DOUBLE DELIGHT FOR GEARLINK KAWASAKI AT PARTY IN THE PARK

Gearlink Kawasaki enjoyed a double victory by Ben Wilson at Cadwell Park over the Bank Holiday weekend with Ben picking up the maximum 50 points haul to extend his series lead in the Fuchs Silkolene British Supersport championship back to 53 points over nearest rival Alastair Seeley with three rounds - seven races – remaining. New recruit David Jones rode to a points finish in 15th place on his debut for the team but was forced out of the second encounter with an electrical fault on the Gearlink Kawasaki ZX-6R.

However the weekend’s celebrations were marred by the tragic death of 18-year-old Ben Gautrey who lost his life in the Superstock 600 race on Monday. Ben was a member of the MWR/Gearlink Kawasaki Superstock team and a close friend of Ben Wilson who dedicated his win on Monday to him.

Wilson, from Kirton near Boston, was in fine form throughout the weekend and fastest in free practice and qualifying. He began Sunday’s 12-lap sprint race from pole position but did not get away to his usual fast start. He moved up into second place behind Seeley as they headed towards Turn One and as they crossed the start line for lap two was right on his tail. Wilson was not to be denied the lead and scorched past his rival on the straight and immediately began to pull away.

Ben Wilson - flying, in more ways than one..

Wilson was never troubled again and went on to cross the finish line for his seventh win of the current campaign well ahead of Seeley who finished some 3.4 seconds behind him.

Starting the feature race on Monday from pole position Wilson once again got a sluggish start and was fourth away. But as they went through Charlie’s he was up to second and although Seeley tried to defend his line Wilson passed him on the straight at the start of lap two. This time he was unable to shake off his opponent and the pair circulated less than a second apart for the majority of the 16 laps.  Seeley came within 0.3s of Wilson on lap nine and as they rounded Barn Corner was looking for a way past. But Wilson wasn’t having it and accelerated away. Seeley made a mistake and missed a gear which caused him to lose ground and Wilson pressed on to take the win with an advantage of 3.3s at the chequered flag.

Meanwhile David Jones was getting to grips with his Gearlink Kawasaki machine and posted some respectable lap times during practice and qualifying. He began the shorter 12-lap sprint race from the fifth row of the grid in 15th place and maintained his position through the opening few laps. He moved past Ant Rogers into 13th position mid race before encountering a problem with his machine that caused him to lose power and drop down to 15th on the penultimate lap. But, determined to bring home his first points for Gearlink Kawasaki Jones persevered and completed his race in 15th place to score his first championship point for the team. Sadly he was unable to repeat this in the second race as the electrical problem that plagued his earlier performance returned and he was forced to retire after just three laps of race two.

This double victory gives Wilson a further 50 championship points and he now has an advantage of 53 points over Seeley. But with seven races and a further 175 points on offer at the final three rounds the championship is by no means over and Wilson cannot afford to sit on his laurels. The next round is at Donington Park on September 11 and the Lincolnshire rider will be aiming to secure two more top results to maintain his advantage over Seeley.
 
Ben Wilson - "I didn’t get the best of starts in race one and Alastair got a bit of a break on me on the first lap. I soon got past McConnell and chased after Seeley passing him on the second lap. Then it was just a case of getting my head down, get into a rhythm and pull away from him. I didn’t really want to get into a situation where he was right up with me and trying to dive past at every corner.  On the last lap I had a look behind me as I didn’t realise how much of a lead I had. Race two went much the same way and obviously I am very pleased with the results, it is really special to get a double win in front of the home crowd and it’s a fantastic feeling but all this fades into insignificance after the accident involving my teammate Ben Gautrey. I want to dedicate this win to him and God bless him."

Ben Wilson - dedicated his victory to Ben Gautrey

David Jones – "Since I jumped on the bike at Mallory I have got on quite well with the bike so it was just a matter of knuckling down this weekend to see what I could come up with. First time out here at Cadwell I managed to finish in the points so I am really pleased. The bike is mint, there are just a couple of little issues with set up but you cant get the bike set up perfectly first time out and its just a matter of getting it right then we can begin to knock the seconds off and collect points. I am so sorry that the weekend has ended so sadly for the team with the loss of Ben Gautrey, my thoughts are with his family and team members."

David Jones - solid start with Gearlink Kawasaki

Michael de Bidaph – team owner and manager – "The weekend has gone to plan for us, it couldn’t have been any better. Ben has been great all weekend and just dominated this place, he has been awesome. In race one he just took off, no one else got a look in and he won with a good lead. Monday’s race was not quite so easy. Alastair Seeley came back with some good lap times and was much closer. But Ben always had a little something in reserve and upped his game pushing Alastair into making a mistake. After that it was game over and Ben cleared off and won in true style so it was absolutely fantastic for the team and also for Ben at his home track. It’s been a mega weekend."

"We are so happy with the way that our new rider David Jones has settled in. He has been there or thereabouts and gone better that we expected for his first ride on the Gearlink Kawasaki. Unfortunately he encountered an electrical fault which set him back but he still finished in the points and we are really happy with him. Race two saw the fault reappear and he was forced out in the early stages but we will move on to Donington and see if he can do even better then."

"We had some bad news today when young talented rider Ben Gautrey who rides in our satellite Superstock 600 series unfortunately lost his life when he came off at the Mountain section of the course on the first lap. It is a tragic end to the weekend. It is terrible that we have to deal with this and it has saddened all of the team and of course it has taken the edge off the great weekend we have had with Ben. My heart goes out to his family and friends at this difficult time for them."

Performance Parts Ltd would like to offer sincere sympathies to the family of Ben Gautrey.


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