KIWI RIDER SEPTEMBER 2020 VOL.2 | Page 84

ROAD NEWS KIWIS TAKE ON SILVERSTONE IN BRITISH SUPERSTOCK SERIES Words: Michael Wincott | Photos: Michael Wincott Photography T he third round of the British National Superstock 1000 Championship took place at the iconic Silverstone Circuit 5-6 September. Kiwi Damon Rees, who was sitting in 3rd position in the championship after two rounds, was optimistic ahead of the third round of the championship. “It’s been an awesome start so far for the Carl Cox Motorsport supported Astro JJR Racing Team, and I’m looking forward to continuing the momentum into Round 3 here at Silverstone,” he said. With limited testing time due to Covid-19 restrictions, free practice one was Rees’ first time riding the iconic British circuit. Going into the first practice session, Rees felt confident that with every lap he would be getting more experienced and quicker. Racking up a total of 24 laps within the 30-minute session, Rees ended the session in 16th position, 1.273 seconds off the fastest time set by Danny Kent. In the second free practice, Rees, who was now more familiar with the circuit, as well as making adjustments to his BMW S1000RR, dramatically improved his lap time and finished the session in 6th position and just 0.216 off the fastest time set by Rouse. The top 17 in the session fell within one second of each other, a sign of just how competitive the British Superstock 1000 championship is. With the free practice times being close it was vitally important for Rees to get a good starting position for race one of the weekend. After making a few setup changes during the qualifying session Rees managed to improve his lap times on each circuit, eventually posting a lap time of 54.394 seconds which was good enough for 2nd position on the grid, only 0.218 off Danny Kent’s pole position time. “I was feeling really confident going into qualifying, I knew what I needed to do,” Rees said after qualifying. Fellow New Zealander, Shane Richardson, would start from ninth on the grid 0.628 off the pole. Rees, who was starting from his best qualifying position of the year, got off to a fantastic start in race one managing to get the holeshot and lead into the first corner. By the end of the opening 84 KIWI RIDER