National Superstock 600: Solid weekend for Mason Law

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Mason Law secured a stunning 12th place finish in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 race at Oulton Park this weekend on his R&G-supported Chris Walker Race School Kawasaki ZX-6R.

The 17-year-old from Benfleet, Essex rode an extremely mature race and battled off some hard challenges to gain another points scoring position. He qualified in 19th place at the 2.7-mile circuit and during each session he managed to take off several seconds and was over a second faster in the race than during qualifying.

He struggled on the start and was lying in 21st place after the opening lap of the 14-lap race and knew he had to work hard to push his way through the pack. Fighting he a made number of confident passes and worked his way up to a points scoring position by lap five. He eventually got up to 12th place on the Chris Walker Race School Kawasaki and was very pleased with his result.

Mason Law – “I’m really pleased with my final result in the race and despite it being another tough weekend for us. I came and did a test just over a week ago and my time this weekend was four seconds faster than what I did then. Each time I go out on the Kawasaki it just seems to get better and better, it’s a really tough class and I am certainly being put through my paces.

If I could get my qualifying sorted out it should give me a better chance of being higher up the field. Every track I am still learning and getting data set up on the bike so I’m always a little bit on the back foot compared to some of the teams that have been here for years.

It’s a great experience I’m loving it and feeling more confident at each race meeting; I’m really enjoying the time and this opportunity. That was a really tough race today and I really had to work hard to get that result. Being in 19th on the grid made things difficult and you get locked up in the first few laps trying to make safe passes. I got tied up several times during the race and there were a few occasions where I was forced to brake earlier than I would have liked to avoid any collisions.

It was challenging but I really worked hard and I know my race pace was really good and roughly the same as the front runners but I just got locked up in too many battles in the opening laps and couldn’t work my way through far enough to get near the front. It was hard work and I found the last few laps quite difficult as I was pushing at the start to make up some places. I’m really pleased with the weekend and looking forward to the rest of the season.”

pics by Jon Jessop Photography

Highs and Lows for Gearlink Kawasaki at Oulton Park

It was another action-packed weekend for the R&G-supported Gearlink Kawasaki team in the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship at Oulton Park circuit for Round Three of the series.

Seeley on his way to victory and the championship lead

Alastair Seeley had a stunning weekend for the Gearlink Kawasaki team and secured a great second place in Race One and went one better in Race Two; gaining another great win for the Gearlink team.

His team-mate Ben Wilson had a very different weekend and was unable to start race one after damaging his bike during qualifying and finished a valiant seventh in Race Two, despite starting from the back of the grid.

The Irishman Seeley has now left the third round of the Championship leading the Supersport series by two points from Stuart Easton. Seeley was on a mission this weekend and he and Easton were in another league.

Alastair Seeley – “It has been a great weekend and a really good feeling to leave here leading the Championship. I learnt in the race yesterday where I could and could not make a move and today I tried a few different places but I was not able to bridge a gap so I knew I had to make a move on the last lap. I had to get the drive coming out of Druids and keep the front wheel down which is where I made the mistake yesterday. I was able to pull it off today and I went in pretty hot into Lodge on the brakes and was able to make the move. Stuart and I had two really good races and I’m just pleased that I was able to secure some really good Championship points this weekend and hope this will continue for the rest of the season. I would like to thank my mechanic Arron and all the Gearlink Kawasaki team for all their work this weekend.”

Ben Wilson – “I am so disappointed this weekend with what happened. Oulton is one of my favourite tracks and I was really hoping to leave here with a couple of good results under my belt but it just was not the case. I had an off in qualifying and it left the Gearlink Kawasaki boys a lot of work to do to my bike and it just didn’t happen. I’m totally gutted and had to start the second race from the back, luckily Oulton is one of the tracks you can make passes at. I got a great start and I was making some good passes but despite some good lap times the front runners had already made a break and were setting similar times to myself so I had to settle for seventh. I just hope I can get things back on track at Knockhill next month and try and get my season going again. I am still lying in fourth in the Championship standings and it’s a long season.”

