RIZLA SUZUKI BOOKENDS THE SECOND ROW
18 September 2004 - Rizla-Suzuki

RIZLA SUZUKI''S John Reynolds will start from fifth and Yukio Kagayama eighth, book-ending the second row of the grid at tomorrow''s 13th and final round of the Think! British Superbike Championship at Donington Park.

Championship leader JR spent most of the day testing his race set-up before dashing out in the dying minutes on a qualifying tyre to challenge for pole. He was confounded by traffic and didn''t get a single clear crack at an outright lap time and will start from the front of the second row in tomorrow''s two races - a strong position for going into the tight first corner at Redgate, directly behind Ryuichi Kiyonari on pole position.

Yuki will start his Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000 from eighth and the end of the second row, after a frustrating session that saw the Japanese ace fail to even get on track with a qualifying tyre to set his mark. Yuki made two mistakes and fell off twice at Coppice corner in the session but is unhurt and more determined than ever to do well in the races.

JR is leading the Championship by 43-points with just 50-points left to score. Yuki is 3rd in the overall standings and aims to keep that position tomorrow, with an 18-point lead over his nearest rival. Rizla Suzuki is already the newly crowned Think! British Superbike Manufacturers Champion with its awesome GSX-R1000.

Racing starts at 1:15pm on Sunday, 19th September, at Donington Park in Leicestershire. Sky Sports will show the racing live and BBC Grandstand will show a highlights package of all the action one week later.

JR:
''Fifth and the front of the second row is better than fourth around here, it gives me the fast line into Redgate and the chance to make up a position or two right from the off.

''Every time I went for a fast lap, I hit traffic and then tried to compensate by pushing too hard and ended up missing my apexes. The silver lining to this weekend, apart from my Arai helmet which is painted in silver to commemorate Rizla''s new regular sized silver paper, is the fact I spent so much time working on set-up and we have a very competitive motorcycle over race distance. I''m still not thinking about the Championship.''

Yuki:
''I make two small mistakes at same place on circuit and two times in session I fall off. Hmmm, this is no need. Maybe I get gust of wind from side of track? I no get chance to even try a qualifying tyre.

''This is no problem though. I must focus on good start and maximum attack all race long to be at front. I have won many races in BSB from eighth place on grid, this I hope is bit of lucky start for me.''

Qualifying Positions: 1: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 1:31.952, 2: Sean Emmett (Ducati) +0.858, 3: Michael Rutter (Honda) +0.867, 4: Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +0.951, 5: JOHN REYNOLDS (RIZLA SUZUKI) +0.986, 6: John McGuinness (Kawasaki) +1.698, 7: Dean Thomas (Ducati) +1.702, 8: YUKIO KAGAYAMA (RIZLA SUZUKI) +1.757, 9: Scott Smart (Kawasaki) +1.973, 10: Steve Plater (Yamaha) +2.027.

www.rizla-suzuki.co.uk

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