It was a double podium weekend
for the Gearlink Kawasaki team at round eight of the Dickies British Supersport
Championship at Cadwell Park. Mason Law had a fantastic weekend taking two
stunning second places. Andrew Irwin also looked very strong and was fourth in
race one but was sadly unable to avoid an incident in race two and crashed
out.
Mason came to Cadwell Park with
an extra bit of confidence after his recent form in the Supersport class. A
former motocross rider Mason is very much at home on such a technical and
physical circuit and was top of the time sheets in the opening practice session.
A good qualifying session saw him set a time to put him in second place on the
grid for the Sprint race on Sunday.
He had a strong start and his lap
times were incredibly consistent throughout the 12-lap race but he was just
unable to catch Bradley Ray. He rode a fantastic race and took a brilliant
second place, five seconds ahead of third placed man Luke Jones. For race two he
started from second again.
He got an amazing start in race
two and took the lead for the opening laps ahead of Bradley Ray. Ray made his
move on lap five for the lead and at one point it looked like Mason was reeling
him back in but he was unable to match the pace of the on-form Ray this weekend.
Mason took another incredible second place and is now lying in eighth in the
Championship standings with eight races remaining.
Andrew was also strong from the
start of the weekend and he was consistently within the top six on the time
sheets. He was looking strong on the Gearlink Kawasaki and managed to end up in
sixth place on the grid for the first race. He was up to fourth at the end of
lap one in the Sprint race and was soon locked in a battle with Luke Jones for
the final podium position. He got up to third on lap eight but Jones got back
past for third but Andrew took a very good fourth place.
For race two he started from the
front row alongside his team-mate, in third place. It has been several years
since both the Gearlink Kawasaki machines started from the front row. He got a
steady start in fourth and was settling into a good rhyme. On lap two Luke Jones
got it all out of shape and crashed out, sadly the bike was on the track and
Andrew could not do anything to avoid it, luckily avoiding any serious injury,
both riders walked away.
Mason Law - "It has been the best weekend
of the year for me so far, we were competitive all weekend from the start. I
think we managed to get the most out of the Gearlink Kawasaki. We had a couple
of points on the track where we weren't as strong as Brad.
Overall I am very happy with the
weekend at Cadwell Park and we are now challenging at the front and the win is
just around the corner. I'm looking forward to getting to Oulton. I want to
thank all the team, the people who help me and all my personal
sponsors."
Andrew Irwin -
"The weekend was
really positive for us. I wasn't out of the top six all weekend apart from the
second race when Luke (Jones) crashed in front of me and I had nowhere to
go.
I was happy with qualifying in
sixth as I never seemed to be able to string the perfect lap time together. To
get fourth in the race was great and a big confidence boost for me. I would have
obviously loved to have got on the podium but we are certainly heading in the
right direction.
I had a good set-up going into
race two and was feeling really happy, the Gearlink Kawasaki team made some
change to the bike which made it feel much better and it was just a pity I
couldn't avoid the crash.
I would like to say a massive
thank you to Mike, Norma and the rest of the team for all of their effort and
hard work that they put in to make this possible."
MCE British
Superbike
In the MCE British Superbike
series, the Gearlink Kawasaki rider, Italian Vittorio Iannuzzo, continued to
make progress at Cadwell Park. The Italian had never ridden at the very
demanding circuit before and he managed to improve his times in each session. He
started race one from 27th and finished 26th. For race two
he was placed in 29th place but was forced to pull in with an
electrical problem.
Vittorio
Iannuzzo - "This
is an extremely hard track to learn quickly and it is one of the most difficult
tracks to understand. I managed to get my time to a 1.30 which for my first time
here I am quite happy with. It was always going to be difficult for us coming
here but I am looking forward to getting to Oulton Park, where I have been
before."
Team Manager Michael de
Bidaph - "It was
a really positive weekend for the team. I was really pleased with the Supersport
results; both Mason and Andrew were on the pace all weekend from the first
practice session.
They both had a strong qualifying
session and it was great for Mason to continue to build on his form and carry on
the podium run. I was very pleased for Andrew securing fourth place, he has
turned a corner this weekend, showed his maturity and did what we asked. He rode
a very solid race and we were very happy with fourth.
Mason looked so strong this
weekend and I know the win must be coming. He rode two fantastic races and got a
big handful of points in the standings. Andrew was unfortunate in the second
race to get caught up in the accident but he has made a big step forward and we
hope he can continue like that for the rest of the season.
It was always going to be very
hard for Vittorio this weekend to come to Cadwell and try and learn the circuit.
It is probably one of the most demanding circuits in the world and it is nearly
impossible to learn everything in one weekend."
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