Gearlink Kawasaki Brands GP Review

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."

Motorpoint British Supersport

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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