British Superbikes: Rizla Suzuki pair obliterate Al Carras lap record

Rizla Suzuki team-mates Tom Sykes and Atsushi Watanabe left the Al Carras last night (Wednesday) after obliterating the existing lap record at the demanding Spanish circuit following three days of private testing.

• Rizla Suzuki test at Calafat again

Tom Sykes set the new unofficial lap record while Atsushi Watanabe was just 0.47secs off the pace of Sykes, British Superbike’s top rookie of the 2007 season.

Sykes more than made up for the electrical gremlins which hit his track time yesterday by completing a total of 80 laps.

He concentrated on chassis geometry and plenty of consistently fast laps.

Sykes said: “It has been a good test, I’m very happy.

“We have got some good base settings now to work from. I’ve got plenty of laps under my belt; now I need a rest and then I’ll be excited and ready to go for the next test.

“I’m really enjoying the atmosphere in the team and I’m enjoying my Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000.”

Atsushi Watanabe worked on various set-up combinations in order to learn as much about his Rizla Suzuki as possible as he completed 69 laps.

Watanabe said: “This track is very different to Calafat (where the team tested last week) and to Japanese tracks so it took some time to get used to.

“After the first day I was comfortable and at the end times were good. I’m happy with my Rizla Suzuki.

“I come to UK in late February and look forward to my first visit to UK tracks with John Reynolds, he will help me learn.”