The Swan Yamaha team got the fifth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Knockhill underway today with the opening two free practice sessions at the Fife circuit.

In drying conditions defending champion Tommy Hill clocked the third fastest time after heading the timesheets earlier in the second session as he bids to repeat his double victory from last year. Noriyuki Haga made his circuit debut this morning and already is confident that with improvements tomorrow he will be ready to challenge in qualifying after ending the day eighth fastest.

Hill said:

“It has been a good day and I have been feeling comfortable and also confident with the Swan Yamaha. It has been a few weeks off the bike and this morning we got back into the groove. We have a good set up in the dry today and we led most of the second session before we got pipped at the end but there was the usual traffic out on circuit but we do expect that here. We have a few changes to make before qualifying but they are relevant for the whole lap so hopefully the weather will stay consistent and we can have a strong performance in qualifying tomorrow.”

Haga said:

“I am lucky because I had dry conditions in both sessions and that was good for me as it was my first time here to learn the circuit. I already have learnt the circuit and I have really enjoyed the track. My Swan Yamaha is also working really well and I have already found the next step we need to make a change to the setting to improve for qualifying. We hope that it can stay dry tomorrow to test this but we don’t know if the conditions will stay the same. The lap times are not far away from the top so I just need to keep giving it more gas tomorrow.”

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