The latest round of the Pirelli
National Superstock 600 Championship was an uphill battle for Kevin from start
to finish. The problems began from the very first session of the weekend on
Friday evening, when in the Team #109 Kawasaki ZX6R developed problems, forcing
Kevin out of the session having completed less than three laps.
After a very late night working on the
bike into the very early hours of the morning ahead of qualifying on Saturday
evening, Kevin made it back on track for his second session of the weekend.
However, disaster struck once again when the bike suffered more issues, forcing
him out once again after completing just one full lap of the track.
It was looking like his weekend was
over, but after meeting with Jonathan Rea on Saturday evening, the three-time
world champion helped Kevin source parts for the Team #109 Kawasaki ahead of
race day on Sunday. After yet another late night working on the bike until the early
hours of the morning, Kevin was able to make the grid on Sunday for the race.
Failing to set a qualifying time on Saturday evening saw Kevin starting from
the back of the grid on Sunday, but he wasn’t long of making his way through
the pack.
After just the opening lap Kevin had
made his way into sixteenth position and was lapping the same pace as the
leading group. By the seventh lap of the race he had progressed into eleventh
position and was closing in on tenth. However, after so much effort both on and
off the track it wasn’t to be, and Kevin was forced to retire once again.
After championship leader Ryan Vickers
took part in the World Supersport class over the weekend and wasn’t able to
compete in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 class, Kevin still remains
within twenty-four points of the top spot, in third position in the series.
Speaking about the weekend Kevin said; “It has definitely been the toughest
weekend of my career. I raced my heart out but unfortunately it was not meant
to be. From start to finish we had our backs up against the wall with problems
from the very start of the weekend. I gave it my absolute best in the race
going from twenty-sixth to eleventh in five laps, and catching the next group
fast. But then the bike had problems again and I had to retire on lap six.”
“I am gutted for my Dad,
and I can’t thank him enough for everything he has done this weekend. I really
cannot express how grateful I am to have such an amazing person to look up to.
I also want to say a special thank you to my girlfriend Sarah for being with me
all weekend, and when the going got tough she kept me together. Also, a big
thank you to Jonathan Rea who helped me source parts to get me back out on
track for the race witch I’m so proud and grateful for.”
“I can only say thank you to everyone
who put in so much effort to get me out on track on Sunday, it has been a very
tough weekend, but now it’s time to put it behind us and I am really looking
forward to coming back and hopefully challenging for the podium again come
round five at Snetterton in just over two weeks time.”
Next up for Team #109 is the fourth
round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Snetterton with Kevin
once again in action in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 class, and after a
number of rounds with the class being absent, Eunan McGlinchey and Brendan
Glover will once again be back in action in the Dickies Junior Supersport
class, being Team #109 will once again have a full stable of bikes in action.
Words and images James McCann
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