2007 British Superbike
Motorcycle Racing
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Oulton Park Race Circuit |
British Superbike Round 4 -
Oulton Park
Text and Photos Courtesy Kawasaki
Racing, Suzuki Racing, Yamaha Racing and British Superbike.
Edited by webBikeWorld.
Race Results
Gregoria Lavilla took Race 1 and Riyuichi Kiyonari
took Race 2 in the fourth round of the Bennetts British
Championship at Oulton Park on May 6, 2007.
Lavilla's fourth place in Race 2 keeps him well in
the lead for the Championship, with 169 points to
second-place Kiyonari's 140 points.
Rizla Suzuki's Cal Crutchlow enjoyed the best ride of
his Superbike career to date at the today taking a
competitive seventh place in the opening race.
Crutchlow, starting on the second row of the grid,
was in contention with the leaders for much of the
17-lap race.
He eventually matched his season's best result of
seventh but was crucially under 10 seconds behind the
winner, demonstrating a marked improvement in his pace.
In the second race he was in eighth when he was forced
to retire on lap 12.
Chris Walker, starting from 13th on the grid, crashed
unhurt out of the opening race at the chicane. In the
second race, at the 2.69-mile long Cheshire track, he
finished ninth well ahead of his qualifying position.
Rizla Suzuki will test at Mallory Park in
Leicestershire this Friday, May 11th, before returning
to race action at the fifth round of the Championship at
Snetterton in Norfolk on May 20th.
Cal Crutchlow: "I am absolutely
delighted with my first race result of seventh. I was in
touch with the leaders for most of the race and that
shows a significant step forward in performance. I
now know I can compete with the front runners, something
which I hadn't been able to do prior to this weekend.
"In the second race we made a few changes to the bike
that didn't help and then I was forced to retire while
comfortable in eighth place. Overall I feel as
though I have moved up a level and will be taking that
confidence with me into the rest of the season."
Chris Walker: "It has been a hard
weekend. Right from the first session we were battling
to find a competitive setting on my Rizla Suzuki that
would allow me to compete. In the opening race I
lost the front at the chicane and that was game over.
In race two I ran on at the chicane and when I rejoined
it was a lonely race to ninth.
"The positives are that the GSX-R1000 is good and has
all the ingredients to challenge for the podium - Cal
and I have proved that. The test at Mallory Park
later this week will help us and I think we can go to
the next round confident we can improve on our results."
Race One Result: 1: Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati)
27:29.245, 2: Leon Haslam (Ducati) +0.219, 3: Ryuichi
Kiyonari (Honda) +0.504, 4: Jonathan Rea (Honda) +1.843,
5: Tom Sykes (Honda) +2.113, 6: Shane Byrne (Honda)
+2.505, 7: Cal Crutchlow (Rizla Suzuki) +9.310, 8: Leon
Camier (Honda) +11.524, 9: Karl Harris (Honda) +19.092,
10: Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +26.176, DNF: Chris Walker
(Rizla Suzuki).
Race Two Result: 1: Kiyonari 27:33.097, 2:
Haslam +2.177, 3: Byrne +3.563, 4: Lavilla +4.041, 5:
Rea +7.403, 6: Sykes +7.664, 7: Hill +7.786, 8: Camier
+13.860, 9: Chris Walker (Rizla Suzuki) +31.363, 10:
Dean Thomas (Suzuki) +32.393. DNF Cal Crutchlow (Rizla
Suzuki).
Championship Positions (after four of 13 rounds):
1: Lavilla 169, 2: Kiyonari 140, 3: Rea 109, 4: Haslam
104, 5: Camier 96, 6: Sykes 80, 7: Byrne 71, 8: Chris
Walker (Rizla Suzuki) 62, 9: Hill 52, 10: Michael Rutter
(Kawasaki) 45. 12: Cal Crutchlow (Rizla Suzuki) 35.
Race Preview
After scoring its first podium of the season at
Silverstone last weekend, Rizla Suzuki travels to Oulton
Park for this Bank Holiday Monday's fourth round of the
Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park
in Cheshire, wanting more of the same.
Chris Walker won the hearts of the fans at
Silverstone with his gutsy performance in the opening
race to finish third and taste his first champagne of
the year.
He followed it up with a strong fourth in the next
race, demonstrating how competitive the GSX-R1000 really
is and lifting the entire Rizla Suzuki team's spirits in
the process.
"Standing on the podium was just brilliant," smiled
'Stalker'.
"We have shown what we are capable of and have been
getting more competitive every time we have taken to the
track. I'm looking for another step forward at
Oulton Park and approach the meeting happy that we have
my Rizla Suzuki performing better than ever before."
Team mate Cal Crutchlow matched his best-ever British
Superbike finish with a seventh place at Silverstone in
the second race. He was unlucky that the race was
stopped early as his lap times suggest he could have
challenged the riders in front for a top-six finish if
it had gone full distance.
Crutchlow said "I'm buzzing with excitement about
Oulton Park; it is one of my favourite circuits and I
have won several times there in the junior classes in
the past. My Rizla Suzuki is well set-up for me
and I really want to show what I am capable of - I'll be
doing my best to get into the top six on Bank Holiday
Monday."
Superbike racing starts at 1300 on Bank Holiday
Monday, May 7th, at the picturesque, flowing, 2.69mile
Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire.
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