Brits on form at Silverstone

John Reynolds and Chris Walker are on the provisional front row for the sixth round of the World Superbike championship at Silverstone.

Gregorio Lavilla took the top spot in the first qualifying session with a time of 1:53.162 closely followed by NCR Ducati rider Regis Laconi. But British wildcard Reynolds pushed his British Superbike Suzuki GSX-R1000 to third spot ahead of HM Plant rider Chris Walker on his F02 Ducati 998.

Giovanni Bussei took his Yamaha R1 to a surprise fifth fastest time just beating the ex factory Ducatis of Michael Rutter and James Toseland. Rutter, who currently sits second in the British Superbikes series, beating Toseland to sixth place on the provisional grid by just 0.036 seconds.

The factory Ducatis of Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus finished 9th and 8th but Hodgson was unconcerned with his unusually low placing.

The British rider, and current championship leader, is still recovering from a throat infection and both riders are testing a new chassis design for the F03 Ducati 999.

” I still feel a bit rough but I’m not that concerned, ” said Hodgson. ” I can work through it and just treat it like every other Friday. We have been trying a new frame set-up and have gone from a bike that doesn’t handle that well to a really top-notch machine. We weren’t that bothered about the qualifying sessions today but we’re looking forward to tomorrow. ”

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