News 30 Sep 2015

SA Kawasaki BCperformance Wakefield Park race report

SA Kawasaki BCperformance press release:

Round five of the Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championships concluded this Sunday with a glorious, warm and sunny day at Wakefield Park, Goulburn – a very welcome change from the two previous days of wind and constant rain. The SA Kawasaki BCperformance team impressed again with more sensational results, testament to the entire team’s high standards and work ethic.

Following yesterday’s mishaps, superbike rider Ben Burke was forced to sit out race one as his bike was still being repaired, however in race two, he managed a very credible 9th while in race three, picked up the pace again to finish in 7th.

Ben is continually chipping away and getting closer to the leading pack, furthermore today’s result was even more impressive as he was riding with a broken bone in his foot from the crash the previous day. ‘It was extremely and tough and demanding for myself and the team’ says Ben ‘Having continually throwing the bike down the road, Ronnie and Rick dug deep to keep getting the bike back on track each time.

I thank the team for all there hard work and am looking forward to paying them back with some good results at Winton’. Making his debut at Wakefield Park, Evan Byles is also making similar improvements with both superbike riders sharing data and experiences with their ZX-10Rs in order to continually refine them. Evan’s results of 10th, 11th and 12th in the three races are good results but certainly don’t tell the whole story in just how much Evan has improved.

‘My first time racing at Wakefield Park certainly wasn’t boring!’ Evan explains ‘The tight bumpy nature of the track makes a Superbike feel very powerful and take some effort to keep it smooth. I was pleased with my qualifying time and just spent Saturday on wet tyres hoping for an opportunity to take advantage of and keeping the bike shiny side up. Sunday was very enjoyable with bright sun and warm conditions and was really pleased to pass one of the factory guys on the last corner, last lap of race 1.

I was also happy to set consistent times and my personal best in the final race. Thanks as always to my mechanic Kirsty and the team and of course my wife Cath for letting me out to play’.The team’s supersport riders, Kyle Buckley and Paul Young both put in outstanding performances over the entire weekend.

Paul continually improved the set-up of his ZX-6R, coming away with a 12th, 11th and 10th, despite not having the opportunity to do any dry testing at Wakefield Park. Kyle continued on from his successes on Saturday with two fifth places and then to round out the weekend, won the final race of the day by 1.1sec from rival Callum Spriggs.

Kyle’s efforts this weekend have been utterly sensational and he only narrowly missed out on taking the overall points win for Sunday’s racing. ‘Really solid weekend at Wakefield, we were strong in testing and able to carry the pace through to racing. Mixed conditions made things tricky but the team made the right calls all weekend and managed to get me at the front. Stoked with my first wins of the year and keen to keep it rolling.

A massive thanks to my SA Kawasaki BCperformance for getting everything out of me and the bike, looking forward to Winton… Braaaaappp’ says the rather excited Queenslander. The two Ninja 300 Cup riders had similarly successful weekends, trading places on the podium.

This time, it was Paul Young out in front, winning all three races, thereby taking out the overall points win and his class wins. Paul’s efforts on the 300 are sensational to witness and it is continually surprising just how fast he can make that little bike go, despite having all of 38 horsepower.

‘What a fantastic weekend for the team! We had our fair share of misfortune as well, but to come away from Wakefield with Jimmy and Kyle winning their classes on Saturday, then me winning all 3 races on Sunday and Kyle taking out the final Supersport race with a win, well that’s one hell of a good result, and one the whole team thoroughly deserves’ says Paul.

The team’s junior 300 rider, Jimmy Broadbent had a slightly more frustrating day, finishing in 9th, 8th and then had a minor spill in the final lap of the third race, recording a DNF. However, considering just how far Jimmy has come, those results are still fantastic – he is riding with his head and showing plenty of patience in his riding, congratulations Jimmy! ‘Loved Wakefield, for my first time there I got my first win and overall round win on Saturday and I wish to dedicate that to the SA Kawasaki BCperformance team.

Sunday we were up the front and improved every race. Overall it was a very positive weekend for me and from here will keep learning and improving. Thanks to Kelvin Reilly, the team and all the sponsors. Looking forward to Winton’ says the delighted Jimmy.

Overall, the team is immensely pleased with the results and are the just rewards for an enormous amount of hard work from every single member. However, the work certainly doesn’t stop there, with all of the bikes back in the workshop now being prepared for pre-race testing at Winton. Thank you again to all of our sponsors and all of those who contribute to the teams successes.

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