It was a steady end to the season for the Gearlink Kawasaki team at the final round of the British Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch. Both Ben Wilson and James East had a nightmare during qualifying for the first race on Saturday as both crashed out and this effected their grid positions, Ben qualified in ninth and James in 17th for the opening sprint race.

Ben got a good start in the race and briefly led but the Gearlink Kawasaki was not running to its full potential after the morning crash and Ben ended up finishing the race in seventh place. His lap time put him up to fifth for race two on Sunday, another good start saw him get away with the front runners and in a dice for the opening few laps. He was locked in a battle with Graeme Gowland for the majority of the race and just slipped back to fifth and the finish.

Ben - "It was a bit of a tough weekend, I crashed in qualifying which really made a lot of work for us all and some stitches in my chin for the privilege of it! It was a bit of a rushed job to get the bike ready for the race and there were a couple of issues during the race as it wasn't fully right but I just tried to get my head down. Things were much better for race two, I got a good start but I just struggled for grip from the start, I want to come back really strong for 2013 and put up a good fight again."

James East was riding in only his second race for the Gearlink Kawasaki team and gained his best ever Supersport results of a 11th and 7th place in the two British Supersport Races.

James - "I'm really grateful to the Gearlink Kawasaki team giving me this opportunity to ride for them over the last few meetings. I feel like I have learned a lot in a short period of time and been able to provide some good results in return for their hard work. I really like the team and the Kawasaki and if I can sort the right sponsors I would like to be a part of the team next year."

  Metzeler Superstock 600s

Jack Groves riding in the National Superstock 600 Championship struggled throughout the weekend at Brands Hatch and could only salvage 26th in the race.

Jack - "It was a tough weekend for me I just struggled to relax and find a good rhythm and I wasn't able to put in any quick lap times during qualifying so this put me a long way back in the race and I just couldn't make any in-roads to the pack in front. I'm a bit gutted not to have ended the year with a decent result but it just wasn't to be. Thanks to Michael and Norma for the chance that they have given me."

 Team Manager Michael de Bidaph - "It's been a tough year this year and I'm fairly glad it's now over and that we can get stuck into the winter and get back on track again in 2013. It was a hard start to the weekend with both Supersport riders crashing in qualifying, this instantly put us on the back foot. Considering we did not have much time to repair both bikes I thought the first race went well. The race today was tough as we struggled with grip issues from the start and maybe that was due to the cold weather conditions.

It's certainly been one of our toughest seasons in racing and we've had to learn a few things and try and move on from them. I am looking forward to getting the plans for the 2013 season finalised and start a testing programme and get a good base setting from the off for Brands Hatch next year.

James has done really well this weekend, he got his two best results in the Supersport class and is really beginning to show some promise of becoming a very good rider. He's young and willing to learn, he's worked hard and glad the results came for him also in the few races that he has ridden with us.

We are focussing our attentions on next season now and want to move on from this one and make next year a more positive and confident one. We have been approached by some really good top riders for next year to partner Ben for the season and it shows how our hard word has paid off and we have become one of the top professional Supersport teams.

I would like to thank all the Gearlink team for working so hard this year and all our loyal sponsors for their support over the year and hope we can pick up some more before next season begins."

 2012 GEARLINK TEAM SPONSORS

 AKRAPOVIC - B & C EXPRESS - DAYTONA (BEN) - DBR - GALFER - GB RACING - GEARLINK LTD - GIMOTO - GOODS LIFT COMPANY, ANDOVER - GOODRIDGE - JON JESSOP PHOTOGRAPHY - K-TECH - KX AKADEMY (JACK) - METZELER (STOCK 600'S) - MOTOCOMP - MWR AIR FILTERS - NGK - OCTANORM - PAZZO - PERFORMANCE PARTS - PERFORMANCE FRICTION BRAKES - PRO CLEAN - PRO-BOLT - R & G RACING - RACE BY DESIGN - RENTHAL - ROCK OIL - SAMCO SPORT - SHARK HELMETS - SIGMA PERFORMANCE - SINNIS - SKIDMARX - SOLO SIGNS - SPEEDYCOM - SUDBROOKE BROILERS (BEN) - TSUBAKI - TWO WHEEL MEDIA - VALE LIVESTOCK - WELTECH (BEN)