The Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki team head to the high speed Silverstone circuit this weekend for the penultimate round of the 2014 MCE British Superbike Championship. Eager to bounce back from a tough showing at Assen, the team also have something very special planned for fans on race day.

As one of the fastest circuits on the calendar, the Silverstone circuit also boasts the accolade of the longest, at 3.667 miles. Title Fighter Chris ‘Stalker’ Walker and team mate James Ellison have both enjoyed success around the Northamptonshire circuit so will be looking to make a return to the podium this weekend.

It was a tough round for the Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki team at Assen, with Showdown competitor Stalker failing to secure points following a tyre gamble in race one and being taken out in the second race. Still recovering from his horrific Brands Hatch injury, James is continuing to impress with his progress however, enjoying a strong fourth place in tough conditions at Assen.

It will be a special weekend at Silverstone for the team, not only will they be ‘Fuelled by Xpress Coffee’ using a special barista bar in team colours but they will also have something very special planned for Sunday that will be revealed shortly before Sunday Warm Up.

Looking to kick his Showdown campaign off, Chris Walker said

“We certainly made it hard work for ourselves after Assen and I didn’t make the impact on the Championship standings that I wanted. Although I injured my wrist in warm up at Assen, that’s completely fine now but I’m actually struggling with the base of back, which is a legacy of being taken out in race two. I’m having some treatment on it but luckily it’s just bruising and muscle damage and nothing is broken so it’s nothing some strong pain killers won’t solve!

I’ve been looking forward to Silverstone all year as we don’t get to ride there very often, so I am a little disappointed to be suffering slightly with my back. That won’t stop us though and the bikes been working fantastically the last few rounds so we’ll be pushing for some big results and taking the next four races as they come to try and finish as high up the Championship table as possible.”

James Ellison is looking to make his podium return at a circuit he loves

“My favourite circuits are usually the undulating ones like Oulton and Brands, but despite Silverstone being incredibly flat I really love riding at it! Even driving into the circuit feels special, it’s such a big place and it just feels like a proper race track so I can’t wait to get going this weekend.

I’m progressing more with my injury every day and although I’m not at full fitness I’m stronger than I was at Donington and Assen. The trouble is I missed such a big gap my race craft didn’t get to grow with the other guys, who had an extra eight races to hone their bikes a little which certainly puts us on the back foot. We’re getting there though and although I’m still in a fair bit of pain off the bike, I’m comfier on it so we’ll dig deep and see what we can get in these next few races!”

Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki Team Manager Terry Liquorish said,

“Our main target coming into Silverstone this weekend is to return to the podium pace we showed at the start of the year. Assen really didn’t go to plan for Chris, through bad luck he walked away not having secured a point which is not what he or the team deserve – Silverstone should suit our bike so I’m confident we’ll see the Stalker back up where he belongs in both races!

James had a strong weekend at Assen and is continuing to work on his fitness and rehabilitation so will be even stronger this weekend. He’s getting closer to the front running pace he knows with every session and I believe we’ll certainly see him challenging for a podium before the end of the season.

Despite this being our first year with Kawasaki, we’ve enjoyed an incredibly strong relationship with them and this weekend will see us strengthen that even further with a pretty special event planned for Sunday.”

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