Gearlink Kawasaki News

It was a busy weekend for the team at round two of the Dickies British Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch. Following the cancellation of race one at Donington Park the team prepared for three races. Andrew Irwin gained a great second place in race one, did not start in race two and finished a creditable sixth in race three. Ben Currie had a good weekend with two fourth places and a third.

Andrew looked strong all weekend setting consistently fast times qualifying in third place for race one. He got a fantastic start and moved into second place and quickly moved away from the chasing pack with the leader. He was unable to find a good passing place but secured his second consecutive podium with a strong second place, also securing the fastest lap.

For race two he started from pole position and was keen to push hard. He got the hole-shot but rain started to fall and he crashed out and was soon followed by three more riders and the race was red flagged. Despite the valiant efforts of the the team the bike was too badly damaged to make the re-start.

For the third and feature race he was forced to start from 29th on the grid. He got a fantastic start and made up about ten places before a crash on the opening lap caused the red flag to come out. On the re-start he gained another superb start working his way through the field, riding exceptionally well, to finish in a great sixth place. 

Ben was also riding well all weekend and setting some fast lap times. He started race one from seventh place on the grid being just 0.5 seconds for the pole sitter. He got a strong start and was locked in a battle for the third podium slot just missing out to finish fourth.

For race two he started from sixth and was fortunate to just avoid the crash that caused the red flag to come out. On the re-start he was again locked in a tightly fought battle for a podium place again just missing out to finish in another fourth place just 0.6 second from the podium.

For race three he started from seventh place and gained another good start rising to fifth after the first lap. Again he was setting some consistently fast times managing to finally get on the podium in a fantastic third place and now lies third in the Championship standings.

In the MCE British Superbike Championship James Westmoreland worked really hard all weekend and he and the team made some good progress with the Superbike with good times being achieved during the practice sessions. Despite a technical problem that hindered progress in qualifying, Westy was 17th in race one and was in a point scoring position of 15th in race two before crashing out.

Team Manager Michael de Bidaph - "It was a mixed weekend for the team with both Superport riders riding strongly setting fast lap times. Andrew rode a fantastic first race being able to stay with the leader at the front. It was unfortunate the rain coming down so early in the second race, whilst he was leading, just catching him out and we were unable to get the bike ready in time. He crashed in the warm-up for race three due to a technical problem and after two crashes had to start from the back of the grid. To finish in sixth place was very impressive.

Ben was quitely going about his business and got progressively faster throughout the weekend achieving three cosistently good results. This now sees him sitting in third place in the Championship. His confidence with the bike and the team is growing each time he goes out on track and his consistency is fantastic and was rewarded with his second podium so far this season. 

I am happy with the progress we are making with he Superbike and are moving forwards in the right direction. James is a real team player and has really dug deep this weekend. We were plagued with an electrical problem the day before race day and that hindered his progress. He struggled in race one but found some good pace in race two which we are sure will continue to improve as the season goes on"