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Buildbase Suzuki heads north to Knockhill for the fifth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship this weekend, looking to build on the positives taken from Brands Hatch.
Richard Cooper scored a win and two runner-up finishes on his GSX-R1000R at the previous round and takes a commanding National Superstock 1000 series lead to the Fife circuit this weekend, while his teammates Bradley Ray and Luke Stapleford will focus on the improvements from Brands Hatch – that saw Ray make it through to Q3 for the first time this season – and look to continue to improve their results after a tricky start to the campaign.
Richard Cooper, “I think we can have two good races this weekend. Obviously we had the test here earlier in the year, and we weren’t just riding around; I was pushing quite hard and we had a crash but it was worth, if that makes sense, because we were really pushing on. But it means we know the pace is there because the lap times were good, and I think we should be strong this weekend.”
Bradley Ray, “Brands was frustrating because we made more progress with the bike and got through to Q3 for the first time, and I had a better feeling from the front with a lot more feedback. But the changes we’d made to setup and suspension hadn’t been run it in the wet before so race one was our undoing really. We set it up for a really wet track, and I was strong initially but as the track dried we overheated the front and dropped back. It also meant we didn’t post a good lap time so started race two from 21st and gave myself work to do. But I was making progress and was up to 14th, and catching a group of four in front so a top-10 was on the cards, but I just lost the front getting on the gas at Hawthorne. So while the results sheets don’t look great, we have made some more progress and taken some steps in the right direction, and hopefully we’ll be able to continue to improve at Knockhill. If we can come away with two solid top-10s we’ll have taken another step, and can then focus on getting closer again to the front.”
Luke Stapleford, “As always I’m looking forward to getting back on my bike this weekend and continue working to improve where we are. It has been a tricky start to the year, and BSB is so competitive that even the slightest disadvantage really puts you on the back foot because it’s so tight out there. But everyone’s still working hard in the team, we’re making improvements, so the plan is to continue working over the weekend and hopefully we can come away with some stronger results and make some more progress.”
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