An unlucky weekend for Wilson

Pics by http://www.whitelineimages.com

R&G: Protecting, Sponsoring and Supporting on Track

R&G, the leading motorcycle crash protection products company, will once again support a long and varied list of teams, racers and riding schools in 2013.

Unfortunately, crashing is an inevitable part of racing, which is why, since its formation in 1999, R&G’s effective and uncompromising crash protection products have been trusted by race teams and riders at every tier to protect their machines.

For 2013, R&G sponsorship varies from supporting promising talent at club level to backing front-running teams in the British Superbike paddock.

Chris Walker Race School ZX-6R fitted with R&G protection

Chris Walker is no stranger to R&G products; his 30 Kawasaki ZX-6R Chris Walker Race School bikes are all fitted with a comprehensive range of protection and ‘The Stalker’ is fielding Mason Law in the National Superstock 600 championship on an R&G-kitted bike, having won the championship in 2012 with Lee Jackson.

Chris Walker, Quattro Kawasaki

The Quattro Plant Kawasaki team, which Walker and team mate Danny Buchan ride for in the Superbike class, feature R&G protection in 2013 along with the bikes of the team’s National Superstock 1000 riders, Steve Henegan and Kyle Wilks. The team will also field James Hillier at major road races, like the Isle of Man TT and North West 200.

Alastair Seeley, Gearlink Kawasaki

For the fifth successive season, Gearlink Kawasaki will also rely on R&G for its ZX-6Rs of Alastair Seeley and Ben Wilson in the fierce British Supersport class and also for Nicole McAleer and Luke Hedger in the National Superstock 600 division.

Oxford TAG team’s five bikes feature a large amount of R&G protection

The five-strong Oxford TAG Triumph team will also benefit from front-to-back R&G protection along with the recently-introduced Rearsets on the Daytona 675R machines of Scott Smart, Richard Cooper, Shaun Winfield and John Simpson in British Supersport and Gary Winfield in National Superstock 600.

R&G is further represented in National Superstock 1000 on the RAF Reserves Honda Fireblade of Simon Andrews and on the ZX-10Rs of Team WD-40 riders Jon Railton and Tommy Aquino and of Ian Lougher’s ILR Kawasaki team fielding Victor Cox and Filip Backlund.

Tommy Aquino, WD-40

Michael Dunlop will also be putting R&G’s Tank Sliders, Huggers and Knee Sliders to the extreme demands of International Road Racing on his selection of Superbike, Superstock and Supersport machines.

#28 Victor Cox, ILR Kawasaki

Away from racing but still on track, the California Superbike School has been working closely with R&G for many years now and has helped the Hampshire-based firm develop its carbon Tank Sliders and recently AMA-approved Engine Case Covers. In 2013, the track school is once again relying on R&G protection for its fleet of Yamaha R6s and FZ8s, along with supplying all instructors with R&G Aero Knee Sliders.

Visit www.rg-racing.com and www.facebook.com/crashprotection

R&G RIDERS – NATIONAL SUPERSTOCK 600 ROUND 2: THRUXTON

National Superstock 600 (Round 2 – Thruxton) – R&G Riders

Nick Anderson, Be Wiser Kawasaki Team

It was a much more confident and positive weekend for Be Wiser Kawasaki Team National Superstock 600 rider Nick Anderson at the super-fast Thruxton Circuit gaining a stunning fifth place on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R.

Nick Anderson

Anderson was having a great weekend building on his confidence and drastically improved his lap times on each session. He managed to put in a good time during qualifying and was eighth on the grid for the 14-lap race. He got a good start but the safety car was deployed on the opening lap due to a bike fire. The car was out for five laps and this bunched the pack together, Nick got his head down on the restart and he was soon locked in an eight bike battle for third place. He moved up to third at one point and then got slip streamed down the back straight. It was a fraught battle but he rode a very confident race and finished fifth.

