Gearlink Kawasaki News

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"