Gearlink Kawasaki News

It was a mixed weekend for the Gearlink Kawasaki team. Ben Wilson was unfortunate to crash in the MCE British Superbike class in race one but secured a point in race two.

In the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Glenn Irwin rode two solid races to finish in fifth and sixth places respectively despite riding with a broken ankle. Luke Hedger was unable to race after breaking his arm testing at Mallory Park a few weeks ago. He is hoping to be back and fit for the next meeting at Knockhill.

Ben had a few set up issues over the weekend and lost valuable track time during the practice sessions which the team needs as it is still gathering data for each track we go to. He got through the first Superpole session to achieve 17th place on the grid. He gained a good start but then got tangled up with Michael Rutter on the opening lap and that was his race over. As he did not register a time he had to start race two from the back of the grid in 25th place but worked hard to earn a well earned point scoring position.

In the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Glenn Irwin rode two very good and mature races to achieve solid points despite riding with a broken ankle sustained in a football match and enduring more pain after a huge crash in qualifying. He is now lying third in the Championship.

Team Manager Michael de Bidaph - "This weekend was quite frustrating in both the Superbike and Supersport classes. I know Glenn will be frustrated with this weekend as he is really working hard to ensure he gets good results for himself and the team and this is very clear to see. We are lacking in speed on the Kawasaki and it was difficult here with such long straights. Last year we had the top end power over the Triumphs and this year they have made further developments and we have not which needs to be addressed. Glenn rode two fantastic races considering the pain he was suffering and we will look into further developing the Supersport bikes.

In the Superbike class we had a number of minor problems in the practice sessions and even though we resolved them it reduced track time to find the perfect set up. With the crash in race one, we lacked vital race set up for the second race and even though Ben worked his way through the pack we would certainly like to be running in the top ten position in the races.

A big thank you to Colin Peabody at Performance Parts for his assistance this weekend, he was a huge help."