Brands BSB: Front-end struggles slow Jackson

After a superb run of results, which included his first ever win in the series and five more podiums, the Bennetts British Superbike Championship round at Brands Hatch proved to be a challenging affair for Lee Jackson as front-end issues meant ninth place was his best result of the weekend.

It was the first time since round one where he hasn’t been on the podium in at least one race and also the first time the green, blue and white Cheshire Mouldings FS-3 Kawasaki wasn’t in the thick of the action. Indeed, the Lincolnshire rider, along with team-mate Rory Skinner, has been one of the few riders to take it to the dominant Yamahas but he never found the sweet spot with the Kawasaki ZX-10RR although he still ended the weekend in third overall in the Championship table. “It’s been our first tough weekend of the year and crashing out of Sunday’s first race was disappointing as I pride myself on finishing races,” he said afterwards. “The pace has been there with a 25.2 in qualifying and then a 25.3 in one of the races but I didn’t have the outright momentum with the pace I had. I’ve struggled with the front and, in particular, getting the best out of it and with the track being hotter on Sunday, combined with the changes we made, it didn’t work out. “After the run we’ve been on, it’s disappointing to leave with just a ninth and a tenth but, like I say, it’s been our first bad weekend of the year so we’ll forget about it and go again at Thruxton.

“Our results this year show what we’re capable of and I’ve gone well at Thruxton in the past so there’s no reason why we won’t be back on the podium there.”