Gearlink reel in a Scottish points haul Ben Wilson rode to a strong event opening third place in the wet at Knockhill in Scotland and followed up with a sensational win in the second race of the two day fixture. This fine set of results now extends his series lead in the British Supersport championship to 59 points over nearest rival Alistair Seeley. Wilson rounded off the day by being awarded rider of the day and was presented with a bottle of champagne by Eurosport commentator Jamie Whitham. Despite a tumble in the first race, Jesse Trayler stepped up to the plate in Sunday’s event by clinching his best ever result in the Supersport class with a fine sixth position. The notoriously changeable Knockhill weather played its part in qualifying and the first race on Saturday. In wet conditions Ben Wilson powered his Gearlink Kawasaki through to second place for a front row start to his first race and in wet and slippery conditions he rode to a strong third place behind Sam Warren and Alistair Seeley. Jesse Trayler was running within the top 10 and riding well but was caught out on lap 11 of 18 and slid off at the chicane in the wet and slippery conditions. With Sunday came the sunshine until the Supersport race took to the grid. The two Gearlink Kawasaki riders lined up side by side on the second row but the start was delayed to allow a passing shower to move away and when the race finally got underway Ben Wilson shot off the start line to take up second position at the first corner. He moved into the lead on lap two but was chased all the way by Alistair Seeley. The pair pulled away from the pursuing pack and an exciting battle took place for the lead between the two riders. Seeley briefly took the lead on lap 17 of 20 but Ben fought back and regained his position at the hairpin a few seconds later. Ben broke the lap record on lap 18 and in an effort to retain his lead broke it again on the penultimate lap to establish a new record of 50.025 seconds – 91.48mph. Meanwhile, Jesse began his race alongside his Gearlink Kawasaki team mate and moved straight into sixth place. He fought hard for position and made it through to fifth mid race but was pushed back to sixth in the closing stages. Jesse put in a tremendous effort and was rewarded with his best ever result, bringing 10 championship points back to the team. Ben Wilson ” I am really happy with the win today. The bike ran really well and I just needed to get into a rhythm, I just made a few little mistakes and lost the time I had pulled out on Alistair but I managed to keep my head down and got the win. I want to thank my Gearlink Kawasaki team for putting me a good bike together; it ran perfectly for me all weekend. I am really happy with the lap record and also the Rider of the Day award. It’s a team effort and we all worked together to pull off the win and extend the series lead albeit only by one point!” Jesse Trayler “This is my best result by far, we have really turned it around this weekend. We really have had to up our game after Thruxton and go for a good set of results. We have been in the top 10 from the word go this weekend which is a massive improvement and we are a lot closer to where we need to be. Hopefully I can be up there with Ben soon; to be on the same row as him was such a boost. I was a bit scared going into the race when the track dried out but we hung in there and came away with a fantastic result.” Michael de Bidaph Team owner and Manager “Well I am over the moon, ecstatic really. I don’t think words can describe my feelings right now. The weekend has been good to us; it’s been wet which makes it hard. Ben had to fight hard to finish third in the first race but I knew that if it was dry today Ben would go out there and win the race. Fortunately it did stay dry and Ben just showed his superiority in this field of top class riders. He broke the lap record twice and what more can you say about that! Jesse has just come of age this weekend; he has done so well and been up there all weekend. Yes he did have an off in the wet but so did other riders. It is so easy to come off in those conditions but today he has finished sixth and had a stonking race so I am really pleased for him and so happy.”
