POINTS IN THE BAG AS KADE VERWEY TAKES SEVENTH AT KNOCKHILL

KADE Verwey celebrated his maiden Pirelli National Superstock Championship top 10 and picked up his first haul of points at Knockhill on Sunday.

As the championship made its annual trip north of the border, Kade arrived feeling a little under the weather but left happy with his results – and believes there is still more to come.

Back out aboard his Team XG Racing BMW, the Silverstone-based rider wasted no time in getting to grips with the short and twisty Scottish track, ending combined free practice just outside the top 10 in 11th.

Qualifying eighth on Saturday morning ahead of the first of two races, he felt confident going into the opening race that afternoon. Despite being a little slow off the line which allowed the front group to just break clear, he got his head down and was running in a steady 10th place when he was taken out by another rider on lap 10.

Out of the race and unable to take home any points, he put his disappointment behind him and looked ahead to Sunday’s race. Having not set a fast lap in race one, he was forced to line up 16th on the grid for his second attempt and was keen to make amends when the flag dropped.

After a good start where he had to dodge various crashes and dramas ahead, he made up two places on the opening lap and then several more in the second, carving his way through the pack to eventually cross the line seventh, his best result since joining the fiercely competitive class this season.

Kade Verwey:
“I had a pretty good weekend,” he said. “We’d managed to get in a little bit of testing since the previous round and got the bike to a place where I was feeling comfortable with it.

“I qualified eighth which was fantastic and more than what I was expecting so I was feeling good. I didn’t get the best of starts in race one, but I was feeling good in p10 until another rider crashed and took me with them.

“It meant I started race two 16th so I had a challenge on my hands avoiding the mayhem on the first lap, dodging crashes and things. I was 10th by lap two and just slowly chipped away until I was up to seventh.

“By then I had a fairly big gap ahead and behind me so I felt comfortable. I had hurt my shoulder the day before so was nursing that a bit so wasn’t at full health – which makes the result even better in many ways.

“All in all, it worked out well. I felt good on the bike all weekend and there’s definitely more to come. I feel I can actually compete with the front boys now and they have far more experience than me. I’m really happy with the weekend and I can’t wait to go again at Brands Hatch next month and hopefully build on this result.”

 

Photo’s courtesy of Bonnie Lane

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