Buildbase BMW’s James Westmoreland will start the opening MCE British Superbike race at Silverstone from the second row and has regained his good form that has been missing over the last few rounds. The quiet Northerner has now fully recovered from a nasty thumb injury, but since he has been back he's been struggling with his bike.
His team setup his BMW exactly the same as team-mate, triple-champ Ryuichi Kiyonari. But in the end this didn’t work for Westmoreland and his crew have now altered the rear of his bike to make it easier when turning into corners. The improvements have made a positive impact on Westmoreland, and he is much happier and growing in confidence.
“It has been difficult, I'm not going to lie. My bike was identical to Kiyo's but I could not ride the bike. I can’t ride the bike like he does. So we have changed it and I am much happier and I am feeling confident again,” said Westmoreland, speaking to bikesportnews.com at the circuit.
“The bike and I are back being friends again, and I haven’t been able to say that for a long time. I am qualifying well again and setting a good pace, and it is good to be back on the second row.
“Kiyo’s bike is in a very different direction and I put my hands up and said that I struggled for a lot of the year. I haven’t forgotten how to ride - I just needed something different. There is still some work to do tomorrow though. At Cadwell I was aware of my thumb injury but after that it was not an issue as it hasn’t held me back.
“We have gone higher in the rear of the bike and it makes the bike turn better and I am happier. I needed something as for sure I am not a fifteenth place rider, and now we are more competitive.”
