Gearlink Kawasaki riders Chris Martin and Steven Neate suffered mixed results at Snetterton on Sunday in round five of the Fuchs/Silkolene British Supersport championship when both were forced wide to avoid a first lap tangle. But Chris Martin managed to get back on track and complete his race in a creditable eighth position while Steven Neate came back from 27th place on the first lap to finish a fighting 17th, just missing out on the points.
Qualifying didn’t go as well as the team hoped and both Steven and Chris began their campaign from a fifth row grid position.
As the race got underway both Gearlink Kawasaki riders were pushed wide. Chris Martin dropped to 15th place but soon recovered his composure and began to work his way back through the midfielders to join in a five-way battle for fifth place.
The race came to an early end because of a fallen rider at Russells Chicane and Martin awarded eighth place to pick up a further eight championship points.
Meanwhile, Steven Neate was also pushed wide in the early stages. He got back on track but was down in 22nd position and faced an uphill struggle to get back into contention for a points finish.
But Steven managed to make his way back through to 17th place before the red flag put paid to any further progress.
Michael de Bidaph - Team Owner/Manager It’s been a bit of a mixed bag for us at Snetterton. We struggled a bit over the weekend, particularly on speed. We didn’t qualify that well with either rider and missed out on second qualifying because of the rain or we could have maybe made the time up. But we had a strong race and Chris would possibly have finished a little higher up if we hadn’t had the red flag situation but I am pleased with his eighth place finish.
Steven had a bit of bad luck and was pushed out losing a lot of ground. But on saying that he has been very strong all weekend so his position doesn’t reflect how well he has been riding.
Given the circumstances, both riders have done well here and we are all looking forward to Mallory, a circuit that will suit the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6Rs.
Chris Martin "It’s been a reasonable result in the end as we got an eighth place. We have struggled all weekend with speed at Snetterton but we have enjoyed it although it’s been hard work. We are looking forward to Mallory now and getting back to a nice tight and twisty circuit. Its just one of those things, we all have to go to circuits that suit some bikes better than others and Mallory should be much better for us. We have come away with eighth and some more points and I am still fifth so we will look to capitalise on that at Mallory."
Steven Neate "I was pushed off at the first corner so had to make my way back through the field. I was on the back of the group challenging for 12th place when the red flag came out which is a shame. But for that I was maybe looking at a top 10 finish so I am a bit disappointed with 17th."
"I had been pretty strong all weekend and was sixth fastest in morning warm up, recording laps times faster than in qualifying so was happy with my performance – just not the end result."
Gearlink Kawasaki reconvenes at Mallory Park in Leicestershire for round six of the series on June 29th.
Picture Credit: Turn One Photography
