Gearlink Kawasaki celebrated the first podium finish of the new campaign when Boston rider Ben Wilson rode to a fantastic third place in the rain affected second round of the Fuchs/Silkolene British Supersport championship at Oulton Park on Monday.
Unfortunately Chris Martin was unable to join his teammate as he was sidelined with a broken ankle sustained in the dying seconds of qualifying the previous day.
Chris had topped the leaderboard throughout the weekend and earned himself a front row start to Monday’s race but after being knocked back from pole to fourth place he went out to give it one last shot before the session came to a close. Unfortunately things didn’t go quite to plan and Chris parted company with the bike resulting in a broken ankle.
The British Supersport race was started in the dry and Wilson got a flying start from the second row to move straight into fourth place at Turn One. But the leader crashed on lap two bringing out the safety car and eventually the red flag one lap later.
By the time the all clear was given for the re-start, the rain clouds were threatening, making tyre choice a lottery. While some brave souls opted to stick with their original choice, Wilson made a last minute decision to run with a full wet on the front and an intermediate on the rear.
As the race finally got underway Wilson shot into the lead but soon discovered the track was drier than anticipated and he fell back to 20th place.
But as the rain began to fall the front runners suddenly found they had little or no grip and began to slow but Wilson’s tyres worked well in the wet conditions and he was able to plough through the field at a fast rate of knots to take up third place on lap nine and bring the Ninja ZX-6R home to give Gearlink Kawasaki their first podium finish of the new campaign.
Marcus Woodbine found it difficult to be competitive in the Superstock 600 class and struggled throughout the weekend. Once again he failed to make it into the main race and had to be content with an outing in the shoot out race. But although he managed to make it up into the top 11 at the start, he slid off uninjured at Druids on the first lap, his weekend over.
Ben Wilson:"I took a massive gamble on tyre choice and it paid off handsomely. At the start of the race the track was bone dry and although I was first into Turn One I realised I was not on the right tyres to stay there and dropped like a stone down the field to 20TH. But I got my head down and stuck with it and before long the much-needed rain began to fall and I was able to move forward. It turned out to be the right decision on tyre choice but it was a huge risk. At the end of the day, you have to take a risk now and then and it paid off for me this time. I have to say a big thank you to the Gearlink Kawasaki team who have all worked so hard this weekend to keep me out there in the difficult conditions."
Michael de Bidaph – Team Owner and Manager:
"What a brilliant end to the weekend for Gearlink Kawasaki. We have had so many positives during the weekend. Chris was awesome, holding pole for so long and of course after his off and the resulting broken bone in his ankle we were really down. But we have two riders and did expect Ben to do well. With the call for the wet race we thought we had totally got it wrong with our tyre choice but Ben pulled it back, excellent stuff, what can I say. All credit to Ben and also to the team who have worked so hard this weekend to keep the bikes out there. We have been rewarded with a podium finish and once Chris is back up and running we will have two top riders out there who will be striving to bring more podiums our way.
"Marcus appears to be struggling in such a strong class and we will have to look at ways of helping him to advance. He is a little out of his depth and needs to find a way forward; we will discuss the possibilities with him during the course of the next few days."
Next Round – Donington Park – Whit Monday, May 25
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Dean Owen
