Gearlink Kawasaki Brands GP - Round 7

Dickies British Supersport

 

It was certainly a more positive weekend for the Gearlink Kawasaki team at round seven of the Dickies British Supersport Championship at the Brands Hatch circuit. Mason Law had a strong weekend with a fourth place, a DNF and also another podium in third. His team-mate Andrew Irwin had a tough weekend with two crashes and a DNF.

 

Mason came to his local circuit, Brands Hatch full of confidence and was eager to prove a point and get some good results. After a few problems in the practice sessions Mason was able to pull a result out of the bag in qualifying and put it on the front row in third place. After lap one of the opening 12-lap race he was fifth and then dropped back to seventh. The safety car came out but Mason was able to make some progress when the car came in and tucked in on the back of the leading pack. He pushed hard and ended up in fourth place.

 

For race two he started from fourth on the grid, once again he struggled off the start and lost some places in the first few laps. He worked hard to keep pushing forward and was looking set for a certain fourth place when sadly he had a technical problem on the final lap forcing him to retire.

 

Mason was eager to make amends for Saturday and get another positive result in the main race on Sunday. For this race he started from fifth place and gained a place after lap one, the race was red flagged on lap four after a crash and re-started over 14 laps. On the re-start he got off the line well and was in a battle with David Allingham in the closing stages for a podium place and he was able to make a strong pass on him to secure another great third position.

 

His team-mate Andrew Irwin was also having a very strong weekend and showing a lot of potential for some consistently good races. Andy was strong from the off and was looking set for some podium positions. A good qualifying session saw him secure fifth place on the grid for race one, he got a fantastic start and was up to second after the opening lap. Six riders were in the fight for the win and Andrew was fully involved in this. After the safety car he dropped back to fourth and then made a mistake forcing him to run wide dropping him to seventh and then unfortunately on lap nine of 12 he crashed out.

 

For race two he started from sixth place, the position he held after the opening lap but after his huge crash in race one he unfortunately suffered a mechanical problem and had to retire from the race. He dropped back to 12^th for race three on Sunday, a technical problem at the start of the race saw him in neutral and not first gear when the lights changed to green. He was 23^rd after lap one and pushed his way up to 17^th when the red flag came out.

 

On the re-start he got a flying start and was 10^th after lap one and quickly making good progress through the field. He was setting good lap times and worked up to sixth position when sadly crashed out at Druids on lap 11.

 

Mason Law - "It was another testing weekend with a few problems that caused us to lose some time and also a race result. Once again everyone backed me, I would like to thank Frank Wrathall this weekend for building a new engine for me.

 

It was good to be back on the podium and hopefully keep some of the doubters quiet. The Supersport races this weekend were mental, they all seemed a bit scrappy and no one was really settled into a rhythm it was all a little crazy!

 

When the red flag came out today my team made a small change which solved a problem that I have been struggling with all weekend and it made a huge difference to my riding style.

 

I would like to have one problem free weekend and get the results I believe we deserve. Thank you to everyone in the team and all the people that make it possible. It hasn't been easy up to now but hope this will be the start of the consistent podiums."

 

Andrew Irwin - "The results were obviously not good but I think the team and I have made some big steps forward. The Gearlink Kawasaki is working really well and I also feel like I am riding well. I just have to piece all the puzzle together to make it perfect.

 

In the race today I think I showed that we have the pace to come from 23^rd to sixth. It was a silly mistake that caused me to crash out when a potential podium was on the cards.

 

I can't wait to get to Cadwell Park where I really need to secure two good results. I can't thank my crew enough, Arron, Andy, Charlie, Michael and Norma for all the hard work they put in every weekend. Also thank you to my personal sponsors MET Healthcare, James Jamieson Construction, Aquarius Couriers, John Seawright Northern Loft Insulations and Penrose roofing for making this all possible."

 

 MCE British Superbike

 

In the MCE British Superbike series, the Gearlink Kawasaki rider, Italian Vittorio Iannuzzo, had a progressive weekend and finished in 23^rd and 21^st places. He had a problem during qualifying with a wrong setting but his times during the races once again continued to improve.

 

Vittorio Iannuzzo - "I am a little more satisfied this weekend. We started with a good Friday but then we made some changes on Saturday that didn't work and put us further behind during qualifying.

 

We had to start from the back of the grid and so it was always going to be difficult to get a good result. In the second race we made some changes and the bike was working much better and we went faster than we had all weekend.

 

I think we still need to work hard to make some more steps forward and be really competitive but we are moving in the right direction."

 

Team Manager Michael de Bidaph - "This weekend was certainly more positive than in previous races but things still went wrong which we need to address.

 

In the Supersport class both riders were up there and setting some good times through the session. Mason and Andrew both qualified well and were looking strong in the race. Mason continued to dig deep to get a strong result with a fourth. We made some changes to Andrew's bike and we believe this could have led to his crash as he lost the front end of the bike.

 

There was a lot of damage done to his bike and that led to a problem in his second race. Mason was also riding really well but he also was forced to retire.

 

In race three once again Mason and Andrew looked like they could push for a podium position. Mason worked hard right to the end to gain another third place and Andrew made a small mistake in the closing stages and sadly crashed out but he was showing a lot of potential.

 

Vittorio once again made progress through the weekend but struggled during qualifying so it left him with a lot of work to do. We made some changes between the two races and he was certainly much stronger in race two. We are happy that we are making some progress now with the Superbike and hope soon the results will reflect that."