POINT SCORING WEEKEND FOR HAWK KAWASAKI British Superbikes – Silverstone – Round 12 The three Hawk Kawasaki riders had a positive weekend at Silverstone Circuit this weekend, 15th – 17th September. Dean Thomas, Craig Coxhell and Peter Hickman all gave a strong performance at the 2.2-mile Northamptonshire track. The Penultimate round of the Bennetts British Superbike series once again proved eventful. Dean Thomas struggled during qualifying to find a good set up on the Kawasaki ZX10-R that suited the fast circuit. Ending the 50-minute qualifying session in a low 15th place the 33-year-old Australian was left with a lot of work to do. Two strong starts in both races saw him gain two fantastic eighth place finishes in the two 20-lap races. Commenting Thomas said “It’s been a tough couple of months for me but this weekend I felt a lot fitter in myself and my results go to prove that. I am now finishing in the positions I was finishing before I had the accident in July. It’s been a long slow process to get back to this level and this is the first weekend that I’ve not felt completely shattered during the races. I am pleased with what I’ve achieved, as it’s been a testing few months. I would like to thank all the people who wished me well with my recovery, it meant a lot.” The youngest British Superbike rider on the field, Peter Hickman, once again proved that he is learning and improving on every outing on the Hawk Kawasaki. After out qualifying his team-mates, Thomas and Coxhell, in 11th, he was confident as he entered into the races. A poor start in the first race saw the youngster slip down the pack but he soon got his head down and gained 10th place. The second race proved eventful for him as an electrical problem on the sighting lap saw him pull into the pits and have to swap onto his spare machine. Unable to take his position on the grid he had to start from the back and still earned a creditable 15th place overall in race two. Speaking with him “I’m really disappointed with what happened today, I had a great qualifying session and I was feeling really comfortable heading into the races but I just seemed to have no luck. I got a poor start in race one but had a disaster in race two and had to start from the back. It’s just one of those things, I’m very happy with a top ten finish in race one and hopefully I will be able to get some strong results at the final rounds at Brands. If I piece everything together at Brands, qualifying, the start and race it should be a good one for me.” 23-year-old Craig Coxhell struggled to find his form this weekend, after qualifying in 14th place on the grid, it was going to prove a difficult race. A good start saw him moving through the field and was in a good point scoring position when he clipped the curve at Maggots corner and crashed out of race one. The crash caused damage to his bike and the young Aussie had to ride his spare bike in race two, not having had much time on this bike through the weekend it was not set-up how he would have liked. Different suspension and fork settings proved difficult and he could only salvage 14th place in race 2. A disappointed Coxhell said “I’m just gutted, I really wanted to get a good result this weekend for myself and also the team. I found it difficult to get a good set up on the bike and therefore I didn’t qualify very well. I wasn’t hurt in the crash but the bike had a bit of damage, which meant I had to use my spare bike which I’d hardly touched all weekend. I’m just hoping Brands will be a better one for me.” The Final Round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship will be at Brands Hatch on the 29th, 30th September and 1st October, the two Superbike races will be worth double points after the cancellation of the Mondello Park round. SUPERBIKE RESULT RACE 1: R Kiyonari Honda G Lavilla Ducati K Harris Honda J Rea Honda M Rutter Honda T Hill Yamaha B Wilson Suzuki Dean Thomas Hawk Kawasaki Glen Richards Honda Peter Hickman Hawk Kawasaki SUPERBIKE RESULT RACE 2: R Kiyonari Honda G Lavilla Ducati L Haslam Ducati S Byrne Suzuki J Rea Honda K Harris Honda M Rutter Honda Dean Thomas Hawk Kawasaki J Haydon Suzuki B Wilson Suzuki 14th Craig Coxhell Hawk Kawasaki 15th Peter Hickman Hawk Kawasaki More, from a press release issued by Centurion Racing: STUNNING ELEVENTH WIN FOR SPALDING British Supersport Cup Silverstone 19-year-old Pete Spalding once again put on an impressive performance in the Supersport Cup race at Silverstone at the weekend, 15th – 17th September. Not only did he take his eleventh win from eleven races but the teenager also secured eighth in the overall Supersport race. Spalding was back to his usual form after a disappointing race at Cadwell at the end of August and proved that he is a very talented rider who can gain some extremely positive results in the main Championship. Looking strong throughout the weekend the New Milton based rider gained a strong qualifying position of eleventh place for the 18-lap race. A good start saw him hold his position on the first lap and he was locked in a tight scrap with Richard Cooper and Jamie Robinson for the opening laps of the race. A tidy manoeuvre on James Hiller saw him sitting in ninth position and hunting down Honda rider Joe Dickinson, race leader Leon Camier crashed out with two laps to go which saw Spalding sitting comfortably in eighth position. Spalding was very happy with his result commenting “It’s been another good weekend for me and the team and I’m glad that I got a strong overall result here as I really struggled at Cadwell a few weeks ago. We have a double round at Brands which I am looking forward to and hope that I can continue with my 100% winning record, it would be a nice feeling to have won all the Cup races. Silverstone is a fast circuit but everything felt right and I was very happy with how the weekend panned out.” Team Manager Gary Stubbington added “It’s been another great weekend for Centurion Racing and Pete did a fantastic job. We were a little disappointed at Cadwell and knew that things had to be turned around this weekend, and they were. Everyone worked exceptionally hard as always and we got the results that we deserve. Pete is consistently now getting in the top ten in the main Championship which is a great achievement in our first main year of racing. We are really looking forward to Brands and hope that we can end the year on a high note.” SUPERSPORT RACE RESULT: C Crutchlow Honda T Sykes Suzuki D Hobbs Honda K Murphy Kawasaki J Vincent Honda J Robinson Honda J Dickinson Honda Pete Spalding Centurion Racing – Honda S Neate Honda R Cooper Yamaha SUPERSPORT CUP CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: Pete Spalding 250 A Walker 186 C Elkin 116