RAF Reserves Kawasaki’s Jake Dixon finished the first MCE British Superbike race in an impressive ninth position, after starting from seventeenth on the grid at Donington Park.
The team were blighted by an engine issue during free practice two and that set them back, as well as the wet FP3 session on the Saturday morning, which meant they did not have the dry track time that they desired.
But the team fought back, and this year have been adapting from changing manufacturer from BMW to Kawasaki power and team boss, Lee Hardy has a new crew with him for 2017 too.
Due to Dixon’s strong start he was able to start race-two from the fourth row, but he crashed, unhurt at Goddards whilst in contention for a top ten finish. Even with the slight set back Dixon is back to full fitness after recovering from a serious hip injury last year, and fortunately he was not hurt in the fall on Sunday.
“He is back to full fitness and he is riding well. Really pleased with how he has conducted himself. Obviously big change with the team as we have swapped to Kawasaki and new staff and personnel and new structure. The team are working well,” said team boss Lee Hardy at the track.
“We have been a bit unfortunate this weekend with the weather it has held us back a bit. We lost FP2 with an engine problem - there was an electrode on the spark plug. It was a shame as it put us back to 17th on the grid.
“Race one showed the potential of the bike and the team and him and it was as strong ride to ninth. He put in some moves on some big names out there, world championship riders who thought - who is this leery kid.
“It was unfortunate in race two, the tip off he had was not his fault. It was one of those - Goddards is famous for tucking the front. We are really pleased with him as a rider, and pleased with the package of the ZX-10RR and going forward it is boding really well.
“We are probably at 60 percent at the moment, with what we feel we have still got left in the tank and modifications we have got to make and bits that we plan to try though the year. I think come to the middle of the year we will be round where we need to be.”
