Strong performance for Hawk Kawasaki’s riders

Raceline Photography
By Carly Rathmell
March 29 2006

The three Hawk Kawasaki riders made a good start at the opening round of the 2006 Bennetts British Superbike Championship, at Brands Hatch this weekend (26th March).

Two of the riders, Dean Thomas and Craig Coxhell, left the two races at Brands Indy confidently placed in the top ten in the overall championship table, with youngster Peter Hickman making huge progress throughout the weekend.

With varying weather conditions over the three days, it was difficult to judge which way it would swing come race day. With a dry first race and wet second race, the riders had to adapt to various different race set-ups - but each in turn adjusted well and gained creditable results at the end of the day.

Australian Dean Thomas secured a fantastic front row qualifying position of fourth place, and rode two strong races against the factory set-up of Honda, Ducati and Suzuki - and finished with a seventh and eighth place respectively, leaving Thomas with a comfortably sixth position in the overall championship.

Thomas commented, “It’s been a good weekend in general, considering the lack of testing time we have had compared to some of the other teams. We still have a long way to go with the bikes, but they are definitely competitive and I know, once we sort a couple of aspects out, that we will be able to run up at the front and gain some strong results.”

His Aussie team-mate Craig Coxhell suffered a mixed array of results, with an 18th position in race one, and an outstanding fourth position in the second race. Nerves got the better of the 23-year-old in race one, which saw him make a few costly mistakes. Once settled in, and having got the first race out of the way, Coxhell was extremely impressive in only his second race for Hawk Kawasaki, and was delighted with the result.

Speaking with him, “I was really nervous in the first race and, although I managed to get a good start, I got boxed in at the first and second corner, which lost me a lot of time. I was perhaps pushing it a little too hard in race one, which forced me to make some errors. I was a lot more relaxed in the second race, and throughly enjoyed racing - which showed in my overall result. The bike felt perfect in the wet, and has given me a lot more confidence. I’ve not ridden on the British tracks since 2004, and even then I only had one year to learn the circuits, so I am still on a steep learning curve.”

At only 18 years of age, Peter Hickman is the youngest British Superbike rider, and was making his début Superbike appearance. He did himself and the Hawk team proud. Constantly improving on his times throughout the weekend, and progressing forward through the pack on every outing, he was unlucky not to score points in both races - with a 22nd and 17th finishes.

The quiet youngster said, “I’m fairly happy with how things have gone this weekend. It’s a whole new experience for me - I’d never ridden in the wet on a Superbike, or on wet tyres, so each time I am out on the bike I am learning something new. This is a whole new ball game for me, but I’m really enjoying the opportunity.”

Team Manager Stuart Hicken was very content with the progress of the riders, saying, “All I wanted this weekend was six finishes, and that’s what I got, so I certainly can’t complain. We’ve had no testing time, and probably only done around sixty miles in total on the bikes, and they have all run without problems this weekend. The mechanics have done a fantastic job, and have worked exceptionally hard to ensure that things were in place for this round. We’ve learnt a lot about the new ZX-10s, and are certainly hoping to be stronger for Donington. I’m extremely pleased for everyone, especially the sponsors of Hawk Kawasaki.”

Speaking on behalf of the Hawk racing team’s main sponsor, Andrews Sykes Group, Kelvin Fogwill said, “We have found that our continued investment in sponsoring the Hawk Superbike team has paid dividends, by enabling us to continually raise the awareness of both the Andrews and the Sykes brands. In addition to raising our profile, it is a great morale booster for employees.” He continued, “More than 1000 of Andrews Sykes’ VIP customers attended British Superbike rounds during the 2005 season. The successes of the Hawk Kawasaki team on the track are always celebrated across the group.” National hire specialists Andrews Sykes are in their sixth year of sponsorship with Hawk Kawasaki.

Race one result:
1 Gregorio Lavilla, Ducati
2 Karl Harris, Honda
3 Michael Rutter, Honda
4 Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda
5 Jonathan Rea, Honda
6 Shane Byrne, Suzuki
7 Michael Laverty, Honda
8 Dean Thomas, Hawk Kawasaki
9 Glen Richards, Honda
10 James Haydon, Suzuki
18 Craig Coxhell, Hawk Kawasaki
21 Peter Hickman, Hawk Kawasaki

Race two result:
1 Kiyonari
2 Leon Haslam, Ducati
3 Lavilla
4 Craig Coxhell, Hawk Kawasaki
5 Harris
6 Tommy Hill, Yamaha
7 Haydon
8 Dean Thomas, Hawk Kawasaki
9 Richards
10 Ollie Bridewell, Suzuki
17 Peter Hickman, Hawk Kawasaki

Championship positions after round one:
1 Lavilla, 41
2 Kiyonari, 38
3 Harris, 31
4 Haslam, 20
5 Rutter, 16
= Dean Thomas, 16
7 Byrne, 15
= Haydon, 15
9 Richards, 14
10 Coxhell, 13