If the conditions are claustrophobic in the pit-boxes, setting up a bike for the
Thruxton circuit is just as testing. The 2.356-mile track is the fastest of the 11 venues on the calendar - Gregorio Lavilla's lap record, set on an Airwaves Ducati in 2006, stands at 113.25mph – yet the bikes are rarely upright.
"There is no point on this track where you're going in a straight line," Jennings says. "It's one continual corner. It's also bumpy, fast and it wrecks tyres. Tom uses less than half the braking force here than at some circuits, but he's hard on the throttle for long periods of time."
Like all the BSB teams, Rizla Suzuki lost three days of testing at
Snetterton in March, and a race-day experience in the opening round at
Brands Hatch earlier this month, both due to snow. But now it's time to forget the frustrations of lost track time and shoebox working conditions and get Sykes and team-mate Atsushi Watanabe out for morning warm-up.
There are 24 races to go, and against the HM Plant Honda and Airwaves Ducati squads, it's going to be tough for the Rizla Suzuki crew.
