Brands Hatch British Superbikes: Jack Valentine still in confident mood despite first day disappointment

Rizla Suzuki’s team boss, Jack Valentine, says the team will he looking to help Tom Sykes find a breakthrough that can see him rise up the time charts from a surprising eighth place.

Finishing the first day just under 0.8 seconds adrift of Karl Harris, Sykes best time was a 46.786, and team manager Jack Valentine has an idea of how to go quicker on day two.

“Tom has been working on set-up based on the data gained during his Brands Hatch World Superbike outing,” said Valentine. 

“Once the team find the chassis balance he requires, he will have a very strong package.

“Traffic was also a problem as he struggled to get a clear lap in on this very short circuit.”
 
It was a slightly more disappointing start for Rizla Suzuki’s Atsushi Watanabe.

Coming off the back of a ninth place finish and a DNF at Silverstone, Watanabe could only manage 18th place, and best time of 47.437.

Nevertheless, Valentine had this to say about Watanabe’s first day at Brands Indy: “Atsu has also spent today progressing through a number of changes to his Rizla Suzuki.

His technicians took a change in direction which saw a small improvement, so further changes tomorrow will take us another step up the time sheets.”

A confident Valentine has his sights set on the front row for both of his riders in today’s Swan Combi 50- Roll for Pole qualifying session.

“I think both riders will pull it out of the bag for qualifying as they have put in a lot of hard work yesterday.”