 

Nick Anderson – “I’m so pleased with the result today, it was hard at Brands and I felt like I’d be thrown in at the deep end a little bit so to come here and qualify and race well is a real confidence boast. It’s a really competitive Championship and you really have to be on the ball out there. I was disappointed after Brands but to come here and finish fifth is great. The Be Wiser Kawasaki was awesome all weekend and I’d like to thank the team for all their hard work. I now know what I have to do and I am prepared to work hard and try and get some more good results. I can’t wait to get to Oulton Park now and get back out there.”

Mason Law, Chris Walker Race School

Mason Law once again made huge progress this weekend at round two of the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship at Thruxton Circuit and gained 15^th place in the 14-lap race. The 17-year-old from Essex has never been to the very fast 2.4-mile circuit before and each session was a learning curve for him on the Chris Walker Race School Kawasaki.

Mason Law on the grid at Thruxton

He ended up qualifying in 26^th in the dry qualifying session and was unable to get out on track for second qualifying on the Saturday because of the heavy rainfall. Despite missing vital track time the youngster was keen to progress in the race, he got a good start and did not get involved in any of the carnage in the opening laps and soon settled down and was making strong passes through the field and took over two seconds off his lap time from his qualifying time. He was looking strong and was locked in a tight battle with Adam Lyon for 14^th place.

Mason Law - “I really enjoyed learning the track at Thruxton it’s super-fast, a little blind but good fun it’s just a shame with the weather that we didn’t get out on track as much as I would have liked.

I was getting to grips with everything and felt really comfortable about the race and getting a good result. I managed to get a good start and I did have to back off when I saw a bike bouncing across the track in front of me which thankfully I managed to avoid.

It was hard from where I was to see the lights on the safety car so it took me a little by surprise when it pulled in; I just got my head down and stuck with the pack in front of me. I was able to make some good strong passes into the Club Chicane and I’d been struggling there all weekend, we changed the pads and I felt mega into that corner during the race.

It was a really hard race and now I am beginning to learn my limits and how fierce the Championship is, I’m really pleased to have got in the points and all the hard work paid off over the weekend. The only tracks I have ridden at in the past are Brands, Cadwell and Donington so each time it’s all about learning, Oulton is another new one but I’m really looking forward to getting there and hopefully I can pick it up quickly and get some more points.”

Luke Hedger, Nicole Mc Aleer – Gearlink Kawasaki

In the Pirelli Superstock 600 class the two riders Luke Hedger and Nicole Mc Aleer also had a good weekend. Current British Motostar Champion Hedger found himself locked in a position fighting for a podium place in the Superstock 600 race, the youngster had a glimpse of how competitive his class is and what it is like to run up with the front runners. He was really strong in qualifying and was sixth on the grid and finished in 10^th place overall after been locked in a battle of eight riders for third place.

Luke Hedger

Nicole Mc Aleer qualified for her first race with the Gearlink Kawasaki team and during the race she was slower working through the field, sitting in 35^th place before she was forced to retire with a technical problem.

Luke Hedger – “That was a tough race, every weekend I’m learning what an aggressive Championship it is and that I need to step up my game and ride like them. I was really pleased with how qualifying went and got a good start, I was soon being swamped from all angles and you have to be really aggressive out there to be in with a chance. I got terrible arm pump from half way through the race and this was causing me huge problems trying to hold on around such a bumpy and fast circuit. I’m learning at each round what I need to do and I can’t wait to get to Oulton Park.”

Nicole McAleer

Nicole Mc Aleer – “I’m really pleased to have qualified this weekend with the Gearlink Kawasaki and each session I was able to improve my times. I was happy with my times through the race and each lap they were improving and getting better, I lost some time after the safety car went back into the pit lane and dropped off the pack. I had to pull in as I was having an issue with the bike which wouldn’t allow me to continue, we have made progress this weekend and I’m slowly getting my confidence back.”

ILR Kawasaki on the pace at season opener

National Superstock 1000 Championship

Round One, Brands Hatch (April 7)

New ILR Kawasaki signing and championship debutant Filip Backlund got both his and his R&G protected team’s season off to a great start when he finished second by just 0.06s in Sunday’s first round of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship at Brands Hatch.

