British Superbike Evo contender James Hillier was very much a man on form during yesterday’s practice for Saturday’s International North West 200 with the 25-year old taking top ten positions in all three classes despite this only being his second outing at the triangle.
Placing seventh in the Superstock and tenth in both the Supersport and Superbike, the Bournemouth Kawasaki rider is keen to turn that speed into results come race day tomorrow.
“I came here wanting top ten all round in practice and that’s what I got so I’m well chuffed especially as it’s only my second time here. A lot of other riders have been experiencing some stability problems with the ZX-10R but I haven’t had any real problems and both the handling and Pirellis have been working well," said Hillier, speaking to bikesportnews.com this morning.
"We arrived here straight from Croft but haven’t made any major adjustments to the set-up we had there apart from on the gearing. With the Evo bike, we can’t change that much but we’ve altered the gearing to try and find a bit more horsepower for the long straights.
“I haven’t ridden the 600 since last year’s TT and I haven’t had that many laps on it since I’ve been here so to be running inside the top ten in that class is especially pleasing. It hasn’t been all plain sailing though as I ended up sitting on the bank in Thursday’s session as the engine went on the run towards Mather’s Cross.
"Ian Lougher was right behind me and his engine went bang at the same time so we ended up watching practice together. I heard mine begin to rattle a bit and pulled the clutch in as quickly as I could so hopefully there’s not too much damage.
“Apart from that, I’ve had no major issues and it’s all been a case of building up speed and getting dialled back in again. The bikes are working well and it’s just up to me now to get the best out of them.
"I’m still learning my way around the circuit and some of the corners do take a bit of time to master but if I can improve on a couple of them I’m confident of shaving a few more seconds off my lap times and getting closer to the front. I’m just pleased to be on the front few rows so if I can get away with the front runners we should be able to score some good results on Saturday.”
