The KMR Kawasaki powered by Vauxhall (Northern Ireland dealers) team got their 2013 road racing season underway at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough on Sunday and it proved to be a winning start with Jamie Hamilton taking two victories in the Supertwins class.
The Ballyclare rider led both races from start to finish for his first wins around the 2.43-mile woodland venue and backed this up with an excellent third in the solitary Superbike race after earlier winning his heat race. Having his first outing in three years on a Supersport machine, he also posted impressive results of fifth and sixth in the two 600cc events.
There was further success for the team with new recruit Connor Behan enjoying a more than satisfactory debut not just with Ryan Farquhar’s squad but also at the circuit. The Northwich rider took the ER6 650cc Kawasaki to fifth and sixth in the Supertwins races whilst he also put in an excellent ride to claim third in the Senior race on the all new 636cc Kawasaki that he’ll campaign in the Irish Senior Support Road Race Championship.
Unfortunately, third team member James Cowton was unable to contest the two Supertwins races due to a practice crash on another machine, damaged ribs keeping him out of action for the day
Speaking at the end of the day, a pleased Farquhar commented; “It’s been a long and busy winter so it’s been good to finally go racing and for our first meeting, it’s been a successful outing. Jamie gave us our first wins of the season in fine style and he looked really comfortable out there on both the Supertwin and Superbike machines. He hasn’t ridden a Supersport machine since he last rode in the British Championship in 2010 though and it’s going to take him a while to get used to it again but he had two good rides today and got quicker each time he went out so he’s made good progress.
“Connor was having his first ever race at Scarborough and it’s not the easiest place to come to but he went about his day in the perfect manner and I was really pleased with how he applied himself. He was beating himself up a bit to begin with as he felt he should have been going quicker but you can’t rush things on the roads and we spent a lot of the day trying to find a set-up with the bikes that he was comfortable with. Again, like Jamie, he made good progress and to get two top six finishes in the Supertwin races, against some good opposition, was an excellent start.”
“The only downside was James’ practice accident on the 250 as it meant he couldn’t ride our Supertwin machine but he’ll be back. Overall, it’s been a good day and it sets us up nicely for our first meeting at home, the Cookstown 100.”
