From a press release issued by Hawk Kawasaki:

MONDELLO WINNERS, HAWK, HEAD TO THRUXTON IN BOYANT MOOD

The British Superbike Championship heads to Thruxton this weekend to do battle in the sixth round of the series on the notoriously fast 2.357 mile Hampshire circuit. Hawk Kawasaki riders Scott Smart and Glen Richards are hoping for a repeat performance of Mondello, where Smart took a superb win in race one and Richards completed the podium in an excellent third.

Although fast, Thruxton has no true straights. Its clockwise course is made up of some of the fastest bends on the BSB calendar, so it is, as Smart describes. “A big balls track.

“I go alright there,” he said. “But Glen goes outstandingly well there and he was right up there last year. I think this could be the meeting where Glen has a really good result. My main target going into this race is to pass Kagayama in the points and that’s going to be a lot easier now he’s out with a broken collarbone. Third in the championship will be an outstanding result for the ZX-10R in its first year. Two fifths can take me to third and I’m pretty confident I can do that.”

His team mate, Richards, took his Hawk Kawasaki ZX-7RR to a podium finish at Thruxton in 2003, despite being down on power, and is confident of a fine showing this weekend.

“Thruxton was good last year,” explained the Aussie. “It’s another track like Mondello in that none of the other teams really get to test there so the ground’s a bit more even when we get there. Now we’ve got the bike working better there’s every chance I could get on the top step of the podium. A lot of it depends on getting my number one bike sorted. If we can do that we’ll definitely be in with a shout. I’ve also been working hard on my fitness and I’m getting stronger and stronger all the time. Since Mondello I’ve been working really hard because I wasn’t able to do much training after I hurt myself at Brands and now I’ve caught up I’m feeling a lot better. Physically I’m feeling a lot better and when you’re physically better I think you’re a lot better mentally too. This could be a good weekend for us, but we need to get on the front row because you can make it hard for yourself if you don’t qualify up the front.”

Thruxton also marks the return of the highly-competitive National Superstock Cup. Hawk Kawasaki’s campaigner within the series, 17 year-old Peter Hickman, is revved-up for the challenge of Thruxton and the first to race in a month.

“It seems ages since we were out,” said Hickman. “Because Superstock didn’t go to Mondello. I’ve been training hard though and getting track time aboard the ZX-10R on a few track days, so I’m really up for this weekend. I’m not that familiar with Thruxton so I’ll be talking to Scott and Glen for pointers. The aim, as always, is to qualify well and bring her home in the points.”

Free practice starts on Friday June 4.

BSB CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 4 ROUNDS

1) John Reynolds, Suzuki, 207. 2) Michael Rutter, Honda, 174. 3) Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, 152. 4) Scott Smart, Hawk Kawasaki, 130. 5) Sean Emmett, Ducati, 105. 6) Dean Thomas, Ducati, 84. 7) Glen Richards, Hawk Kawasaki, 78. 8) Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, 76. 9) Tommy Hill, Yamaha, 54. 10) Gary Mason, Yamaha, 49. 11) Craig Coxhell, Honda, 38. 12) Jon Kirkham, Suzuki, 35. 13) James Ellison, Yamaha, 33. 14) Kieran Clarke, Yamaha, 27