Kawasaki Ninja 250R riders Luke Burgess and Olly Simpson have gotten their 2012 Australian 250cc Production Class Championship campaigns off to a successful start by taking first and second respectively at the series opener at Phillip Island on Friday 24th February.

In what proved to be some of the closest and most hotly contested racing of the WSBK weekend, Mackay Kawasaki’s Luke Burgess posted the fastest lap time of the race on his way to the race and round win.

“I was pretty confident that I was going to do well .I’ve raced the Ninja 250R quite a bit before but they’ve been restricted for this series to be more competitive so I wasn’t sure how the bike was going to go,” said Burgess.

“I ended up coming away with the win after some close racing so it was a good result. I’d like to thank Kawasaki Australia, Mackay Kawasaki, United Fasteners, Tomsey Racing, S&S Polishing, JP Piping Systems and Shell Oil.”

After qualifying in pole position, 14 year old Olly Simpson from SA took second place on his Ninja 250R, just .091 seconds behind Burgess. Burgess and Simpson were in a league of their own at Phillip Island finishing the race 24 seconds ahead of third place.

“Luke (Burgess) and I had a good battle. I was hoping to win and was unlucky. I think I have a very good chance at winning the Championship. I know I have to be consistent, not crash and get some race wins. I’d like to thank Kawasaki, Contour Camera’s and SA Motorcycles.” said Simpson.