Backlund on his way to 2nd place

Filip Backlund

Victor Cox getting a feel for his R&G Rearsets

It was a remarkable performance from the 22-year old Swedish rider who had only raced at the Kent circuit once before in 2008 and this was his first race over the shorter Indy circuit. His team mate Victor Cox rode determinedly to finish 12th.

With 58 riders challenging for 38 places on the grid, free practice and qualifying took the form of the two group/race shoot-out system with Filip and Victor in the second group.
Backlund, who has settled easily into the team, quickly showed that he hasn’t arrived in the UK simply to make up the numbers as he finished the free practice session in third place overall, just 0.48s off the pace. Cox meanwhile was taking things steady on his Pirelli shod ZX-10R and finished 16th overall.

First qualifying was held in better conditions and Filip proved his performance earlier in the day was no fluke as he went round the 1.2 miles circuit almost 5 seconds quicker to finish the session as the highest placed Kawasaki rider in second. Victor improved by over 6 seconds to finish 14th.

With the weather slowly improving, team boss Ian Lougher knew the pace would intensify even more for the second session and decided to make a few small changes to the bikes.
This indeed proved to be the case as the second session saw both riders improve further to finish 5th and 16th respectively, Filip was only 0.39s off pole with Victor just 0.24s further back. Such is the competitive nature of this class, just over 1 second covered the top 30 riders.

Unbelievably in Sunday morning’s warm-up session the water pump shaft bolts worked loose on both Victor and Filip’s bikes, Victor took no part in the session as Filip managed to put in 10 laps.
Thanks to a bit of eleventh hour work on the team’s part, both riders were able to take their place on the grid for the race.

As the riders crossed the line at the end of the opening lap, Backlund was in second, just behind race leader John McGuinness and in turn just ahead of the chasing pack including Cox in 13th.
On the fifth lap, one of the race favourites Simon Andrews crashed out without injury at Clark Curve as McGuinness began to open a gap on the field to almost two seconds.
On the next lap the gap increased by another second over a Kawasaki express train consisting of Adam Jenkinson in second, Peter Ward, Backlund, Jonathan Howarth, Jonathan Railton, Hudson Kennaugh and Danny Johnson with Victor a further 1.4s adrift of this group in 13th.

At half race distance the lead was down slightly to just over two seconds with Filip now firmly embroiled in a frantic five rider battle for second. Positions remained the same for the next few laps but with nine laps to go McGuinness’ lead was reduced considerably and as the race reached two thirds distance the Morecambe man had been pegged back and now led by under half a second from Johnson, Ward and Backlund who had now pulled a gap on the chasers. Victor meanwhile was still battling on in 13th with Joe Burns, Rob NcNealy and Kyle Wilks for company.

With six laps to go Filip moved into second and was now on McGuinness’ rear tyre with Jenkinson and Ward still a threat, and as the race neared it’s conclusion at 20 laps, the battle for the podium places was between those four. A bit further back, Victor was now up to 12th and starting to close on Howarth and Jimmy Storrar.

Three laps remained as Jenkinson and Backlund moved ahead of McGuinness with Ward beginning to lose touch slightly on the first three. There was nothing in it between Jenkinson and Backlund as they crossed the line to start their last lap with just 0.09s separating them.
Despite Filip’s best efforts he just couldn’t find a way through and the two passed the chequered flag virtually together with Jenkinson getting the nod by the narrowest of margins at just 0.06s with McGuinness almost a second adrift in third. Victor held on to finish a clear 12th, just over half a second from a top ten finish.

The action now moves on to Hampshire with the next round of the championship taking place at Thruxton this weekend.

RAF Reserves Honda: National Superstock 1000 Round 1, Brands Hatch

Despite qualifying second on the hugely competitive National Superstock 1000 grid, R&G supported RAF Reserves Honda and rider Simon Andrews didn’t have the season opener like they wanted, but showed promising pace.

Team manager Lee Hardy from the Forward Engineering Squadron at RAF Marham said “We have had a very up and down weekend at the opening round of the season. We didn’t come away from Brands Hatch with the result the team and Simon deserved, after such an impressive display in practice and qualifying the team knew that they had the pace to comfortably run at the front during the race. Simon qualified second on the grid for Sunday’s race and only missed out on the pole by 100^th of a second.

