Rizla's silver racers on the pace at Donington.

Rizla Suzuki debuted its all-new silver GSX-R1000 during initial testing for the twelfth and final 2003 British Superbike round at Donington Park today, with team riders John Reynolds and Niall Mackenzie finishing in third and eighth places respectively.

Double BSB Champion JR, tinkered with suspension settings, while guest rider for this round Niall Mackenzie, a triple BSB Champion, was working on race tyre selection. They used all their experience during today's cold practice sessions to record fast but safe lap times and are ready to up their performances tomorrow.

Both riders count Donington as their home circuit with JR coming from Nottingham and Mackenzie now living in nearby Ashby de la Zouch.

They are expecting a huge swell of support from the crowd for the races on Sunday. JR, who has already finished second in the Championship series, is aiming for two more wins to add to his tally of four so far this season, while Mackenzie is enjoying a comeback from retirement as he steps in for Rizla Suzuki regular rider Yukio Kagayama who is recovering from injury.

"I'm sort of glad today is finished," noted Mackenzie, "I have been nervous about racing again, but now that I have got out on track I can honestly say it is great fun. I found a good suspension package and now I am working on tyre selection for the race.

"We have a plan to test a few more items tomorrow, but I'm pretty close to the pace and very happy. Sunday will be great, the support from the fans I've been getting is overwhelming and I'm looking forward to getting rid of the butterflies and getting my head back to attack mode."

"I was trying a few things with the suspension and balance of the bike today," added Reynolds, "We ended up getting the bike to turn just the way I want it but have sacrificed a bit of stability. We have chatted about it and think we have a solution that will give us the best of both worlds tomorrow.

"I like Donington Park, it is my home circuit and is a proper rider's track. I have finished second in the Championship but that doesn't mean an awful lot to me, I want race wins rather than points now. I think the new Rizla Silver livery looks good, it's nice to have different colour on the bodywork - it looks fast!"

The new Rizla Suzuki race bikes are painted silver to mark the launch of the new Rizla Silver rolling paper that will be launched on October 1st. It is Rizla's highest performance, ultra thin product.

Superbike racing starts at 1.15pm on Sunday.