 10 when his bike overheated
slightly but Tom did have a similar problem; that’s all part of racing.
He was involved in a freight train and was in front of Easton at one stage – who
eventually finished 5th – but he showed good form today and shouldn’t
be disappointed. He was 7th fastest in morning warm-up so the lad is making good
progress and is hungry for success.
I must complement Pirelli and K-Tech; the package we had this weekend from both
companies was second to none and it showed in the performance and confidence
of the riders.”
18 June 2006