The Bennetts Suzuki team is set for Snetterton this weekend, and the fifth round of the MCE British Superbike championship, looking to build on the positive weekend and progress made last time out at Knockhill.

Taylor Mackenzie scored a career-best result of fifth at the previous round, highlighting the steps the team has made with development of the new GSX-R1000, and how effective his recent surgery has been to relieve arm-pump. He struggled with fatigue in race two after a short recovery period, but with more time to train and prepare for Snetterton, the Scot is confident of more improvement this weekend.

Taylor Mackenzie, "I'm really looking forward to this weekend. The last round was really good and shows how much we've improved. We've worked in every area, and at Knockhill the bike was working better, I was working better, and it all started to come together. Since then I've been able to train more as well, and my arms have had more time to recover, so hopefully we can carry on from where we left off and have another good weekend and keep aiming for that top-five."

Sylvain Guintoli also showed improved pace at Knockhill, the Frenchman feeling more comfortable on his GSX-R1000 after the team made a number of changes for Knockhill, using information gathered from the Isle of Man TT.

Sylvain Guintoli, "We had good pace at Knockhill. Our results weren't quite there for one reason or another, but we were able to put in good lap times and have made lots of progress. We're still working, but it's getting there and I'm excited for Snetterton. It's another new track for me on a bike, but I have raced there in a Hayabusa-powered car, the Radical SR3. I know the layout so hopefully I can get up to speed on the GSX-R quickly and we can keep improving."

Richard Cooper relinquished his National Superstock 1000 series lead at Knockhill, after a DNF in race one. However, he is now looking to put the pressure on those ahead of him and get back in the championship hunt.

Richard Cooper, "Going into this weekend the pressure is off me a little bit now, and is definitely more on Danny [Buchan]. We were a little bit off the pace at Knockhill, but I don't see why we won't be back fighting for the win at Snetterton. We've been up at the front everywhere else; Donington, Oulton, Brands, and we're constantly improving the bike. What I need is to try and get some other riders involved at the front and hopefully get them between myself and Danny, and take a good chunk of points off him this weekend."
Team manager, Steve Hicken, "Everyone's really looking forward to the weekend. Knockhill was a lot better for us in Superbike. We've made lots of progress and that was really evident. We're looking to continue that this weekend and keep building on the results. In Superstock, we had a bit of a setback, which has cost us points and the series lead. But now we're chasing and our job is to put the pressure on. There are plenty of races left and we know we've got the pace to win races with the new GSX-R1000, and the aim is to start again at Snetterton."

Image and report courtesy of Hawk Racing