| The following is from Bradley Ward… FLY Racing ADR Motorsports rider Bradley Ward got his debut HONOS MotoAmerica Superbike season off to a solid start at Road America this past weekend, bringing his Kawasaki ZX-10R home in fourteenth and tenth positions in the two races held at the four mile circuit in Wisconsin. It wasn’t all plain sailing, the #57 suffering a small technical problem on the opening day which limited his running in the opening on track session of the event. Improvements in session two saw him end the opening day in tenth, with further improvements saw Ward close the gap to the front still further, claiming fourteenth on the grid on his first race in the class! Race one and Bradley had to dig deep to recover from an overshoot at Turn One early on. In addition, he also had a small brake problem but was able to bring it home inside the Top 15, his efforts earning him two championship points. Race two saw any significant improvement in terms of Bradley’s pace, the Englishman in the fight for eighth, eventually finishing P10 on only his second Superbike race in the AMA Superbike series! Bradley Ward: “First quali wasn’t great. From the very first lap we had electronic issues, the quick shifter and auto-blip wasn’t working. With it being a year since I’d ridden at Road America, I made the decision to stay out to and try to re-familiarise myself with the layout. It’s such a flat out, sixth gear, wide open track that it was a little bit sketchy shall we say. I then pulled in and the team quickly figured out that it was an ECU problem. We changed a few things and I was able to get a few laps in at the end, but it was right off really. Between sessions the bike was completely rebuilt, and the bike felt alright for Q2, my first proper outing on a Superbike at Road America. I learned a lot but there’s definitely more to come but I am under no pressure to lay it on the line, it’s my first year and I have to just keep chipping away. I was hoping to make a good start and get involved with a few guys. The plan was always to get as much info as possible for the second round which is also at Road America in a few weeks. I managed to finish P14 in race one after a brake problem and a run-off at Turn One, but we got some good data and I was really looking forward to Sunday’s race. Race two was a lot better. I got off to a reasonable start and passed my team mate into Turn 1. I was holding my own with Corey Alexander, Flinders and Travis Wyman and then there was a bit of carnage. Two or three riders ahead went down which meant I was able to secure a top ten!. I got down to a reasonable lap time too to a pace that was more than I expected on my first weekend on a Superbike and after limited testing. Not 100% happy but we made progress and we have a good base to start from for round two in three or four weeks. Thanks to the FLY Racing ADR crew and to everyone at MotoAmerica for pulling off a great return to racing for us all!” |
| For more information go to bradleywardracing.com |
