Round 1 – Bennetts British Superbike Championship Meeting Brands Hatch, Kent. Friday 24th to Sunday 26th March 2006 OLLIE AND TOM RACK UP THE POINTS The 2006 British Championship season got underway in superb style yesterday at Brands Hatch in Kent with Etchilhampton near Devizes in Wiltshire brothers Ollie and Tommy Bridewell both scoring points on their championship debuts. Racing in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship for the very first time, 20 year old Ollie followed up a superb 15th place in his debut outing with a brilliant top ten placing ahead of former champion Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne in a wet and windy race two to end the day in joint 14th in the series aboard his 1000cc Vivaldi Suzuki. “It was really tricky out there but I’m pleased with my results and to end up highest placed Vivaldi rider in race two was great. It felt like thirteen laps rather than thirty and the tyres were fantastic but all credit to the team for providing me with a great bike, I guess I’ll be buying the drinks now!” said a delighted Ollie. Meanwhile younger brother Tommy overcame a crash during qualifying to end up in 15th place on his debut ride in the British Supersport Championship. Despite the handicap of a finger injury sustained during pre-season testing, the 17 year-old claimed a single point for fifteenth place aboard the Vivaldi Suzuki following the red-flag which curtailed the race a few laps short. “I’m pleased with the result especially as we had so little track time and it was tough out there. This is the most competitive championship I’ve ever raced in and whilst I didn’t underestimate the opposition, it’s proving even harder than I expected but I’m confident that I can secure a better result next time out” said Tommy. The next round of the respective championships takes place in two weeks time at Donington Park, Leicestershire over the weekend of April 7/8/9th More, from a press release issued by Hawk Kawasaki: Strong Performance for Hawk Riders Brands Hatch Indy 24th – 26th March The three Hawk Kawasaki riders made a good start at the opening round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch this weekend (26th March). Two of the riders, Dean Thomas and Craig Coxhell left the two races at Brands Indy confidently placed in the top ten in the overall Championship table with youngster Peter Hickman making huge progress throughout the weekend. With varying weather conditions over the three days it was difficult to judge which way it would swing come race day. With a dry first race and wet second race the riders had to adapt to various different race set-ups but each in turn adjusted well and gained creditable results at the end of the day. Australian Dean Thomas secured a fantastic front row qualifying position of 4th place and rode two strong races against the factory set-up of Honda, Ducati and Suzuki and finished with a 7th and 8th place respectively. Leaving Thomas with a comfortably 6th position in the overall Championship. Thomas commented ‘It’s been a good weekend in general considering the lack of testing time we have had compared to some of the other teams. We still have a long way to go with the bikes but they are definitely competitive and I know once we sort a couple of aspects out, that we will be able to run up at the front and gain some strong results.’ His Aussie team-mate Craig Coxhell suffered a mixed array of results with a 18th position in race one and an outstanding 4th position in the second race. Nerves got the better of the 23-year-old in race one, which saw him make a few costly mistakes. Once settled in, and having got the first race out of the way Coxhell was extremely impressive in only his second race for Hawk Kawasaki and was delighted with the result. Speaking with him ‘I was really nervous in the first race and although I managed to get a good start I got boxed in at the first and second corner which lost me a lot of time. I was perhaps pushing it a little too hard in race one, which forced me to make some errors. I was a lot more relaxed in the second race and throughly enjoyed racing which showed in my overall result. The bike felt perfect in the wet and has given me a lot more confidence. I’ve not ridden on the British tracks since 2004 and even then I only had one year to learn the circuits so I am still on a steep learning curve.’ At only 18-years of age Peter Hickman is the youngest British Superbike rider and was making his debut Superbike appearance, he did himself and the Hawk team proud. Constantly improving on his times throughout the weekend and progressing forward through the pack on every outing, he was unlucky not to score points in both races with a 22nd and 17th finishes. The quiet youngster said ‘I’m fairly happy with how things have gone this weekend. It’s a whole new experience for me, I’d never ridden in the wet on a Superbike or on wet tyres so each time I am out on the bike I am learning something new. This is a whole new ball game for me but I’m really enjoying the opportunity.’ Team Manager Stuart Hicken was very content with the progress of the riders saying ‘All I wanted this weekend was six finishes and that’s what I got so I certainly can’t complain. We’ve had no testing time and probably only done around 60 miles in total on the bikes and they have all run without problems this weekend. The mechanics have done a fantastic job and have worked exceptionally hard to ensure that things were in place for this round. We’ve learnt a lot about the new ZX10’s and are certainly hoping to be stronger for Donington. I’m extremely pleased for everyone especially the sponsors of Hawk Kawasaki.’ Speaking on behalf of the Hawk racing teams main sponsor Andrews Sykes Group, Kelvin Fogwill, said “We have found that our continued investment in sponsoring the Hawk Superbike team has paid dividends by enabling us to continually raise the awareness of both the Andrews and the Sykes brands. In addition to raising our profile it is a great morale booster for employees”. He continued, “More than 1000 of Andrews Sykes’ VIP customers attended British Superbike rounds during the 2005 season. The successes of the Hawk Kawasaki team on the track are always celebrated across the group”. National hire specialists Andrews Sykes are in their sixth year of sponsorship with Hawk Kawasaki. Race 1 Result 1.G Lavilla (Ducati), 2. K Harris (Honda), 3. M Rutter (Honda), 4. R Kiyonari (Honda), 5. J Rea (Honda), 6. S Byrne (Suzuki), 7. M Laverty (Honda), 8. D Thomas (Hawk Kawasaki), 9. G Richards (Honda), 10. J Haydon (Suzuki) 18. C Coxhell (Hawk Kawasaki), 21. P Hickman (Hawk Kawasaki) Race 2 Result 1. R Kiyonari (Honda), 2. L Haslam (Ducati), 3. G Lavilla (Ducati), 4. C Coxhell (Hawk Kawasaki), 5. K Harris (Honda), 6. T Hill (Yamaha), 7. J Haydon (Suzuki), 8. D Thomas (Hawk Kawasaki), 9. G Richards (Honda), 10. O Bridewell (Suzuki), 17. P Hickman (Hawk Kawasaki) Championship Positions after Round 1 Lavilla 41 Kiyonari 38 Harris 31 Haslam 20 Rutter 16 Thomas 16 Byrne 15 Haydon 15 Richards 14 Coxhell 13