SOLID QUALIFYING AND RACE TWO RESULT FOR SCUDERIA STELLARE
05 June 2006 - Jon Kirkham

Another strong qualifying performance and the second Suzuki home in race two were highlights of the Scuderia Stellare team and rider Jon Kirkham’s weekend at the Mallory Park circuit in Leicestershire for round ‘five’ of the British Superbike Championship.

Conditions at a sunny and warm Mallory Park could not have been more different from the torrential rain that led to the previous British Superbike round at Mondello Park in Ireland being cancelled.

The unexpected lay-off allowed the Scuderia Stellare team to re-charge their batteries and rider Jon Kirkham was on a mission in qualifying. Securing the 13th quickest time in what was a Suzuki sandwich between Scott Smart and Ben Wilson.

Kirkham’s race one start was compromised by a start-line melee which saw Glen Richards Honda career into the barriers. Managing to avoid the crash the young Derbyshire rider completed the first lap in sixteenth.

A notoriously difficult place to overtake Kirkham battled with Martin, then Harris who went grass-tracking at one point and finally Smart before he was then the victim of the new Charlie’s chicane when he ‘lost’ the front of the bike and crashed.

In the second outing Kirkham rode a very mature race picking up a couple of places to finish fifteenth at the chequered flag. The Derbyshire rider said he was glad to see the back of a track that was not on his list of favourites.

“Mallory is a tough old track and although I qualified fairly well I almost got entangled in Glen’s crash and then managed to get caught out at Charlie’s chicane in race one. The second time out it was just a case of getting my head down and being sensible – being the second Suzuki home was not a bad result overall as this is not one of my favourite tracks.”

Team spokesperson Chris Johnson went on to say that the weekend had been something of ‘mixed bag’.

“Jon once again qualified well with a time in the top ten within reach. He got mugged a bit on the start in the first race and then fell at Charlie’s. Picking up a point in the second race was a good way to finish at a circuit where overtaking is really difficult.

Our objective is to consistently be one of the top three Suzuki’s home and we are getting closer to hitting that mark. We are hard-pressed to achieve much more at the moment though as Scuderia Stellare is still a fledgling outfit with limited infrastructure and funding.”

The next round for Jon Kirkham and the Scuderia Stellare team is at Snetterton near Norwich on the 18th June.

www.jonkirkham.com

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