The Samsung Honda team ended the test at Snetterton today (Thursday) fastest as Michael Laverty set the pace by dipping into the 1m:48s lap times to head off defending champion and former team mate Tommy Hill on the Swan Yamaha.

The team, who unveiled their new Samsung livery at Brands Hatch yesterday, had tested for two days at the circuit last week and it showed as Laverty edged ahead of the field and was reporting that he was able to run consistent lap times.

Laverty said:

"It has been good. Yesterday we tested a new GPMS swingarm and we didn't come to a proper decision. We started on the kit one this morning and then we did a couple of sessions; we then switched over to compare back to back. We found a good direction and we are set on using the kit swingarm for now as it was better for grip and I did my best lap times during those sessions. I am really happy as we were doing times consistently and we now look forward to the next test at Cadwell Park."


Jon Kirkham dipped into the 1m:49 lap times before a 190km/h crash at the end of the Bentley Straight into Brundle. He was unhurt and continued with the remaining sessions later in the day and was feeling equally confident ahead of their next test.

Kirkham said:

"It was tough as there were quite a lot of bikes on circuit, but we were able to get straight down to some times. In the second session I knocked 1.5 seconds off my previous lap time, but the next lap round I had the big crash; I bottomed the forks and learnt the hard way. The team rebuilt the bike and did a great job and we were happy with the end result after the final sessions."

Unofficial overall times from Snetterton 300:

1 Michael Laverty (Samsung Honda) 1:48.5s
2 Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 1:49.5s
Alex Lowes (WFR Honda) 1:49.5s
4 Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 1:49 (estimated)
5 Jon Kirkham (Samsung Honda) high 1:49.s
6 Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) 1:50.0s
7 Luca Scassa (Padgetts Honda) low 1:50s
Ian Lowry (Padgetts Honda) low 1:50s
9 Alastair Seeley (Tyco Suzuki) 1:50.2s
10 Graeme Gowland (WFR Honda) 1:50s (low)
James Westmoreland (WFR Honda) 1:50s (low)
12 Michael Rutter (MSS Bathams Kawasaki) 1:51.2s
Florian Marino (Splitlath Redmond Racing Aprilia) 1:51.2s
14 Noriyuki Haga (Swan Yamaha) 1:51.7s
15 Peter Hickman (MSS Bathams Kawasaki) 1:52.2s
16 John Laverty (Splitlath Redmond Racing Aprilia) 1:53.1s
17 Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) No time disclosed

Source: Participating teams unofficial times

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