The Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki team head to mainland Europe this weekend as the 2014 MCE British Superbike Championship reaches the opening round of the ‘Showdown’, held at the iconic Assen circuit in the Netherlands.

Affectionately known as the Cathedral of Speed, Assen holds good memories for both the Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki riders. Showdown competitor Chris ‘Stalker’ Walker took his only World Superbike victory at the circuit back in 2006 while more recently, James Ellison enjoyed victory in the second race at last year’s event.

It was an emotional weekend at Donington as Stalker secured his and the team’s first ever Showdown position. With three podiums already this year, he now heads to the fast and flowing Assen circuit knowing he needs to kick-start his Showdown with as big a points haul as possible. Despite making an incredible comeback from his injuries, James missed out on a Showdown position but will continue his fitness fightback as he bids to not only return to the podium, but secure the Riders Cup.

Excited to get his first Showdown underway, Chris Walker said

“This is it then! The next chapter of the 2014 MCE British Superbike Championship begins here and the Showdown starts for real. I’m looking forward to Assen, we’ve got some settings from our test there after Cadwell but if I’m honest I was taking it pretty carefully as I didn’t want to risk anything ahead of Donington so there’s certainly still some room for improvement.

Our plan all season has been to get into the Showdown and I didn’t dare make one for after that in case we didn’t get in, so we’ll be taking these final three rounds as they come. The main goal though is to score as many points as possible and where we might have not been making as many risks over the last few rounds, the gloves can now come off and we can dig deep and have a go!”

Continuing to improve daily, James Ellison is looking to make his podium return as soon as possible

“The goal for every race weekend is to get on the podium and going into Assen that’s no different. Obviously though the injury is preventing that from happening at the moment but I took a massive step forward between Cadwell and Donington and since then have taken yet another one. I’m training much harder than I have been, so I’m quietly confident we’ll have a much better showing this weekend.

Assen is a circuit I love, I won there last year and if it wasn’t for a technical problem could well have won the first race too. It’s also where I got my first International win in the European Superstock Championship, so I certainly have good memories of the place! I’m really pleased for the team and for Chris that they made the Showdown, although it was disappointing and pretty tough to accept that I missed it, but we’ll focus on finishing the season on a high and I’ll aim to make amends next year!”

Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki Team Principal Mark Smith-Halvorsen said,

“Donington was possibly GBmoto’s biggest ever weekend and the emotion after Chris secured the Showdown spot was clear for everyone to see! Over the last few years, the opening round of the Showdown has proven to be action packed and entirely unpredictable but we head to Assen with some prior knowledge having tested here recently and confident Chris can kick it off with some big points.

James fully deserved to be in the Showdown too, he had an incredible start to the season but unfortunately the crash at Brands has put pay to that. He’s made an incredible comeback though and is getting stronger every day so we all know it’s only a matter of time until he’s back on the podium. We’ll be doing everything we can to make that happen as soon as possible and ensure he secures the Riders Cup.

Meanwhile my message to the team has been clear – we need to get back to our best form and be standing on podiums like we did regularly earlier in the season. We still have the potential to win races in 2014 and in order to realise our full potential and pay back our loyal sponsors and supporters, that should be our goal – Showdown or not!”


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