Gearlink Kawasaki News

Despite some fantastically close racing at the ultra-fast Thruxton circuit at round seven of the Dickies British Supersport Championship, Andrew Irwin and Ben Currie were unable to secure a podium finish despite coming so close.

Andrew gained a fourth and fifth place with Ben forced to retire in race one but gained sixth place in race two.

Andrew struggled with set-up throughout the practice and qualifying sessions managing to qualify for race one in 10th place on the grid. He got a great start in but the race was red flagged due to an oil spillage. On the re-start he got another great start soon moving up to fourth place at the end of the first lap. The top eight were swapping places on every lap which is typical of the fast close racing that Thruxton is known for. He was lining up for a podium position going into the final turn when he was just nudged out and had to settle for fifth place.

For race two he started from third position on the grid, got a good start and moved up to second at the end of the first lap. Once again it was an adrenaline filled race and at one point he slipped back to seventh but was soon back making some impressive moves down the back straight into the chicane. He had lined up a podium finish and the win going into the final turn but again was just nudged out settling for a hard fought fourth place.

Ben was riding strongly throughout the practice and qualifying sessions and started from sixth place on the grid for race one but sadly the race was short lived as he was forced to retire with a technical problem.

Without securing one fast lap in race one he had to start from 12th position on the grid for race two. He got a great start and was soon up to seventh place by the end of lap one. He was involved together with his team mate in an eight bike scrap with positions changing all the time. He pushed hard throughout the the race but had a serious tyre problem still managing to finish in a good sixth place.

James Westmoreland made steady progress in the MCE British Superbike Championship. He had a really good qualifying session starting the first race in 13th place finishing in 18th place. For race two he started from 17th place on the grid finishing in the points in 15th position.

Team Manager Michael de Bidaph -"We struggled a bit with set-up all weekend on the Supersport bikes but managed to get it right for the races.

Andrew fought hard in race one but a small incident saw in run off track in the final turn. Ben was unlucky to suffer with an electrical problem in the opening stages forcing him to retire.

In race two both riders struggled with grip as the tyres delaminated so they did exceptionally well to get the results they did. Andrew was again unfortunate on the last corner and was really unlucky not to get a podium or that first win that he so deserves.

On the Superbike, James did a good qualifying lap but we struggled with set-up for the race distance. We made a huge change between races with the suspension and took a chance on something we had no data for but it proved to be very positive with some very strong feedback. We are looking forward to progressing this and moving forwards.

I would like to say a huge well done to my team as we managed to change an engine in 40 minutes, an incredible achievement and i thank them for that.

Norma and myself would like to express our sadness at the passing of Mark Fincham and we send our thoughts and condolences to his family, friends and team".