Worx Crescent Suzuki’s Yukio Kagayama stole the honour of recording the fastest lap-time from the Cartegena 2010 British Superbike Championship test yesterday in Spain after he slashed nearly a second off the previous best times and lapping at a scintillating 1:33.51.

With teammate Tommy Hill only 0.02sec behind, the pair easily bettered the official lap record and finished first and second at the top of the BSB test times, while Relentless Suzuki’s Michael Laverty was third best to make it a trio of GSX-Rs up front.

“Yukio’s had his work cut out these last few days, but today he was able to put in 42 laps – nearly equal to what he did over the entire three previous days,” said Crecent Suzuki team manager Jack Valentine. “This brought him up to Tommy’s pace and it was a real pleasure to see the pair of them all-but sharing the best lap time. But, just as importantly, those lap times weren’t one-offs for either of them as they were able to lap consistently at this very fast pace.”

Australian Josh Brookes was ninth quickest after struggling with bike set-up on his HM Plant Honda during the test, finishing over a second off the pace of Kagayama following a frustrating test.

“It has been a bit of a tough day as we haven’t been able to match the lap times of some of the other riders so it has been a bit frustrating, but I know that we have been making progress,” Brookes said. “The tests aren’t necessarily about setting the fastest lap times, but that is what you need to target and until we are able to match the pace I won’t be satisfied. We have had a lot to work on and the team have been busy in the garage – this afternoon we made some big steps forward and I was able to do 1m35.0s laps consistently so that was good.

“I felt much happier this afternoon and it has to be about consistency which was what we achieved towards the end of the day now we have made progress with the electronics and just general settings,” he continued. “I now feel we are ready to move on to Guadix and carry the momentum so we can finish the test satisfied that we have done everything possible in preparation for the start of the season.”

UNOFFICIAL LAP TIMES:
1. Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 1:33.51
2. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 1:33.53
3. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki) 1:34.3
4. Dan Linfoot (Motorpoint Yamaha) 1:34.4
5. James Ellison (Swan Honda) 1:34.5
6. Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) 1:34.8
7. Neil Hodgson (Motorpoint Yamaha) 1:34.9
8. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki) 1:34.9
9. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 1:35.0
10. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 1:35.2