Ben Wilson rode his Gearlink Kawasaki to a winning double at Croft Circuit over the weekend and has now won five of the six races held this season and leads the British Supersport championship by a massive 39 points from Jack Kennedy with Alistair Seeley a further 10 points adrift in third place. Jesse Trayler was unlucky to be taken out of a strong points scoring position in Saturday’s sprint race but fought back to complete Sunday’s second encounter in 15th position to pick up a championship point bringing his total to seven.
Ben Wilson began the sprint race from pole position taking the lead on the second of the planned 13 laps and held station until the red flag brought the race to an early end at 10 laps giving the 29 year old Lincolnshire rider his third successive victory for Gearlink Kawasaki.
Starting the second race on Sunday from second place on the grid Wilson was third at turn one but by the end of the lap he had reeled in the two riders ahead and headed the field. He was pushed back to second by Billy McConnell mid race but was content to follow in his tyre tracks until he was ready to make his move. But McConnell made a mistake at Sunny and Ben nipped through to retake the lead which he held to the chequered flag powering the Gearlink Kawasaki over the finish line to take his second win of the weekend bringing his points tally to 138.
Meanwhile Jesse Trayler qualified his Gearlink Kawasaki in 17th place for the first race and got away to an amazing start to move into 10th place on the second lap. But he was caught by another rider at the hairpin who clipped his front wheel and sent him scuttling onto the tarmac.
Starting race two from 13th place on the grid – his best start of the season – Jesse was unable to capitalise on that and ended up being pushed down as far as 18th mid-race. But he made a concerted effort and completed the 15 laps in a points scoring position of 15th.
BEN WILSON - "The first race went to plan and I was feeling very strong out there. I knew that I just needed to bide my time in the second race as I could see that Billy’s tyre was shot. I went with a harder compound which was the right choice and it lasted to the end of the race. I just kept my head down and we got another fantastic result. I have to say a massive thank you to Michael and Norma and all the staff at Gearlink Kawasaki who have worked so hard again this weekend to make sure I had the perfect bike to bring home another double set of maximum points."
JESSE TRAYLER - "In the first race I was up inside the top 10 and running at a good pace. I improved my lap time from qualifying and it’s just unfortunate that I ran a little wide at the hairpin. Dean Hipwell came up the inside and just tapped my front wheel and down I went. In the second race I was a little disappointed. That was my best qualifying and after the pace we showed yesterday I was so annoyed that I couldn’t find the times. I made a few mistakes and instead of me making a move on others they were making the moves on me. Things just didn’t come together for me but all in all it’s been a good weekend for the team and for Ben to get another double victory is fantastic."
MICHAEL de BIDAPH – team owner and manager - "The weekend started wet so we decided not to go out in the first free practice. There was nothing to achieve as the conditions were neither one thing nor the other. We worked on some settings in the second session as we were struggling a bit for grip and qualifying was no different. But Ben put it on pole with a fastest lap of any Supersport machine here at Croft .Come the first race he was amazing again. He won it and when the red flag halted the race Jack Kennedy thought he was going to beat him but absolutely not and he proved that by going out and doing the double once again. Even though Ben lost the lead in the second race he fought back and won the race. It just shows how supreme he is and the talent he has as a rider is unbelievable. As a team we are so pleased we have him as our rider and its great, not only for the team but for all our sponsors and Kawasaki Motors UK. We just have to keep going like this all season, it’s all about points and I think we have to keep chipping away and keep the points coming in as we have now extended our lead again this week.
Jesse has been there or thereabouts this weekend. In the first race he was up there and unfortunately just got taken out which is a great shame. In the race today he just struggled to get things together. But he finished in the points so we will just keep working with him. It’s good to have two riders in the points and one on the top step once again."
The next round is at Gearlink Kawasaki’s home circuit of Thruxton over the Bank Holiday weekend of May 28-30.
Gearlink Kawasaki use Akrapovic Exhaust Eystems and Galfer Brakes. Performance Parts Ltd, Official UK importer of Akrapovic and Galfer are pleased to support both riders. Anyone watching the racing will have noticed Ben in particular was awesome on the brakes - and the Galfers give him confidence when braking.
If you want further information about these products or the hundreds of other Performance Parts available for YOUR BIKE please visit www.performanceparts-ltd.com
Photos: Jon Jessop
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