In amongst the 2009 British Superbike line up we see the return of Kenny Gilbertson stepping up his challenge in the Cup category with the support of the Jx Fuelcards Kawasaki team.
The Great Bentey based team were involved in the 600cc and 1000cc support classes in 2008, now a season on and with additional backing they are in able to run Gilbertson in addition to James Dye, Charles Wallace and Philip Atkinson who run in the Metzeler National Superstock 600 series.
Talking about the season opening at Brands Hatch, he said: “We didn’t really manage any pre-season testing, the bike was still being built the week before the first round at Brands and the only track time I got was on a Superstock bike at a club meeting, which went well.”
“The opening round at Brands was tough and I would have really liked to have seen myself running further up the field but considering where we are with the bike we all felt that coming away from the opening round fourth in the Cup Championship is a good start.”
The Hertfordshire based rider who took part in two championships in the BSB paddock at the end of 2008, now will be concentrating solely on one this year, allowing him to focus on developing, what is a currently fairly stock bike to help him over the next few rounds.
Gilbertson said: “With regards to the season aims I’m looking to of course be a challenger for the Cup title as well as breaking into the top 15 in the main championship. This is the first full season in this class for the team and myself, so we have a lot to learn, so for now we are concentrating on developing the bike and I am confident that as we move through the year we will get stronger and stronger and our results will reflect this.”
Following the support he has gained for 2009 and as he prepares for the next round over the May Bank Holiday, Gilbertson said: “I’d like to thank Jx Kawasaki and The Fuelcard Company for their efforts at the opening round at Brands, and would like to welcome a new personal sponsor, WWW.PROPPA.COM, into the team.... Bring on Oulton Park.”