MORE PODIUMS FOR GEARLINK KAWASAKI

Thruxton - Round 2

The MCE British Superbike season was action packed in the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship at Thruxton this weekend. With the scheduled sprint race cancelled on Saturday due to heavy rain the Performance Parts Ltd supplied Gearlink Kawasaki riders Alastair Seeley and Ben Wilson had two races on the Sunday and both achieving very good results, Alastair second and third and Ben a second and third.

Gearlink Kawasaki's Ben Wilson

In the tricky conditions over the weekend it was Alastair that ended up on the front row for the opening race in third place with Ben only 0.4 behind ended the session in fifth. The opening race was scheduled to be ten laps and the racing was extremely close and five riders were battling for the lead. An incident on lap six forced the race to be red flagged with Alastair taking second behind Stuart Easton and Ben 0.5 behind Stuart.

The second race scheduled for 18 laps was just as frantic and with concerns over tyre wear they cut the race distance to 15 laps and once again another red flag saw it become a 13 lap race. Ben, Alastair, Billy McConnell and Stuart Easton were continually swapping positions throughout the whole race and produced some of the best racing seen in years. This time it was Ben up to second and Alastair in third when the race was stopped and declared a result.

Ben Wilson - "It's been a good day for me and I'm really pleased for the results I got, Thruxton isn't my best circuit so to leave here with two podiums is great. It's going to be a tough season all year and who knows what is going to happen. I've really enjoyed being back out there and up there battling for the lead. It's always hard here with the slip streaming down the back straight and some of the riders are a little smaller than me, in both races I wanted to make a move on the last lap but both were cut short. You never know what will happen in racing but I'm really pleased to leave here with good points, I'd like to thank my sponsors and also the Gearlink Kawasaki team they have all worked really hard at a track I've struggled with in the past."

Wee Wizard- Alastair Seeley

Alastair Seeley - "They were both really good races today and it's always close at Thruxton, I managed to get a good set up early in the weekend which helped me as with the bad weather track time was limited on Saturday. I was trying to set something up for the last lap in the second race and was in a good position to make a move but it was cut short so had to settle for two podiums and I have left here leading the Championship so I am pretty happy. The Gearlink Kawasaki worked really well all weekend and we proved we have the speed to run with the Yamaha and Triumphs. Thanks must go to all my personal sponsors and also to the Gearlink Kawasaki team again for all their hard work."

Pirelli National Superstock 600s

In the Pirelli Superstock 600 class the two riders Luke Hedger and Nicole Mc Aleer also had a good weekend. Current British Motostar Champion Hedger found himself locked in a position fighting for a podium place in the Superstock 600 race, the youngster had a glimpse of how competitive his class is and what it is like to run up with the front runners. He was really strong in qualifying and was sixth on the grid and finished in 10th place overall after been locked in a battle of eight riders for third place.

Nicole Mc Aleer qualified for her first race with the Gearlink Kawasaki team and during the race she was slower working through the field, sitting in 35th place before she was forced to retire with a technical problem.

Luke Hedger - "That was a tough race, every weekend I'm learning what an aggressive Championship it is and that I need to step up my game and ride like them. I was really pleased with how qualifying went and got a good start, I was soon being swamped from all angles and you have to be really aggressive out there to be in with a chance. I got terrible arm pump from half way through the race and this was causing me huge problems trying to hold on around such a bumpy and fast circuit. I'm learning at each round what I need to do and I can't wait to get to Oulton Park."

Nicole Mc Aleer - "I'm really pleased to have qualified this weekend with the Gearlink Kawasaki and each session I was able to improve my times. I was happy with my times through the race and each lap they were improving and getting better, I lost some time after the safety car went back into the pit lane and dropped off the pack. I had to pull in as I was having an issue with the bike which wouldn't allow me to continue, we have made progress this weekend and I'm slowly getting my confidence back."

Team Manager Michael de Bidaph - "Well we had two Supersport races and four podiums, I'm certainly very happy with that and it's great to be back at the front of the field with both Ben and Alastair they have done a fantastic job.

We have always struggled a little in the past here so to get the results with have at a weaker track for us is brilliant. Alastair was able to find a good set up on his bike early on and with the weather conditions Ben found it a little more difficult but he was soon feeling confident with the bike after the team made some changes.

We were up there and battling with the other teams in both races and proved we can run with them on speed and it's great as we've put in a lot of hard work over the winter to make sure everything is right.

Luke is coming on leaps and bounds in the Stock 600 class, his confidence is building and he also now realises he needs to be quite aggressive as they give no space or room for error. His qualifying times were good and he is making very good progress quickly on a new bike.

We're pleased that Nicole managed to qualify and it is slowly building her confidence and she is managing to lower her times on each outing out on the bike we are really pleased with the weekend with all of our riders."


For more information on Gearlink Kawasaki please visit: www.gearlinkracing.com

We're pleased to support, sponsor and supply performance parts to Gealink Kawasaki racing. For more information on the parts we have to add some 'bionics to your bike' please visit www.performanceparts-ltd.com

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