It was a mixed weekend for the
Gearlink Kawasaki team at round five of the MCE British Superbike Championship
at Brands Hatch GP circuit. Ben Wilson ended up gaining 17th and
15th place respectively in the two superbike races.
During the practice and qualifying
sessions Ben was once again struggling to find a suitable set up on the Gearlink
Kawasaki, with no Superbike data at the majority of circuits it is certainly
becoming a difficult learning year for them. The team only discovered before
race one that there was an issue with the shock and then in race two a mis-fire
saw Ben not be able to ride to his full capacity in the wet conditions.
Ben was only able to qualify in
25th place for race one, he got a fantastic start but was only able
to secure 17th, just outside the Championship points. He was lifted
to 17th place on the grid for the second race and after several
delays with an accident and the changing weather conditions it was looking like
it may play in the favour of Ben when the heavens opened, declaring the race
wet. Ben was off to a good start but soon started to suffer with a mis-fire on
the bike and had to settle for 15th place.
Ben Wilson - "This year has been so frustrating,
we never seem to get any luck it seems and it's very difficult going to each
circuit with no information at all and we have to start from scratch. On top of
this we seem to have had some silly little problems happen which has hindered
our track time and set up time. I just so hope we can start moving forwards and
in the right direction at the remaining races, we are all desperate for a good
result and hope we can achieve that."
In the Motorpoint British Supersport
Championship Luke Hedger, who returned to Brands after injury secured a solid
qualifying place of eighth with his team-mate Glenn Irwin just one place behind
him in ninth. Glenn got a good start in the sprint race and was able to set some
strong lap times to finish the race in a creditable seventh, Luke also rode well
and finished in 10th.
This placed Glenn in ninth for race
two and Luke in 11th, Glenn was locked in a race with current
Championship leader Billy McConnell and moved through to seventh at the end of
the 18-lap race. Luke worked hard on his first race back to gain a good
10th place.
Glenn Irwin - "It was a positive weekend for me
at Brands as it's always a track in the past I have struggled at. I went the
fastest I have ever been round there this weekend which is a huge confidence
boost for me. I was struggling with grip on the front end but I am sure that is
something we can work on to get right. The Gearlink Kawasaki team once again
worked really hard to help me and make me feel comfortable and confident
here."
Luke Hedger - "It was really nice to be back with
the Gearlink Kawasaki team this weekend and out on track again. It feels like a
long time since I raced properly so I am happy with the way it all went. After
coming back after such a long injury it's good to come away with two top ten
places. I had a small bike problem but it cost us a lot of time and most of one
session trying to find the problem but at least nothing went wrong during the
races. I can't wait to get to Thruxton and keep moving forwards."
Team Manager Michael de
Bidaph - "It was
another difficult weekend for us in the Superbike class with Ben and really hope
our luck might take a turn for the better. It has been a struggle from start to
finish with set-up problems. We found a problem in the rear shock but only just
before race one. Once this was sorted Ben's times really improved and it raised
him up higher on the grid only to suffer with a mis-fire in race two. We thought
with the rain it might help Ben but then this small problem with the bike cost
us several places.
It was a good weekend for the
Supersport riders this weekend and the riders have done really well. Glenn was
racing at a circuit he does not feel confident on and he secured two very solid
results and achieved some good race times. Luke was a welcome return this
weekend and to come back and get two strong results from such a long injury was
great and hope we can move them both forwards at Thruxton."
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