Despite taking a win, second and fourth place in the final three races of the Fuchs Silkolene British Supersport championship at Brands Hatch; it was not enough to secure the title for Gearlink Kawasaki rider Ben Wilson who lost out by just one championship point to rival Alastair Seeley. But although Seeley may have won the trophy Wilson has been heralded by the fans as the people’s champion and provided them all with a fantastic display of racing throughout the season.
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| Wilson- missed title by Gnats whisker |
Going into the final round Wilson (29) trailed Seeley by 14 points and knew he had to win all three races in order to lift the trophy and although a tough challenge Wilson was determined to give it a go and see what unveiled.
Wilson was handed a lifeline in the first race as Seeley crashed leaving Ben to claim all 25 points and go into the final two races with an 11 point advantage over his rival. But with a damp track greeting him on Sunday, Ben made a cautious start in the slippery conditions and was swallowed up in the pack as they rounded the first corner. He recovered well and soon found his way through to fourth place. But Seeley was ahead of him and at the end of the race the advantage was down to just four points meaning Ben would have to win the final event to be sure of the title.
But it wasn’t to be as, although the Lincolnshire ace held the lead for the first four laps he was overhauled by Seeley who went on to take both the win and the title by a margin of just one championship point.
Meanwhile David Jones was unable to add to his points tally at Brands Hatch. He was riding well in the first race and up into the top 10 until he lost the front at Stirling Bend caused him to crash, his race over.
In race two David was circulating in a group of riders all challenging for 15th position. Positions changed at almost every corner and he finally crossed the finish line in 19th position.
The final race resulted in another 19th place. This time David had a lonely ride remaining in 19th to the chequered flag.
Wilson was handed a lifeline in the first race as Seeley crashed leaving Ben to claim all 25 points and go into the final two races with an 11 point advantage over his rival. But with a damp track greeting him on Sunday, Ben made a cautious start in the slippery conditions and was swallowed up in the pack as they rounded the first corner. He recovered well and soon found his way through to fourth place. But Seeley was ahead of him and at the end of the race the advantage was down to just four points meaning Ben would have to win the final event to be sure of the title.
But it wasn’t to be as, although the Lincolnshire ace held the lead for the first four laps he was overhauled by Seeley who went on to take both the win and the title by a margin of just one championship point.
Meanwhile David Jones was unable to add to his points tally at Brands Hatch. He was riding well in the first race and up into the top 10 until he lost the front at Stirling Bend caused him to crash, his race over.
In race two David was circulating in a group of riders all challenging for 15th position. Positions changed at almost every corner and he finally crossed the finish line in 19th position.
The final race resulted in another 19th place. This time David had a lonely ride remaining in 19th to the chequered flag.
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| Ben Wilson - arguably one of the most entertaining riders |
Ben Wilson - To say I am disappointed is an understatement; I am devastated as I had my heart set on winning the title this year. I managed to get the lead in the last race but made a couple of mistakes and that allowed Seeley to get ahead. Once he got the gap on me it was all over. To be fair the gap didn’t increase but fair play to him, he rode a good race and in the end took the title from under my nose. I want to say a big thank you to everyone at Gearlink Kawasaki, all my sponsors, supporters and also my family who have been behind me all season. I am just sorry we couldn’t have brought the title back for them.
David Jones – I had a good battle in the first race but unfortunately it got the better of me and I went down. But overall we have made huge progress with the bike. Nineteenth was not a good result for me in the last two races, I was hoping to be in the top 10 but it didn’t happen. I was faster than everyone ahead of me in race two but there were damp patches and when you go to overtake you go onto the wet stuff resulting in running wide and having big slides. That ruined that race for me and I went into the final event hoping to do much better. But I think I suffered a bit from lack of confidence from going down on Saturday and then the damp conditions earlier and once we got underway I had a few issues with the bike and I just wanted to bring the bike home safely. I would like to thank Norma and Michael and the Gearlink Kawasaki team for giving me the opportunity of riding for them over the past few races, I have enjoyed the experience immensely.
Michael de Bidaph – team owner and manager – We came to Brands Hatch with a big task on our hands to win this championship and we thought we may be able to do it. But Alastair Seeley has upped his game and has been phenomenally quick around here all weekend. But in the first race Ben pushed him into making a mistake and we thought it was all coming back our way. The rain this morning did us no favours whatsoever as Ben had to be careful because the track was so slippery and then in the final race we knew it was always going to be hard to beat Alastair and all I can say is that I am so disappointed, for Ben, myself and the team. I wanted to win for all our sponsors who have been so good to us. It is hard to take this at the moment but we will get over this and look to see what we are to do next year.
David has been chipping away again this weekend but his results havent been great perhaps because of the set up which we will look at after the weekend.
I would like to say a massive thank you to all our sponsors; I can’t name them all but they all know who they are. We couldn’t have done it without them and I appreciate what they have done for us.
David Jones – I had a good battle in the first race but unfortunately it got the better of me and I went down. But overall we have made huge progress with the bike. Nineteenth was not a good result for me in the last two races, I was hoping to be in the top 10 but it didn’t happen. I was faster than everyone ahead of me in race two but there were damp patches and when you go to overtake you go onto the wet stuff resulting in running wide and having big slides. That ruined that race for me and I went into the final event hoping to do much better. But I think I suffered a bit from lack of confidence from going down on Saturday and then the damp conditions earlier and once we got underway I had a few issues with the bike and I just wanted to bring the bike home safely. I would like to thank Norma and Michael and the Gearlink Kawasaki team for giving me the opportunity of riding for them over the past few races, I have enjoyed the experience immensely.
Michael de Bidaph – team owner and manager – We came to Brands Hatch with a big task on our hands to win this championship and we thought we may be able to do it. But Alastair Seeley has upped his game and has been phenomenally quick around here all weekend. But in the first race Ben pushed him into making a mistake and we thought it was all coming back our way. The rain this morning did us no favours whatsoever as Ben had to be careful because the track was so slippery and then in the final race we knew it was always going to be hard to beat Alastair and all I can say is that I am so disappointed, for Ben, myself and the team. I wanted to win for all our sponsors who have been so good to us. It is hard to take this at the moment but we will get over this and look to see what we are to do next year.
David has been chipping away again this weekend but his results havent been great perhaps because of the set up which we will look at after the weekend.
I would like to say a massive thank you to all our sponsors; I can’t name them all but they all know who they are. We couldn’t have done it without them and I appreciate what they have done for us.
Performance Parts Ltd are please to support, sponsor and supply Gearlink Kawasaki. For more information about the performance parts we have for YOUR bike please visit www.performanceparts-ltd.com
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