It was another varied weekend for the Gearlink Kawasaki team at round six of the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch. Glenn Irwin crashed out of race one and struggled in race two to finish eighth. Luke Hedger had the strongest weekend out of the Gearlink Kawasaki riders and he gained a sixth place and seventh place. Ben Wilson was looking at two finishes this weekend and was seventh and ninth in the two Supersport races.
Glenn Irwin was out to defend his Championship lead and was looking strong throughout the practice and qualifying sessions. He qualified for race one on the front row in third place. He got a strong start and was up to second after lap one but sadly on the second lap he crashed out at the quick Stirlings corner.
Glenn was able to get one flying lap in which placed him in ninth on the grid for race two. A strong start saw him move up to sixth and by lap two he was fourth but before half distance in the race he started to have a problem with the front end of the bike. Not wanting to crash again he nursed the bike home to finish in eighth position; which has dropped him to third in the Championship standings.
Ben Wilson has been struggling after a handful of crashes over the last few meetings and he was determined to have a good weekend with some solid finishes. The riders have upped their pace since Ben last rode in the Championship in 2013 and he has to adjust to riding a 600cc machine again. He qualified in eighth place for race one. He got one of his lightning starts and was up to sixth after the opening lap and he rode a good race to finish in seventh position.
For the second race he started from 10th place on the grid and was seventh after lap one, he was fighting hard but ended up riding a very lonely ninth place for 14-laps of the 18 lap race.
Luke Hedger was making good progress over the weekend. He qualified in ninth place for race one, he struggled off the start and dropped to tenth but he was soon head down and chipping away at the riders in front of him. He was locked in a tight battle with Sam Hornsey for the final laps and just missed out on fifth place but secured a strong sixth.
He started from the second row for race two in fourth, he had a shocking start and it dropped him back to ninth place. Working hard Luke got his head down and was locked in a battle with Jake Dixon and Sam Hornsey for fifth position. Despite his consistent lap times Luke was unable to make a pass and finished in seventh place. He missed the opening two rounds of the season but now sits in ninth place in the overall Championship table and eager to continue to climb up it for the remainder of the year.
Glenn Irwin - "I'm really disappointed about the weekend as we had a lot of problems throughout and we weren't able to find a set-up that worked well. We put in some good times but just not consistently. I wanted to fight for my lead in the Championship but that just wasn't possible this weekend at Brands.
The crash in race one was totally out of my hands, the bike locked up and spat me off and I don't know if it did some internal damage as I really struggled in race two with the front end. I really didn't want to crash again and just wanted to try and bring it home in one piece and get a few valuable Championship points."
Ben Wilson - "I came to Brands wanting two race finishes after the shocking few races I've had but I was hoping I might have been a little higher up the pecking order. It is so frustrating fighting for a top ten place when I used to be fighting for a podium. I need to get things sorted out and have a good second half to the season."
Luke Hedger - "It was a good weekend and I was in the top six for most of the weekend and again managed to go faster in each session. We had a few set-up troubles at the start of the weekend but we got that sorted out for the races, I was really pleased to be top Gearlink Kawasaki rider in both races and thank them for their help again."
MCE British SuperbikeMichael Rutter on the Gearlink Kawasaki Superbike had another tough weekend riding the Kawasaki ZX-10R. He qualified in 22nd place and was unfortunate to crash out of the opening race quite heavily, feeling sore and bashed up he was forced to retire in race two.Michael Rutter - "It has been a long time since I took a heavy crash and I'd forgotten how much it hurts! It was a quick crash and left me a little second-hand for race two, I think we did some damage to the bike in the crash that we didn't find before race two and I was forced to pull into the pit lane."
Team Manager Michael de Bidaph - "It was a tough weekend here at Brands Hatch for the Gearlink Kawasaki team. Glenn came here to try and defend his Championship lead and due to a bike problem in race one he crashed out which we must take the blame for. In race two he suffered with a problem on the front end and it kept trying to tuck on him but he nursed the bike home and secured some Championship points.
Ben came to Brands Hatch with the aim to finish two races and that is what he did. The pace has certainly upped this year and Ben has to adapt his riding style again and things have moved on since he last raced in the Championship. He is working so hard and puts in so much effort and I hope the results will come for him.
Luke has been our best and highest placed Gearlink Kawasaki rider all weekend and he has worked hard, set some consistent lap times and secured some strong results for the team. He has worked round any problems and raced two very good races and deserved the positions he gained.
We maybe went round in circles a little with Michael this weekend on the Superbike and did not quite get the set-up he needed. His crash in race one caused him to retire from the second race but we hope to make some improvements for Thruxton"
