SOLIHULL rider Liam Delves endured a bittersweet start to the new Bennetts British Superbike Championship season after he competed well in race one only for his bike to suffer from technical problems thereafter.
Delves struggled for rear grip in qualifying and ended up on row nine in 26th place before a late settings change by the team before the start of the race transformed his bike’s performance.
And despite a slow start to the races, Delves eventually made up several place to finish 17th on the Rapid Training Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki Superbike Fuelled by Cheshire Mouldings and Woodturnings Ltd.
Delves said: : “After a poor start due to getting to grips with the new settings, once I got into my race rhythm I kept chipping away and ended up in 17th which is one of my best results in the Superbike class.
“I recorded a personal best lap time, more than a second quicker than this time last year, and in the eBay.co.uk Fast Forward Award I gained the most positions from my place on the stating grid and took the lead on nine points.”
However, Delves was forced to retire from race two on lap seven due to a technical problem with his team unable to rectify the fault in time for the start of race three.
Delves added: “Unfortunately, due to ongoing technical issues with the bike from race two, I was not able to make the grid for race three but my team will now work hard over the next 24 hours to be ready in time for the Oulton Park midweek test.
“Despite being unable to compete in the two races I do feel positive about the weekend as I have taken a full second off my times and recorded my second best ever race result in the British Superbike Championship.
“I must thank my team and also my sponsors for their continued support over the weekend: Blueprint Joinery Ltd, Bassett Cleansing Environmental Ltd, Dunsley Heat, Borleys Minimix, MAS-Security, Xtra Mile Transport Limited, R&G LS2 Helmets UK.”
The next round takes place at Oulton Park over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend of April 29/May 1.
