Reynolds: ‘I can’t beat Ducati’

SUZUKI’S John Reynolds says his GSX-R1000 needs even more development before it can beat the Ducatis in this year’s British Superbike series.

The defending champion had seemed happy with the progress of his bike – until Shane Byrne went half-a-second quicker on a 998 in a test at Albacete, Spain, last week.

Reynolds said: ” The Ducati is faster, no doubt about it. We need to refine the bike some more but once we do I’m confident the V-tvins won’t have it all their own way. ”

For the full story, you’ll need to pick up a copy of MCN, out on Wednesday, March 20, this week.

While Reynolds struggled to get on the pace, Steve Hislop was testing down the road at Almeria – and growing in confidence with every lap.

The 40-year-old went a second faster than Troy Bayliss’s 2000 lap record with a time of 1:37.5 on his first ever trip to the circuit. Significantly, it was 1.3s better than Reynolds when he tested there last month.

Hislop isn’t writing off the challenge from Reynolds, but says that the advantage will lie with the V-twins when the season starts at Silverstone on April 1.

He told MCN: ” I followed John Crawford on his GSX-R1000 and there’s not a lot in it on top speed. They may have a slight advantage at the top end, but it really is tiny. ”