Gearlink Kawasaki News

14 May 2015

Podium at Oulton Park

Despite gaining another podium it was an unlucky weekend for the team. Glenn Irwin secured second and fourth places respectively; Ben Wilson was unfortunate to get caught up in a crash in the sprint race and was sixth in race two. Luke Hedger re-joined the team for the weekend with a sixth place in race one but had a technical problem in race two.

In the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship the team took on a big task for the weekend running three riders with Glenn, Ben and Luke. The three riders rode well all weekend and despite Luke not getting any testing before the weekend made good progress in every session.

Glenn looked strong all weekend and put in a good qualifying time to put himself on the front row for race one. He got a good start moving up to second position and was pushing the leader for the entire race and poised to make a pass for the lead when the race was red flagged; however, he was happy to gain second. In race two he was again on the pace and led for several laps until the safety car was sent out. The race became a four lap dash to the line with four riders all in contention, unfortunately Glenn had to take evasive action to avoid another rider resulting in a loss of time dropping him down to fourth missing out on what was likely to be another podium for him. 

Ben Wilson found a good set up during practice and qualifying at one of his favourite circuits putting himself eighth on the grid for race one. As usual he had a great start and was soon into sixth place and locked in a battle for a podium place, however, two riders crashed in front of him and he had no option but to crash out. In race two he started from seventh place but the starting lights got stuck which resulted in a burnt out clutch and him nursing the bike round but still able to gain a strong sixth place. 

Luke returned to the team on the bike he rode in 2014. He improved all weekend and started race one in 11th place. He steadily made good progress through the field to gain a very good sixth position. For race two he was placed ninth on the grid but unfortunately had to retire on the second warm up lap with a technical problem.

It was the second race meeting for Michael Rutter riding the Gearlink Kawasaki ZX-10R in the MCE British Superbike Championship. Michael is keen to develop the bike for the team and made huge steps forward, the highlight being Michael sitting in fourth place in the wet practice session. In race one he got a good start consistently improving his lap times finishing in 22nd place. He had to retire early in race two with electrical problems.

Team Manager Michael de Bidaph - "It was a disappointing weekend as it started so well and did not get the results that i felt we deserved. All three Supersport riders were showing promise and i really thought Glenn might be able to take a win, he came close but a few incidents prevented that. Ben was unlucky to be involved in a crash and there was no way he could avoid it and he was looking like the old Ben once again. In the second race he burnt the clutch with the two race starts so to finish sixh was really good considering. We welcomed Luke back into the team and he started off with us how he left it last year. I'm really pleased with his first race position considering he has not ridden since Brands Hatch 2014. We had a problem with the bike just after the first race and thought we had fixed it but it reoccurred for race two.

Michael Rutter was once again a great asset and we are learning so much working with him, the results are not showing yet but his times certainly are. We are continuing to move forward with the ZX-10R and making positive progress.

We are taking the team to the NorthWest 200 next and hoping for a good result for us."

Category: Racing News
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posted by The Team at 17:07

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