Gearlink Kawasaki Silverstone Superbike and Supersport‏ Round Up

Win for Irwin

Motorpoint British Supersport

The weekend ended on a high for the Gearlink Kawasaki team in the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship at round 11 at Silverstone Circuit. Glenn Irwin was battling for the win in the first sprint race on Saturday when a technical problem forced him to retire; he made amends on Sunday taking a fantastic hard fought win. His team-mate Luke Hedger made huge progress this weekend and finished in 10th and eighth place respectively in the two races.

Glenn was consistently near the top of the time sheets throughout the weekend and went on to qualify on pole in shocking weather conditions. The heavens drowned the Silverstone Circuit on Saturday and proceedings were delayed by hours whilst the track was swept and made safe. Glenn had a huge moment in qualifying but was able to save it and went on to gain pole. He was looking strong for the opening race on Saturday afternoon, got a fantastic start and was locked in a tight battle with fellow Irishman and Championship rival Alastair Seeley. Glenn led for the opening four laps and then proceeded to swap paint work with Seeley until Glenn's bike suffered a mechanical problem on lap seven forcing him out of the race.

Glenn was eager to change the situation on Sunday, starting from second place the young Irishman got a fantastic start and was straight to the front. He pulled an advantage of 1.4 seconds by lap two, he worked hard and his lap times were consistently within lap record pace. Glenn led the race from start to finish but by lap seven the gap was down to 0.4 from Luke Mossey, it became a four way battle with Glenn, Luke Mossey, Luke Stapleford and Alastair Seeley. Glenn kept his cool, dug deep and worked hard to win the race from Stapleford by 0.3.

Luke Hedger finally found his form this weekend at Silverstone and spent Friday trying to find a good set-up for the Gearlink Kawasaki. Despite this the qualifying on Saturday was wet and the 2013 Superstock 600 Champion struggled during the wet session and could only put the bike in 17th place on the grid. He got a brilliant start and was 13th after lap one, he progressed through to a strong 10th place finish. His lap time in race one secured his first front row position of third place for the main feature race on Sunday. The 18-year-old rode exceptionally well, gained a superb start and was second after lap one. He was fighting amongst some of the best British Supersport riders in the country and slipped to seventh at one point, only to lose out on the last lap to Championship leader Billy McConnell.

Glenn Irwin - "I'm so pleased I was able to take the win on Sunday as I was really disappointed on Saturday to suffer a problem with the bike. It is just one of them things and a real shame as everything felt perfect all weekend. The team worked really hard over night to put the spare engine in and provide me with a bike that was once again perfect for race two on Sunday.

I really wanted to make amends in the main race and I felt really comfortable and knew my times had been good all weekend and I just wanted to turn that into a result. Thank you so much Gearlink Kawasaki for the work they put in this weekend and so pleased I can repay them with a win, also to all the people that have helped and supported me up to now and really hope I can finish the season on a high note at Brands Hatch in a few weeks. That was a hard race and sometimes it is difficult at the front to keep the concentration, I lost my momentum at one point which allowed the other riders to bridge the gap but so glad I led every lap and once again all of us were on lap record pace. It was an enjoyable race and just really happy to take the win."

Luke Hedger - "If you told me at the start of the weekend that I would have been on the front row for the main race I don't think I would have believed it. Things just kept improving all weekend and I felt really comfortable in both races on the Gearlink Kawasaki. I tried my best in race two to stay with the front runners but I've never ridden in a race with some of those guys and like they say it's tough at the top! I really enjoyed it though and it was great to be locked in a battle with them. I hope we can carry on moving forward like this to Brands and finish the year with two more solid results. Thanks again to the Gearlink Kawasaki team all my sponsors especially 1st Choice Flooring."

It was another tough weekend for Ben Wilson in the MCE British Superbike Championship, in the wet practice session on Saturday Ben shut off the gas to avoid a slower rider, as he got back on the throttle it high sided him over the bars. Ben took a bang to the head, after morning warm-up he was taking to hospital for a CT scan, where he was diagnosed with concussion and needs to rest for a few days.

Team Manager Michael de Bidaph - "I'm so pleased for the two Supersport riders this weekend. Glenn has been strong in all the sessions, practice and qualifying, put it on pole and certainly showed his ability and potential to take the race win. Unfortunately a mechanical/electrical fault occurred which caused Glenn to lose power and be forced to withdraw from the race.

Luke struggled during the practice sessions and lost out in qualifying due to the poor weather conditions which put him in 17th but he rode really well in the race setting a time that secured him a front row position on Sunday. Luke really did ride a fantastic race which was amazing to watch, what Glenn did was just brilliant. He controlled the race from start to finish and his maturity and development this season really shone through. They were both on great form and I'm so pleased with the results they both achieved this weekend. Glenn has proved now he can race well and win in the dry and also wet conditions, we are really proud of the progress he has made this season.

In the Superbike class I really believe this weekend could have been a better weekend for us and Ben would have gone well in the mixed qualifying conditions but he was not 100% after a crash in free practice three. He was not feeling well on Sunday morning so we took him down to the hospital where he underwent a CT scan, he was diagnosed with concussion and slight bruising behind the eye."

2014 GEARLINK TEAM SPONSORS

AKRAPOVIC - B & C EXPRESS - CN TRADING (GLENN) - DAYTONA (BEN) - DAMEN LEATHERS - DBR - FORCEFIELD - GALFER - GB RACING - GEARLINK LTD - GOODRIDGE - JAMES JAMIESON CONSTRUCTION (GLENN) - JOHNY WILLS PHOTOGRAPHY - K-TECH - KTtapeuk.co.uk - MARK TALBOT (GLENN) - MEGASTORE247 (GLENN) - MET HEALTHCARE (GLENN) - MWR AIR FILTERS - NGK SPARK PLUGS - OCTANORM - PERFORMANCE PARTS - PERFORMANCE FRICTION BRAKES - PRO CLEAN - PRO-BOLT - R & G RACING - RENTHAL - ROCK OIL - SAMCO SPORT - SHARK HELMETS - SHOEI HELMETS (LUKE) - SIDI (LUKE) - SIGMA PERFORMANCE - SINNIS - SKIDMARX - SOLO SIGNS - TIM TODD SURFACING - TSUBAKI - VALE LIVESTOCK - WWW.1STCHOICE-FLOORING.CO.UK (LUKE)


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