“I was amazed at his ability and raw natural talent, having only ridden the bike once before this round at a very cold Donington Park test day. Simon proved to the team and everyone else that he will be a serious contender for the National Superstock 1000 Championship this year.

The team suffered a small technical problem on the grid that forced Simon to be pushed off and into pit lane, having left the grid resulted in starting from dead last. Getting through thirty eight riders on a 1.2 mile circuit was always going to be a massive challenge; I knew that if anyone could pull this off then we were in with a good chance. Simon pushed hard and made fantastic progress into twentieth place before he suffered an unfortunate crash at Clearways on lap five of the race.

The main thing is there are a lot more positives than negatives to take away from this weekend, we can build from here and there is still more to come from the RAF Reserves Honda and Simon. Paramount importance to the team was that Simon was uninjured in the crash, we have spoken since and he is ready to come back fighting at Thruxton this weekend”.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Royal Air Force Reserves, RAF Marham and all sponsors associated with the team, everyone’s help, support and involvement has been exceptional again this season already.    

Podiums & Wins for Gearlink Kawasaki

It was a strong start to the year for the R&G-supported Gearlink Kawasaki Team at Round One of the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship this past weekend at Brands Hatch.

This year long term Gearlink Kawasaki rider Ben Wilson is joined by former British Supersport Champion Alastair Seeley racing on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R. Alastair gained a stunning third and first place place and Ben secured fourth and third places in the two Supersport races.

The first sprint race on Saturday afternoon got off to an exciting start after the initial race was cut short due to a red flag, on the re-start Ben Wilson got an awesome hole-shot and led the race for the first three laps. It was a very close race and Ben and Alastair were soon swapping green paint work and dicing for third position, they swapped positions on several laps and Alastair took third and went down to a photo finish with Billy McConnell for second with the pair being split by only 0.007 over the line.

Seeley wins on his debut with Gearlink Kawasaki

Their times from Race One put Alastair on pole for race two and Ben in second position, as the lights changed green the two Gearlink Kawasaki riders shot out of the gate with Alastair first into turn one and Ben a close second. It was one of the most exciting British Supersport races in years with seven riders battling it out at one point for the overall win. It was the two stunning green Gearlink Kawasaki’s that were fighting for the number one place. Ben managed to get through to the front and was holding his own despite a few challenges from Luke Jones and Alastair. Ben was leading the race and swapping positions with his team-mate, Luke and Billy McConnell and was back at the front for the final lap, a mistake out of Graham Hill Bend cost him and Alastair seized the opportunity to take the lead and the eventual race win, with Billy second and Ben in third, with only 0.4 splitting the top three.

Alastair Seeley – “It’s been a really mega weekend for myself and the Gearlink Kawasaki Team, it’s good for my confidence after having a tough 2012 season to get back on the top step of the podium. We’ve not had much testing time and so it’s a great result for us all and to leave here leading the Championship is a great feeling. The team has worked really hard and we got a good set up early in the weekend, I felt strong from the start and I’m really happy with the results we got here. I’m looking forward to getting to Thruxton it suits my style and it has similarities of the North West for me, I enjoy racing there and hope we will be able to get similar results there.”

Wilson – as aggressive as ever

Ben Wilson – “Well it’s been a pretty good start to the year for me, already better than 2012 so hopefully we can work on this and progress and move forward. I felt much better on the bike this weekend and despite losing a bit of time during qualifying after I suffered a small technical problem I was happy to qualify where I did. I got good starts in both races and we made a wrong tyre choice for the restart of race one after it was red flagged and I struggled a little with grip but I was excited about race two and knew I had a good set up on the bike. The second race was certainly tough and this year is going to go down to the wire, I’m angry at myself for the mistake I made on the last lap and handed the win away but I know I raced well and held my own and fought back throughout the race. I can’t wait to get to Thruxton and some more time out on the bike.”