Gearlink Kawasaki News

Round two of the Dickies British Supersport Championship took place at the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit. Ben Currie secured a fantastic second and third place with his team-mate James Westmoreland coming home in 11th and seventh places

Ben was once again towards the top of the time sheets in every sesssion continuing his fine form from Donington Park. He qualified in second place for the first race and again it was he and Jack Kennedy swapping places for the lead in a thrilling race. Jack had the lead going into the final lap but Ben had incredible drive coming out of the final turn as they both fought to take the win with Ben just losing out on the line by just 0.006 sec.

For race two Ben started from pole position got the holeshot and was fighting strongly at the front when the race was red flagged due to rain. With an unknown track ahead for the re-start Ben was second after the first lap and was pushed back to third. Despite several challanges in the tricky conditions he had to settle for third place securing more valuable points in the Championship.

James "Westy" struggled through the practice and qualifying sessions but was just 0.8sec off pole position for the first race but ended up in 14th position on the grid. He got a good start finishing in 11th. 

For the second race he started from 13th position on the grid moving up several places. On the re-start he again made good progress through the field eventually finishing in seventh.

In the Bennetts British Superbike class Carl Phillips is still getting used to riding the Kawasaki ZX-10R Superbike but is continuing to improve his times with every session. He took two seconds off his practice times to qualify in 24th place for race one. Before the race he sufferred a big crash in warm-up but despite feeling very second hand managed to start the race and finish in 21st place.

He started race two in 23rd place and was sticking with the pack when rain started to fall and the race was red flagged. The team did a fantastic job in changing the bike to a complete wet set-up within the limited time available. On the re-start Carl got a strong start and was soon making incredible progress through the pack to finish in a fantastic 10th place.

Team Manager Michael de Bidaph - "Ben was once again at the sharp end during the Supersport sessions and Westy is continuing to adapt his riding style to suit the 600 again, making good progress throughout the weekend.

Both riders rode two very sensible races, it was great to have Ben on the podium in both races and continuing the strong form that he showed at Donington Park. Westy is improving all the time and i am very sure it will not be long before he is also fighting for podiums. The second race was tough in difficult conditions and they both bought the bikes back in one piece. It is a long season and points can be crucial towards the end of the year.

I'm really impressed with Carl this weekend, he is still learning to ride the Superbike and continues to improve with each session. The conditions played in our favour for the second race with the wet conditions but Carl really did an amazing job. I did not expect this early in the season that we would achieve a top ten finish so am pleased with the progress made and the result he gained.