Gearlink Kawasaki News

The team were once again back on the the podium at round ten of the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship at Assen Circuit with Glenn Irwin. Glenn finished a strong fifth in the Sprint race and followed it with a a great third place in the feature race. Ben Wilson had another consisstent weekend with seventh and sixth places, unfortunatley Luke Hedger crashed out of race one but managed to achieve ninth place in the second race.

Glenn was eager to return to the podium and worked hard all weekend and despite poor weather put in consistent lap times to qualify in sixth place for the opening race. He had a steady start and as the race progressed was locked in a battle for second place with four other riders. Every lap they were swapping positions in a thrilling race with Glenn making a fantastic move on the last lap to go into second place only to then make a mistake dropping him to fifth place as they crossed the finishing line.

For race two he was placed fourth on the grid and managed to get a brilliant start to be in second place at the end of lap one. The safety car was deployed on lap two following an accident. Glenn was passed by the eventual winner which dropped him back to third place which he continued to fight for until the end of the race.

Ben continued his recent form and qualified in difficult conditions in ninth place for the first race. He got a good start and was setting some good lap times to finish in a solid seventh place. For race two he started from seventh on the grid finishing in a very strong sixth place.

Luke once again was having a consistently strong weekend setting times placing him in the top ten in each of the practice and qualifying sessions. He started in seventh place on the grid for race one but was unfortunate to crash out in lap three. For race two he was on the grid in eighth place and following a poor start managed to bring the bike home in a creditable ninth place despite some problems which were as a result of the crash in race one.

It was another learning weekend in the MCE British Superbkie Championship for Jed Metcher riding the team's Kawasaki ZX-10R. He continued to improve throughout the weekend but sadly had to retire in race one with a technical problem. In race two, the conditions were mixed and after several delays the race was declared wet. The team took a gamble with full intermediate tyres which in the opening laps was perfect. Jed worked his way through the field and by lap six was in tenth place. However, as the track started to dry his tyres went off dropping him back to finish in 18th place.

Team Manager Michael de Bidaph - "We have to take the positives from the weekend and a podium with Glenn is brilliant. It was unfortunate that he did not achieve two but by his own admission it was his mistake in race one. In the Supersport races we got a good selection of top ten results with all three riders. We have made some progress this weekend and hope it will continue until the rest of the season.

We are happy with what Jed has been achieving on the Superbike and he continues to improve every time he goes out on it. We took a gamble with the tyres in the second race and if the conditions had stayed wet a little longer the gamble would have paid off. He was riding well and we will look to keep moving forward at the final two rounds of the Championship."

It was consistent weekend for the team at round nine of the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship at Oulton Park. Ben Wilson gained a sixth and fifth place, Luke Hedger secured an eighth and sixth place. Glenn Irwin was unfortunate to crash out of race one but sealed a strong fourth place in race two.

Ben made good progress throughout the weekend and has been returning to his old form as the season has progressed. He had a strong qualifying session and ended up in eighth place on the grid for race one. He got one of his good starts but was unable to bridge the gap between him and the leading pack but still able to finish the race in a good sixth position. For race two he started on the grid in sixth place and finished the race in a strong fifth position.

Glenn was looking to defend his third place in the Championship and set some consistent times during practice and qualifying. He was seventh on the grid for race one and in the melee that often happens early in the first lap he got pushed wide and crashed out. Luckily thanks to the quick reactions of riders around him they all missed him and his bike as they went across the track avoiding what could have been a nasty accident.

As he did not complete a lap he was unable to secure a time for grid position for the second race and had to start from 13th on the grid. He got a great start and was soon up to seventh, he then took advantage of the safety car to move up to fifth place by lap eight finally finishing in a strong fourth place.

Luke continued his consistent form and despite some bike problems once again secured two top ten finishes with eighth position in race one and a good sixth place in an incident packed race two.

Australian Jed Metcher joined the team to ride the Superbike in the MCE British Superbike Championship. Jed has never riden at Oulton Park so was dropped in at the deep end. He had a solid weekend though achieving 17th, 19th and 21st places in the three Superbike races.

Team Manager Michael de Bidaph - " We did struggle a little this weekend in the Supersport class and are not quite matching the pace of the front runners but are working hard to amend that.

I am really pleased with how well Jed settled in to riding our Superbike considering he has never riden at Oulton Park before. It is a very demanding and physical circuit and despite his lack of track knowledge he dug deep and worked hard, finishing all three races in a creditable position. I am looking forward to working with him for the last three rounds of the Championship.

We will be working hard before the next round at Assen to ensure all the riders have a good weekend there and also for Silverstone and Brands Hatch"

It was a tough weekend at Cadwell Park for the team at round eight of the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship. Glenn Irwin gained a fifth and seventh, Ben Wison secured a seventh and fifth and Luke Hedger eighth and sixth.

With temperatures rising during qualifying all three riders struggled with grip issues on the hot track. Glenn got a fantastic start from fourth place on the grid and was leading after lap one. The race was red-flagged on lap two and a restart of 10 laps was issued. Glenn got to the line after the warm-up lap and knew he had a problem as he could not select the gears properly and had to nurse the bike home home managing to secure fifth place.

In race two he started from fifth place on the grid but had woken up with flu-like symptoms. He got another good start and was soon up to third place but as the race progressed his energy levels dropped and he had to settle for seventh place.

Ben made huge progress during the practice sessions but struggled with grip in qualifying to start race one in eighth place on the grid. He finished in seventh place having had a suspension problem during the race. He started from seventh place on the grid for race two and was soon up to sixth at the end of the first lap. Unfortunately he had to take evasive action to avoid a stricken rider which meant he lost ground with the leading pack; he still managed to finish in a very creditable fifth place.

Luke once again had another consistent weekend with another two good top ten finishes. He qualified in 10th place for race one finishing in a solid eight place. For race two he started from eighth place on the grid and was soon moving through the field to finish in a creditable sixth place.

Team Manager Michael de Bidaph - "The team managed to find a good set-up for all three riders during the practice sessions and i really thought we could snatch a couple of podiums. They all struggled with grip issues due to the severe heat in the track during qualifying which caused us to have lower qualifying positions than we had hoped. We seemed to be troubled with a bit of bad luck in race one with Glenn and Ben having a couple of problems, both still fought to achieve some solid points.

Glenn sadly woke on ill on Sunday morning and this really did have an impact on his performance in race two, we hope is fully fit for Oulton Park. Ben was making good progress until he had to swerve to avoid a fallen rider which stopped him from catching the leading pack. Luke had another good weekend, his times were consistently fast and he is improving everytime he goes out on a Gearlink Kawasaki.

Hopefully our luck will improve and we can get back on the rostrum again before the end of the season."