It was a ground breaking weekend for the Idaq Motorsport team at round seven of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship at the Brands Hatch GP circuit. James East confidently led the race for five laps until a gearbox problem forced him to withdraw. The best result came from Peter Ward in 12th and Paul Curran finished in 23rd.

James East was having a fantastic weekend and after securing his first front row qualifying position in fourth place James was eager the gain a solid race result. He shot out of the blocks as the lights changed and was third into turn one but managed to take the lead by the end of the opening lap. He looked very comfortable leading the 40 strong pack, riding extremely well and confidently led the race for five laps totally in control of the situation. Disaster struck on the exit to Surtees when his Kawasaki suffered a gearbox issue and would not select a gear, narrowly avoiding a big accident James was able to swerve off the racing line after being clipped by Joe Burns. Despite getting going again the damage meant he was forced to retire at the end of lap eight.

James East - "I was really focused before the race and I made a really good start meaning I was third into Paddock Hill, I managed to make a couple of passes on lap one and took the lead. It was a great feeling having clear track in front of me and I was just settling in but started having gear shift problems. I thought maybe the shift lever was catching but the problem got worse on lap five when it physically wouldn't go into gear coming out of Surtees, at this point Joe Burns hit me which bent my whole rear-set which forced me to retire.

I am absolutely gutted because I am sure I could have pushed for the win but I have taken from the meeting is my ability to lead. I am confident I can push for the win at Oulton Park. I'd like to thank all the Idaq Motorsport team, my personal sponsors and my Dad for making the ride happen, special thanks must go to my mechanic Dave for working tirelessly."

Peter Ward struggled throughout the weekend to find a good set up on the Idaq Kawasaki and he was only able to qualify in 22nd place, fighting hard in the race he was able to push through to 12th place at the end of the 15-lap race.

Peter Ward - "I really struggled all weekend with the set-up on the Kawasaki so I had a bad qualifying session and ended up in 22nd place. I got a shocking start which certainly didn't help matters and then knew I had a lot of work to try and do to get back through the pack. I dug deep and pushed hard to keep going through the race.

I'd just managed to bridge the gap for the battle for sixth place when my tyres had started to go off so I wasn't able to push any harder and risk crashing. I used my head and brought it home, riding a 190bhp bike with little grip isn't ideal and I didn't want to do anything stupid. We need to try and sort my shock out before we go to Oulton in a few weeks and I need to try and get my confidence back as I'm struggling with that at the moment. Hopefully we can change direction at Oulton and get things all sorted out and back on track."

Paul rode well throughout the weekend and was continuously improving his lap times, he qualified in 31st place on the grid and rode through to 23rd overall.

Paul Curran - "I was fairly pleased with the race this weekend my lap times improved but once again we had lack of track time which makes things very difficult. Friday was just on the Indy circuit so unless you were running in an engine or ensuring a bike was working we couldn't really do much. Saturday saw the only bit of rain fall over the weekend just in time for our first qualifying session, so really we only had one session again to get things right. I was 31st on the grid but I knew things would be better on race day, I was doing well but mid way through the race my bike suffered an electrical problem so I just had to nurse it home. Roll on Oulton."

Team Principal Mark Roebuck - "Even with the gearbox failure on James' bike this was a great weekend. You have to remember that James is riding a totally stock spec bike that hasn't even had the head gasket changed. James qualified on the front row against 49 very fast and generally very experienced riders and then in the race takes the lead by the end of lap one. Two years ago James was riding in the Stock 600 class, last year did a part season in Supersport and had never been on a 1000cc bike before the first test we did early this year.

Pete had a crash in the race at Snetterton and then a poor qualifying session at Brands Hatch but he is a real pro and really pulled it back during the race making up 10 places, again in this class that is not an easy thing to do. Pete has struggled with the suspension and a few fitness problems but after this weekend I feel we will see Pete back at the sharp end where he belongs.

Paul has not had much luck this year so far but again the Brands race seemed to be something of a turning point. Early in the race an electrical problem took out his traction control but even with a sick bike Paul still managed to make up 8 places during the race."