After their extremely successful campaign at the Isle of Man TT Races, the Quattro Plant Kawasaki team resumed their 2013 British Superbike Championship challenge at Knockhill at the weekend and Chris Walker ensured the success story continued with two excellent fifth place finishes.
After a five-week break, the Nottinghamshire rider was keen to maintain his top six position in the Championship and he signalled his intentions with a fine performance in qualifying, which set him up nicely for Sunday’s two 30-lap races. Conditions at the Scottish venue were perfect and a strong start to the opening race saw Chris complete the first lap in seventh place. A lap later he moved up to sixth and with Alex Lowes crashing out at half race distance, he was promoted up to fifth, a position he comfortably held all the way to the chequered flag.
Starting the second race from the advanced position of the second row, Chris was in confident mood and another superb start meant he immediately occupied fifth place. Although it would prove to be a relatively lonely ride for Chris and the Kawasaki ZX-10R, he was never seriously under threat from riders behind and he duly crossed the line for his second fifth place of the weekend. The haul of 22 points, his best thus far this season, not only consolidated his sixth place in the Championship table but also reduced the gap to fifth placed Jon Kirkham to 11 points.
Team-mate Danny Buchan qualified in 21st place but a heavy crash in the Sunday morning warm-up session left him with arm injuries and he was sadly unable to contest either of the two races.
Pete Extance, Team Manager: “What can I say, it’s been another fantastic weekend for Chris and the two fifth places were excellent results and thoroughly deserved by both him and the team. Twelve months ago, this round was a major disappointment with both our riders getting injured but we’ve certainly avenged that in fine style. Chris rode well throughout the weekend and it’s good to come back from our roads campaign and continue the strong results. It’s Chris’ best weekend of the season so far and consolidates his position in the top six so it’s definitely a case of ‘so far, so good’.”
“Danny showed well during practice and it’s a real shame he tipped off in morning warm-up. He was a bit banged up and needed to have quite a few stitches in his arm so he was unable to ride but he’ll regroup for the next round and, hopefully, will have better fortune there.”
The next round of the series takes place at Snetterton, Norfolk on July 5-7.
Photo courtest of Tim Keeton – Impact Images
