It was a disappointing weekend at Brands Hatch for Blackhorse
Kawasaki as Victor Cox and Brad Anderson both crashed out from strong
positions in the latest rounds of the Metzeler National Superstock 1000
and 600 Championships respectively. As in recent rounds, Cox had again been well on the pace throughout the entire weekend, he was the highest placed Kawasaki rider in first qualifying as he finished the session second quickest and he also finished second fastest in Qualifying 2 to again qualify the Ninja ZX-10R on the front row of the grid.
Victor got a great start as he led the field out on to their first lap and the Trowbridge rider was still in front as they crossed the line at the end of the lap. However, Howie Mainwaring got past going into Paddock Hill bend and on the third lap Richard Cooper got past at Druids to relegate Victor to third. But Cox and the team's Ninja ZX-10R were both 'on song', being quickest through the second sector and more than capable of running at the front.
On the fourth lap, Jimmy Storrar went into third but it was still anyone's race with the top ten runners in the one TV camera shot. Then on the fifth lap a big moment for Cox as he somehow stayed on his bike as it did its level best to pitch him off at Druids, Victor however lost three places and dropped to sixth but by the end of the lap he had gamely fought his way back to fifth at the expense of Tristan Palmer.
On to the sixth lap, and with spots of rain reported at the back of the circuit, Cox had to ride a measured race to keep the leaders in touch whilst in turn fending off Palmer. On the eighth lap he got past Storrar to move into fourth and set about catching the three riders in front.
However it all went wrong at Paddock Hill on the ninth lap as Victor ran off the track and with the speed he was carrying it was impossible, despite his best efforts, to stay on board and he parted company from his machine. At first it seemed he was ok but his obvious pain at crashing was soon replaced by physical pain as he made his way off the circuit. A medical check-up thankfully revealed no serious injury.
Conor Cummins meanwhile narrowly missed out on the points when he finished in 18th place. Conor was looking to make it two successive points scoring finishes but he missed out by just two seconds after another strong ride.
A solid start to the weekend saw Conor post the 19th fastest time in the first qualifying session around the 2.43-mile GP circuit and he went quicker still in the second and final session, taking three tenths off his time to record a new best of 1m30.659s. Although he slipped back to 22nd, he was only just over 1.5s off pole position and well in contention for scoring points come race day.
An excellent start to the 15-lap race made that possibility come closer to reality as he leapt up to 16th place at the end of the first lap, right on the tail of fellow road racer John McGuinness. It was here where Conor remained until lap 4 when fellow Kawasaki rider Patrick Medcalf pushed him back a place to 17th but he was still well in contention for the points, part of an eight rider group battling for 12th place.
Although Chris Northover and Lee Costello overhauled him, he remained in 18th when team-mate Cox crashed out but any hopes of climbing any higher were ended when the race was stopped prematurely due to a rain shower hitting the Kent venue and so he had to settle for another 18th place finish.
Speaking afterwards, a satisfied Conor said: "Whilst I didn't finish in the points today, I thoroughly enjoyed today's race and learnt an awful lot about the bike so it should stand us in good stead for the rest of the season. I got a really good start and made a good jump forward so the plan was to run as consistent a pace as I could. I was right behind John so wanted to follow him but I made a couple of mistakes here and there and struggled for consistency which was why I ended up dropping back a bit. It's been hard to find a good set-up this weekend but the bike was a lot better for the race and if it wasn't for my little mistakes I'm sure we could have been in the points."
"It's a new bike and we're learning all the time, continually making strides forward so it would be great if we could get some solid, consistent finishes in the final few rounds. I'm enjoying myself and am getting ever closer to being where I want to be so a big thanks to everyone in the Blackhorse Kawasaki team and my personal sponsors - we're not a million miles away so we can be confident heading to the next round."
Brad Anderson was also enjoying one of his best meetings of the season on the Ninja ZX-6R. From 12th on the grid for the Metzeler National Superstock 600 race, Anderson had fought his way up to eighth and was challenging strongly for a place in the top six when he unfortunately crashed out also unhurt, ironically at Paddock Hill.
It's a return to the roads for Blackhorse Kawasaki with the Ulster Grand Prix this weekend, where the famous event's second most successful competitor Ian Lougher will be looking to add to his list of successes round the Dundrod circuit, of which he is also the joint second most successful rider.
Photos:
Victor Cox on the Blackhorse Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R
Brad Anderson and the Blackhorse Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R
Courtesy:
Clive Challinor Motorsport Photography