Performance Parts Sponsored Gearlink Kawasaki is celebrating a double victory by Ben Wilson in the second round of the British Supersport championship at Oulton Park in which Wilson now has a 20 point advantage at the head of the rider standings over nearest rival Jack Kennedy.
Photo: Jon Jessop
Qualifying threw up a few problems for Wilson but he persevered and began the short, 12-lap sprint race from second place on the grid just 200ths of a second away from pole man Alistair Seeley.
Seeley made the running on the first lap but Wilson made his move at Lodge on the second lap and took the lead. Jack Kennedy tried a pass at Shell on lap three but Wilson fended him off and retained his slender lead all the way to the chequered flag crossing the finish line for his second win of the current campaign.
Ben was on pole for race two, but as they shot off the line it was Seeley who once again got the hole shot into Old Hall and staved off the Gearlink Kawasaki rider’s advances until lap two when Ben nipped through at Lodge to take the lead at the end of the lap. He held station until the midway stage of the 16 lap affair when Seeley managed to get past him once again. But the Irishman’s lead was short-lived as Wilson powered the Kawasaki back ahead two laps later and held off the opposition, extending his lead to 2.5s at the chequered flag to claim his second victory of the weekend and extend his championship lead to 20 points over Jack Kennedy who came in third.
Fellow Gearlink Kawasaki rider Jesse Trayler was unfortunate to crash heavily in qualifying and had to sit out race one. He was placed right at the back of the grid for race two in 35th position but he made a fantastic start and moved straight through to 23rd on the first lap. But with four laps to go his Gearlink Kawasaki suffered a technical problem which forced the luckless rider to retire from 19th place.
Ben Wilson - "I really enjoyed both races and am really pleased that I was able to take the double win for Gearlink Kawasaki. The team have worked really hard for me this weekend and I am delighted I could repay them with this set of results. I will take this double victory and move on to Croft where I will try to maintain the momentum to further extend my series lead."
Jesse Trayler – "All in all it’s been a tough weekend for me with the crash in qualifying. I have to say a massive thanks to the boys who worked really hard to put the bike back together. Up to the bike developing a problem I really enjoyed the second race. I got a good start and was up into 19th place and looking to pick off a few ahead of me. I was hoping for a better weekend after going so well at Oulton at the end of last season but it wasn’t to be. But it’s onwards and upwards and I have to put this behind me and move on to Croft."
Michael de Bidaph – team owner and manager - "The weekend didn’t start off that well for us. We struggled a bit in practice and qualifying as we had a problem with the front forks. But we changed them for the first race and it seemed to work as Ben won! We were not sure the problem was fully sorted and after last week we were a bit worried over tyre wear for race two. We knew we couldn’t go with a zero so we opted for a one. Ben is an absolute star, I can’t praise him enough. He has done so much for the team and also for himself and is right at the top of his game this year. I have had comments from others, including Tony Carter from Eurosport, who said he is riding the best he has ever seen and I am over the moon with what we have achieved this weekend.
Obviously I am disappointed with Jesse. He struggled in qualifying and didn’t get the time he needed and then had a major off which caused him to miss the first race because we had insufficient time to get the bike repaired; then he had a problem in race two and had to pull in.
But I can’t let that distract from the good that Ben has achieved. The team did a good job this weekend and we are leaving Oulton on a big high. We realise its going to be a tough season and everyone in this championship knows that but hey – we can do it – so bring it on."
The next round is at Croft in North Yorkshire over the weekend of May 13-15.
For more information on Akrapovic Exhausts and Galfer Brakes (used by Gearlink Kawasaki) and hundreds of other Performance Parts to add "Bionics to your bike" please visit www.performanceparts-ltd.com
No comments:
Post a Comment