The curtain came down on ILR Kawasaki's season with the final round of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship at Brands Hatch on Sunday and it was a weekend of mixed fortunes as Filip Backlund finished a solid fifth, but for his team-mate Victor Cox there was bitter disappointment as he crashed out of the race on the second lap.
It was the first time Cox hasn't finished a race since his non-finish at the same circuit in August 2011.

It was a busy first day for the team, firstly the fuel pump problem that occurred in the previous round with Victor's Ninja ZX-10R surfaced again during free practice leaving him languishing down in 24th. Filip then had a small problem with the traction control cable getting caught. As always the team rolled their sleeves up and rectified both problems enabling Cox and Backlund to finish first qualifying well on the pace in 6th and 8th respectively and with the second session taking place in the wet in meant that both riders maintained these positions for the race with Cox on Row 2 and Backlund just behind on the third row.

Filip was third in the standings going into the weekend and had his sights set on taking second place from Adam Jenkinson who in turn had to win to have any chance of taking the title, whilst mathematically it was possible for Victor to overhaul Filip for third, so it was all to play for.


Race day dawned cloudy and wet and both riders knew a good start was crucial to avoid being baulked on the inside of the first bend. At the end of the first lap it was Backlund who was the highest placed of the two in 6th with Cox one place behind. But unfortunately that was as good as it got for the Wiltshire man as he crashed out, thankfully without injury, at Graham Hill Bend on the second circuit to bring his season to a disappointing conclusion.

So it was left to Backlund to take up the challenge for the team and by the end of the third lap he was at the tail end of a group of six riders who were starting to break clear. On the fourth lap he had moved into 4th just behind champion elect Hudson Kennaugh and two laps later he moved ahead of the South African to grab fourth, just over half a second off third place man Tristan Palmer and two seconds off the lead.

With the gap hovering around 1.5 seconds Filip just couldn't bridge the gap to the leaders, and with Kennaugh dropping back in the closing stages to settle for the championship, Backlund's fourth place was now coming under threat from Robbie Brown who got ahead with two laps to go as Filip brought the Ninja ZX-10R home in fifth.

So the conclusion of another successful campaign for the team who finish the championship in third place for the second consecutive year with a total of seven podium finishes including two race wins.


ILR Kawasaki would like to thank all the sponsors and everyone who has helped and supported the team in 2013, and now look forward to another successful 2014 season.


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