The Pr1mo Bournemouth Kawasaki Racing team were back in British Superbike Championship action at the weekend and it proved to be another positive meeting for them with Chris Walker again putting in two superb rides. Winner at the previous round at Oulton Park, Chris took two well-deserved seventh place finishes and the 18-point haul has now moved him up to 7th overall in the Championship table, just two points adrift of the all-important top six Showdown places.
Due to a few issues in practice, Chris qualified in 16th place, but a solid start to the opening 16-lap race saw him move up to 14th place and with some good passes, he was up to 11th on lap 3 and on the edge of the top ten. Involved in a good battle for the bottom end of the top ten positions, Chris was briefly pushed back to 12th but by lap 6 he was up to 9th and battling hard with Swiss rider Patrick Muff for 8th. There was never more than a bikes length between the two and such was their pace, they were able to close in on early Championship leader Ian Lowry. Seventh place was anyone's and having overtaken Muff on lap 13, Chris repeated the feat a lap later on Lowry to claim the position and the nine points.
With the tenth fastest lap of the race, Chris was able to start the second race from the more advanced third row of the grid and he immediately moved up to eighth at the completion of the first lap. Briefly relegated to ninth, Chris moved back up to seventh on lap 4 and this soon became sixth as Championship leader Tommy Hill was forced to retire. However, Chris was part of a five-rider group battling for sixth place and positions were changing all the time but he secured seventh on lap ten when he overhauled fellow Kawasaki rider Stuart Easton.
There was also joy for Metzeler National Superstock 600cc Championship rider Kyle Wilks, with the 17-year old finishing in 12th place for not only his second successive points scoring finish but also his best result of the season.
Speaking afterwards, team owner Pete Extance said; "It was definitely a case of it all coming good on the day for us and we're delighted with all three race finishes. Chris struggled to find a good set-up in practice and qualifying but the team continued to work hard and they found a lot better set-up in the morning warm up. Chris felt a lot better coming into the race and although his race was compromised a bit when someone hit him from behind and dented the exhaust considerably, he was moving forward all the time and took a very good seventh. In the 2nd race, he again had excellent pace but had to slow when Tommy Bridewell crashed in front of him and that allowed the two WFR Honda's to go through. They managed to open up a gap but Chris fought back well and overtook Stuart Easton for another good seventh. Fourth was a distinct possibility but we're all really happy with the two seventh places and to be just two points off the Showdown positions at this stage of the season is superb so a big thanks to all the team and sponsors for helping us get there. A big well done to Kyle too who took his best result of the year in just his fourth race at this level. He missed practice due to sitting his exams so to end the weekend with 12th was a superb effort."
The British Superbike Championship now heads to Knockhill in Scotland with the meeting taking place on June 22-24 but the team now turn their attention to the roads once more with James Hillier contesting the Isle of Man TT Races. Practice takes place throughout next week with the first race, the 6-lap Superbike TT, due to get underway on Saturday 2nd June.
Picture by Tim Keeton - Impact Images
