Gearlink Kawasaki News

It was another brilliant weekend for the team in the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship season finale at Brands Hatch. Glenn Irwin took a fantastic victory in race one with Luke Hedger in a great fourth place. In the second and final race of the year Glenn took second with Luke in sixth.

The young pair were riding superbly well all weekend with both riders securing front row positions following a damp qualifying session.

Both got off to strong start in race one with Glenn and Alastair Seeley dicing for the lead throughout the race with Glenn managing to take Alastair on the eighth lap to go on and take his fifth win of the season. Luke continued his good form in recent races to take a well deserved fourth place, his best result of the season.

In the second race Glenn started from third place on the grid with Luke fourth. Luke had to avoid a crash on the opening lap which dropped him back to seventh but fought hard to get up to fourth place eventually finishing in sixth. Glenn soon got to the front and again was battling with Alastair for the lead and this time had to settle for a great second place.

It was a mixed weekend for Ben Wilson in the MCE British Superbike Championship. He had a good first race finishing in 12th place having started from 18th on the grid but sadly a power problem forced him out of race two and in race three he finished 17th.

Team Manager Michael de Bidaph - "It has been a great finish to the season in the Supersport class for the Gearlink Kawasaki team and our riders Glenn and Luke. Both were up at the front all weekend, during the practice and qualifying sessions. Glenn worked really hard to take the win in the first race and Luke rode extremely well to take his best ever position in this class. 

In the second race Glenn again fought hard in a great race to finish on the podium in second place. Luke was in the mix but was suffering from arm-pump in the closing stages of the race.

We have achieved more in Supersport than we though this year as we took on two young new riders in the Championship and the results have shown how hard they have worked with Glenn really upping his game this season.

The results in the Superbike class have sadly not been where we would have wanted to be albeit in our first year in this class, we had a power issue in the second and third races but it was not meant to be.

I would like to thank everyone involved in the the Gearlink Kawasaki team for all their hard work and dedication this year. I must also say a special thank you to TTS Surfacing Ltd and KMUK for all their support and committment to us as well as our sponsors and fans." 

The weekend ended on a high for the team in the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship at Silverstone. Glenn Irwin was battling for the win in the first race when a technical problem forced him to retire in the latter part of the race. The second race was thrilling with Glenn finally taking victory in a hard fought race. Luke Hedger made huge progress throughout the weekend finishing in 10th and eighth places respectively.

Glenn was consistently near the top of the time sheets throughout the weekend. Heavy rain on Saturday morning delayed proceedings but when qualifying got underway Glenn achieved a fantastic pole position in tricky conditions for the first race. Conditions were still not ideal but he got a great start and was soon in a tight battle for the lead until he was forced to retire.

Having started from second place on the grid for the second race, Glenn got a fantastic start and moved into a commanding lead for the early laps posting lap times that were consistently within lap record pace. It then became a four way battle with Glenn working hard to take a stunning victory by just 0.4 seconds. 

Luke struggled in the wet conditions during qualifying placing himself in 17th position on the grid for the first race. He got a great start working himself through the field to finish in a strong 10th place.  However, he achieved the third fastest lap time placing himself, for the first time, on the front row of the grid in third place for the second race. He rode exceptionally well, gained a superb start and was second after lap one and involved in a number of battles to finish in a great eight place just behind the Championship leader.

It was another tough weekend for Ben Wilson in the MCE British Superbike Championship. In the wet practice session he had to close the throttle to avoid a slower rider and then as he got back on the throttle he high sided over the bars. After the warm-up session the next day he was taken to hospital for a CT scan where he was diagnosed with concussion and needs to rest for a few days.

Team Manager Michael de Bidaph - "I'm so pleased for the two Supesport riders this weekend. Glenn has been strong in all the sessions, practice and qualifying, put in on pole and certainly showed his ability and potential to take the race win. Unfortunatley a mechanical/electrical problem occurred which caused Glenn to lose power forcing him to withdraw from the race.

Luke struggled during the practice sessions and lost out in qualifying with the poor weather conditions but rode really well in the race to secure a front row position on the grid for the second race. He rode a fantastic race which was amazing to watch.

What Glenn did was just brilliant, he controlled the race from start to finish and his maturity and development this season really shone through. He has proved now he can race well and win in the dry and wet conditions, we are really proud of the progress he has made this season. They were both on good form and i am so pleased with the results they have achieved this weekend.

In the Superbike class i really believe this weekend could have been better and Ben would have gone well in the mixed qualifying conditions but he was not 100% after the crash in free practice three. He was not feeling well on Sunday morning so we took him down to the hospital where he underwent a CT scan, he was diagnosed with concussion and a slight bruising behind the eye."