Kawasaki BCperformance moves forward at Wakefield Park

Round two of the 2019 Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) at Wakefield Park in New South Wales marked a step in the right direction for Kawasaki BCperformance, with Bryan Staring climbing to sixth in the series point-standings.

Western Australian standout Staring lodged the ninth-fastest time in Kawasaki Superbike qualifying, which saw him having to fight his way through the field in both outings. In race one he managed to climb to seventh by the end of the 20 laps, however race two was declared at the 13-lap mark due to a red-flag incident when he was in P8.

Still in the early stages of developing the Ninja ZX-10RR with the Kawasaki BCperformance organisation in ASBK trim, Staring was credited seventh overall and now sits sixth in the championship standings. He continues to set his sights on climbing the order further.

“It was definitely a challenge this weekend,” said Staring. “I had a seventh and an eighth, but the conversation at the end of the weekend was that I’m actually closer to the front of the championship than what I was before the start of the round.

“Although we’re particularly disappointed with our results here, overall we’re in a better position than this time last year and a better position than coming into the weekend. That’s okay, it was a tough round and knew it was going to be a difficult circuit for us, but we scored decent points in both races.”

After showing signs of improvement, the weekend unfortunately ended in an unfortunate way for team newcomer Lachlan Epis. The full-time ASBK rookie pushed through for 17th in the opening race, although his campaign ended prematurely when he crashed heavily in race two. He was transported to hospital for further medical evaluation.

Kawasaki BCperformance team manager Kelvin Reilly acknowledged it was a difficult weekend for the entire squad, however he commended the team for their efforts, assuring the end results delivered in Goulburn didn’t come from a lack of trying. He’s confident a breakthrough is around the corner.

“It’s been a tough weekend for us on all accounts,” Reilly commented. “The Ninja ZX-10RR is a great bike, the team is a good team and the riders are top riders who are putting in a lot of work, but it just didn’t happen for us this weekend. We’ll be going back to the workshop, looking at our data and working out where we go from here.

“Unfortunately for Lachlan, he’s been taken to hospital for a check-up – he feels fine, but they’re just doing a few scans to make sure he’s alright. He was having a good day, riding really well and his lap-times were coming down. As a rookie he’s going really well and I’m gutted he fell off, so we all hope he’s okay and back for The Bend.”

Kawasaki BCperformance Junior Team riders Callum O’Brien and Tayla Relph pushed through their own adversity aboard the Ninja 400 in the Australian Supersport 300 Championship, finishing 18th and 21st respectively. Leading Kawasaki in the category was young Senna Agius in seventh overall.

It was a positive weekend for Kawasaki-supported riders Matt Walters and GSR Kawasaki’s Glenn Scott (GSR Kawasaki) in the Superbike division, who both found each other on circuit at numerous times, completing the weekend in eighth and 10th positions overall. They’re ninth and 11th in points after two of seven rounds.

The 2019 Australian Superbike Championship series will now head to South Australia for round three of the series scheduled for 26-28 April at The Bend Motorsport Park. Visit www.kawasaki.com.au for further information on Kawasaki Motors Australia.

Editorial courtesy of Kawasaki Motors Australia

Photographs courtesy of Foremost Media