Quattro Plant Kawasaki Gear up for Season Finale
The Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki team will be hoping to end the season on a high at the final round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch GP this weekend (18th to 20th October).
It will only be Héctor’s second time competing at the 2.43-mile Grand Prix circuit having made his debut earlier this year while deputising for Ben Currie, who was recovering from injury.
It will be Ben’s first time competing at the Kent circuit on a Superbike. His last outing was in 2018 with Gearlink Kawasaki in the Dickies British Supersport Championship when he finished runner up.
This round will also be Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s last race weekend before stepping down as the official Kawasaki UK BSB team, after two successful seasons in 2017 and 2018, culminating in winning the BSB title with Leon Haslam.
Brands Hatch GP will also host round 10 of the Molson Group British Sidecar Championship, where Ricky Stevens/Ryan Charlwood and Ben Holland/Lee Watson will be working hard to finish the season inside the top ten.
Stevens and Charlwood are currently in fifth place with 155 points, but with fewer than 30 points between them and third-place Blackstock/Rosney, the pair plan to work hard to finish in the top three.
Similarly, Ben Holland and Lee Watson, who are currently in 14th, are focused on ending the season on a positive note.
Héctor Barberá said: “The last time I visited Brands Hatch I was injured so it was a very difficult weekend. This time I am in better shape and I’m looking forward to the last round of the season with Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki.
“I want to thank Jack and the team for this season in BSB and hope to return to the championship in 2020.”
Ben Currie said: “It’s the final round of the season so we’ll be making one last push to achieve the results we know we’re capable of. I’ve got a good feeling about this weekend and as always, I’ll be giving it 110 percent.
“The team have worked hard and stuck by me, so I want to repay them with some good results so we can finish on a high and have a good Christmas.
“Although it’s my first time at Brands on a superbike, this is a circuit I’ve clicked with in the past. I’ve had some fantastic wins and pole positions here in the Superstock 600 and Supersport championships and I’ll be looking to repeat that success this weekend.”
Team owner Pete Extance added: “We head to the final round at Brands Hatch with mixed emotions as this season has far from gone well. After winning the championship in 2018, we had high hopes this year but for one reason or another it hasn’t happened.
“Hopefully we can have a reasonable end to 2019 at Brands Hatch and then we can think about our future either in or out of BSB in 2020.
“Massive thanks to all the staff in the garage and hospitality along with our sponsors who have all worked so hard this season keeping their spirits high even in difficult times.”
Ricky Stevens said: “It’s been a difficult year, mostly for reasons out of our control, but we’re still within range of the third spot in the championship.
“The second race at Donington didn’t go our way, which set us back a bit, but there are 100 points up for grabs this weekend so an awful lot can change. We’ll prepare the bike to the best of our ability and ride as hard as we can and fingers crossed, we’ll have the rub of the green.”
Ben Holland said: “Given the bad luck we’ve endured this season if we can finish the top 10, we’ll be happy.
“It’s been hard at times to keep up morale especially with all the DNFs, but we have a great team behind us who work tirelessly to keep everyone smiling and looking forward to going racing.”
Sidecar Team Manager Paul Knapton added: “I’d like to thank the team for all their hard work – friends, family, sponsors, supporters – everyone who comes together to make race weekends what they are. We couldn’t do it without their support.”
To keep up to date with the latest news from Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki you can visit the website or follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Notes for editors:
- The line-up for Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki consists of British Superbike riders Héctor Barberá and Ben Currie, road racing specialist James Hillier, and sidecar teams Ricky Stevens/Ryan Charlwood and Ben Holland/Lee Watson.
- The team is owned by Bournemouth Kawasaki Racing.
- Héctor made his MotoGP debut in 2010 and in 2016 had his most successful MotoGP season finishing with 102 points.
- He competed in Moto2 in 2018 before switching to WorldSSP with the Kawasaki Puccetti racing team while Australian Ben Currie finished second overall in the 2018 Dickies British Supersport Championship.
- 2015 and 2016 British F1 Sidecar Champions Ricky Stevens and Ryan Charlwood are being retained by Bournemouth Kawasaki for the third year running under the Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki team.
- Stevens/Charlwood will be aiming to reclaim the championship title, alongside new teammates Ben Holland and Lee Watson, after finishing fourth overall and second in the 600 Cup in 2018.
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