It was a difficult weekend for the Be Wiser Kawasaki team at round six of the MCE British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch. Danny Buchan was unlucky to get taken out in a first lap crash at turn two; however he took a bang to the head and was forced to sit out of race two after suffering concussion. Chris Walker was still recovering some nasty injuries he sustained at Knockhill and was forced to retire from both races after having some issues with external mechanical parts, which was out of the teams control.
Chris Walker suffered some nasty injuries in a crash at Knockhill, separating ribs from his sternum and spine, also separating his collarbone from his shoulder. Despite heavy strapping he was still in a lot of discomfort and pain, only able to qualify in 17th place. He got a good start and was up to 15th after lap one and 13th by lap five. The safety car was deployed and was out for two laps after Stuart Easton crashed heavily and on the lap after the car came back into the pits Chris was forced to retire after suffering a mechanical problem.
Chris started from 23rd for race two and made a great start and was 20th after lap one and soon was picking off riders and on lap 13 he was in the points in 15th place. However on lap 17 Chris suffered an obvious engine problem and despite smoke piling out the back of the machine he was still racing for points, he was black and orange flagged and forced to retire again.
It is an exceptionally tough year in the British Superbike Championship and even closer this weekend at Brands Hatch, despite the long circuit the times in every session were incredibly close. Danny ended up qualifying in 19th place for the first race but only one second off pole sitter Shane Byrne. He was determined to have a good race but it is always a little messy on the opening lap and he got caught up in another crash forcing him out the race on the second corner. He took a heavy bang to the head and was forced out of the second race by the medics after suffering with concussion.
Danny Buchan - "It's really disheartening about the weekend, we were making progress and the qualifying position didn't reflect the effort that was put in by everyone. The times are so close this year and even more so here at Brands. We worked really hard and I was trying to avoid Jason O Halloran and Peter Hickmans' crash into Druids and I went down fairly heavily and took a big knock to the head. I'm gutted for everyone and it's also my local circuit and I just wanted to do well here but onwards and upwards to Thruxton in a couple of weeks' time."
Chris Walker - "That wasn't quite the plan this weekend, we had been struggling through the weekend to find a good set-up and I was really suffering with the pain from my Knockhill crash but I was still determined to go out there and fight for some points. We had a problem in both races with the Be Wiser Kawasaki which was unfortunate but maybe there was some underlying damage from my crash a couple of weeks ago. I know the team will go away and work hard on the bike to make sure it is 100% for Thruxton."
Tommy Hill - Team Manager - "It has been a very emotionally draining weekend and I know having ridden in the past how frustrating it is sometimes being a rider where things are out of our control.
I'm gutted about this weekend and we are working so hard to move and push things forward, maybe that is some of the problem. Danny was unlucky in the first race to get caught up in that crash and suffer concussion. He didn't really get to a chance to go and have a good shot at it. His times were improving and we had made some steps forward but he'll be back fully fit and ready to race at Thruxton.
With Chris, it really was bad luck on our behalf, the bikes have run well all weekend and then in both races he had a problem. We later found out the problem was caused by an external part, which was totally out of control of the team. I think we just had no luck this weekend but we will continue to put in all the effort and move forwards to Thruxton and hope for some good results there."
