Positive weekend for Quattro Plant Kawasaki at Brands

It was a weekend of ups and downs at Brands Hatch for the Quattro Plant Kawasaki team of Dan Linfoot and Howie Mainwaring, as both riders secured strong finishes, but blighted by a fast crash that left Mainwaring in the gravel on the opening lap of race two.

Linfoot was able to score an excellent fifth place in the opening race, taking advantage of a battling Milwaukee Yamaha duo in front to slip past for his best result of the year, then consolidating his points with a good ride in the wet in race two to take seventh. Linfoot, now seventh overall in the title, has also established his credentials as a Showdown candidate, and could take advantage from James Ellison’s forced absence to secure a top six spot.

Speaking afterwards, he said: “I’m really pleased with today’s results, especially the fifth place in the first race and that was probably my best ride of the season so far. I normally get stuck behind people and end up running their pace rather than my own but once I got up to fifth, I immediately pulled away from the group I was battling with. I’d gained confidence from my qualifying performance, when I did the lap time all on my own, and to finish just four seconds behind the race winner was extremely satisfying. With a better grid spot, I was really looking forward to race two but the rain made it quite difficult to control the power of the bike although seventh was still a good result for me, points wise, and it’s kept me a strong position in the Championship.”

Mainwaring, having qualified eleventh, was able to hold his position all race to score his first points of the season, after a crash in pre-season testing badly damaged his shoulder and ruled him out of the opening rounds. However, he fell in race two, after a bike mechanical problem coated his rear wheel in fluid and took him down. Initially concerned that he may have aggravated his shoulder injury again, the Kent rider says he’s lucky to have got away without further injury.

“It’s been a bit of an up and down weekend, the highlight obviously being my first race result and first points of the season. I was confident of improving on 11th but I felt my foot slip off the peg at Hawthorn and all I can remember after that is tipping into the next corner and going down. I’m a bit battered and bruised but my old shoulder injury stood up to the test and felt fine. Like I say, it’s good to get my first points of the season so I’m looking forward to the next round at Thruxton.”