The AP Kawasaki team endured a baptism of fire at Brands Hatch over the weekend with all three riders failing to finish their respective Superstock rides. Problems in qualifying for Leon Hunt, Anthony Haywood and Freddie Russo left them playing catch up for the remainder of the weekend and their luck deserted them on race day.

Russo suffered chatter problems during qualifying for the Mezteler National Superstock 600cc race and lost a lot of valuable track time which subsequently left him back in 17th on the grid. A good start in the race soon saw him up inside the points and he gradually picked off the riders in front of him one by one to move into the top ten by mid-race distance. However, just as the Brentwood rider had taken over eighth place and looking to move up into the top six, he was caught out by another rider and crashed out uninjured with just four laps remaining.

The two riders in the Metzeler National Superstock 1000cc category fared little better. Haywood, from Chesterfield, qualified in 25th place overall whilst Hunt, from Brighton, was seven places further back and had to go through the 'Shoot Out' race to ensure he qualified for Monday's feature race, something he duly he did. However, Haywood crashed out of 19th place on unlucky lap 13 and Hunt could only finish 23rd.

Leon Hunt:

"It was a tough weekend and I've struggled with the set up of the bike throughout. Everything that worked when we went testing in Spain didn't work here so it's been frustrating to say the least. Going to the 'Shoot Out' obviously wasn't in the plan but the bike wouldn't hold a line through the turns and we tried everything in practice and qualifying but to no avail. The main race on Monday was a battle but it was good track time, if nothing else, and we'll dig deep at Oulton next time out and look to put it right."

Anthony Haywood:

"I'm obviously disappointed to have crashed as I felt really good in the race and was confident of moving forward some more places. I'd experienced similar problems to Leon in qualifying and it made it hard work but I made up a couple of places in the early laps and was looking for more of the same as the race wore on. I was just trying too hard though and tucked the front going into Druids. On the plus side, the changes we made to the bike for the race worked and I felt a lot more comfortable so I've learnt a lot and will now look forward to Oulton and hope to get the season properly underway there."

Freddie Russo:

"The aim for this weekend was to get the season off to a good start with some solid points and that's exactly how it was all going in the first half of the race. A lack of track time in qualifying due to chatter issues meant I only had 15 minutes to post a time so I wasn't as high up on the grid as I would have liked but I got stuck in and, having made up a few places in the early laps, reeled in the group battling for fifth. I'd got up to eighth and had got into a really good rhythm but the rider in front of me braked really early going into Druids and it messed up my corner entry, the chatter returned and down I went. It's a real shame as a top six finish was definitely on the cards but we had a good pace and there are a lot more positives than negatives to come out of the race so onwards and upwards."

Alan Greig:

"It's been a tough weekend, all of the riders experiencing problems in practice and then all of them posting non finishes. Leon struggled with the set up all weekend and never got the bike close to how he wanted it so we've a lot of work to do to help him feel more comfortable and happy with the bike. Anthony found a good direction with the bike only to lose it on the brakes but he knows now that it's simply a case of fine tuning what he has to move forward further.

"Freddie lost time in qualifying which meant he was on the back foot all weekend but he dug deep for the race and was looking really strong when he crashed out. We know that he's capable of running inside the top six so let's hope we've used up our bad luck and got rid of the gremlins so we can get the results we know all three riders are capable of."


The next round of the Metzeler Superstock 1000 and 600 Championships takes place at Oulton Park next bank holiday weekend.