The Honda Racing and Padgetts Racing teams have concluded two days of testing at Snetterton today (Thursday) ahead of the opening round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in just three weeks' time at Brands Hatch as the teams now prepare for their next tests.

The teams were making amends after a previous test at the circuit was cancelled due to poor conditions, however today they were ideal and all four riders were able to clock up the mileage in preparation for the start of the season. Padgetts Honda's Luca Scassa rode the 2.99-mile Norfolk circuit for the first time yesterday and after completing the second day in good conditions he admitted that the team were almost ready to race now and he was feeling confident about his pace. Team-mate Ian Lowry was equally impressed with the work the team had accomplished over the two days on track, focusing on the air bleed system for the first time with the aim to continue to improve corner entry speed at the team's next test.

Scassa said:

"It has been a good test and everything has gone well. We had the shakedown at Cadwell Park and then this has been the first big test for me and the team. We have made big improvements over these last days and at Snetterton we began using the air bleed system and this was a big jump forward. I think maybe we 80% there already; I am very tall and I can tell when we can push and go fast when I can get my elbow down - today I did that! It has been a great few days at Snetterton; it is a nice track and today the conditions were perfect. We still have some things to change but we are very close to being able to race."

Lowry said:

"We have left Snetterton feeling happy; we have made some big changes and that in turn has meant we have been able to make some big steps forward. One the first day we did some work on the chassis and then we turned our attention to the air bleed system and getting the bike backed into the corners. We still need to do some more work on corner entry at the next test, but the mid-corner and exit speed is good and the bike is making the turn well. I am happy that everything is heading in the right direction and I think we are looking good. We now have a few more days on track and then we will be all set for round one."

The Honda UK team also reported big improvements over the two days on circuit as Michael Laverty and Jon Kirkham returned to the track after their initial shakedown test at Cadwell Park. The pairing had also been working on the air bleed system, with Laverty completing around 120 laps, with Kirkham also notching up over 100 laps.

Laverty said:

"It has been a good two days here at Snetterton and we have been happy as we have been able to run some decent lap times. We worked through the electronics and the air bleed system yesterday, then we tested different fork and shock settings before we did some work on the chassis. It has been about learning the Honda and what we can change gradually to move forward. The conditions were ideal today and we had a lot to get through today after missing the day last week due to the weather but we managed to achieve it. We did about 120 laps today and myself and Adrian (Gorst) have also made some big improvements with the tyre longevity which has definitely paid off. We have more tests next week and between now and then the boys will be back in the workshop and will have some more ideas for when we get out on track again."

Kirkham said:

"It has certainly been a busy day for us where we have been making up for the day last week, but it has been really positive and we have been through so many things that we did see a big difference. To begin with we were struggling a bit with tyre life and then we worked on some changes and we got it sorted and that is important as I think it will play a big part in the races. We have a big difference now after these two days, we initially had a few minor problems but the team resolved them pretty quickly and we also have some good ideas for the next test at Brands Hatch. We are in a good position and we still also have another couple of tests next week."

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