Gearlink Kawasaki News

The fourth round of the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship was held this weekend at Donnington Park in front of a big World Superbike crowd. Luke Hedger took a fantastic second place and the new recruit on the team after the departure of Nicole Mc Aleer was young Australian Mark Wilkinson, he had a great debut ride finishing in eighth place.

Both riders had good qualifying sessions despite the previous days practice sessions being almost a wash out. Luke qualified in fourth and Mark 14th.

In the race Luke was soon out in front with a healthy 3.8 sec lead but unfortunately the safety car was deployed which bunched the riders together. The car pulled in with just two laps to go and Luke was unlucky to just miss out on the win but still finished on the podium in a great second place.

Having secured his best qualifying in the Superstock 600 class Mark continued his strong form over the weekend moving up through the field in the closing laps to finish in a fantastic eighth place.

Team Manager Michael de Bidaph - " I am really pleased with the results this weekend, both Luke and Mark did a fantastic job for the team. Luke rode an extremely mature race and despite lack of track time set some really good times in the race. We are really pleased with his progress so far and we're very sure there is more to come from him.

We are extremely pleased to welcome Mark Wilkinson to the team, Nicole withdrew her ride from the team about a week and a half ago and Mark called early last week to enquire about riding for us. We had a very brief test at Brands Hatch so his first real time out on the bike was during the second qualifying. He has really adapted to the bike and to finish 8th is brilliant in his first ride for us."