Burke and Li finish Chinese SBK season on a high
The newly formed Motogo Titanic Kawasaki race team in association with BCperformance ventured across the pond to compete in the final round of the Chinese Superbike championship at Zhuhai international race circuit over the weekend with Ben Burke taking a win and a third whilst Patrick Li claimed a 8th place finish.
In a joint venture between Hong Kong and Macau Kawasaki distributor Titanic Moto and the Melbourne motorcycle dealership Motogo, current ASC regulars Ben Burke and Patrick Li both made the trip to the hot and humid 4.2km Zhuhai circuit in southern China for the 3rd and final round of the Pan Delta Chinese Superbike championship.
Burke – who missed the first superbike round in March when he competed in the Superstock class instead – got down to business straight away and put his BCperformance prepared Kawasaki ZX10R on pole position for the two 10 lap Superbike races over the weekend, remarkable since the bike was delivered to the circuit brand new only 1 week before.
Saturday’s first race was held in around 35+ heat with a fast starting Burke pulling a small gap on his rivals over the first laps but as the race wore on his rear tyre started to go off which let his Yamaha rival catch him, over the next few laps an intense battle ensued but Burke got the better of his rival and took a well deserved win. The next day’s race was held in similar conditions and a sell-out crowd of around 60,000 spectators flocked to the circuit. Burke got off to another flyer and led the field into the first corner and set about making a gap but a small mistake on the brakes into turn 9 sent him wide and onto the grass. Rejoining in a lowly 15th place, Burke put his head down and produced the fastest lap of the race as he made his way back to the 3rd at the finish line.
“It was another unforgettable weekend for me at Zhuhai, the weather was great and it was awesome to race in front of such a large crowd. I had a few family members over supporting me which was great too” says Burke
“I had a good first race battle with the Yamaha but was a little disappointed with the mistake I made in second race but was happy to put the bike back on the podium. I would like to thank Patrick Li of Motogo motorcycles for the great opportunity and Titanic Kawasaki in Hong Kong for the support”
Superstock 600 contender Patrick Li also had a good weekend and his most consistent weekend of the year. Li started well when he put his Kawasaki ZX6R into 8th place during the sole qualifying session with his fastest lap around the Zhuhai circuit. Race 1 saw Li make a great start and battle for 6th position of which he held for most of the race only to be disqualified at the end for passing under the yellow flag. Sunday’s race 2 saw Li again be involved in a fight for 6th throughout the 10 lap race distance and eventually crossed the line in a very credible 8th place.
“I was pleased with the weekend and if it wasn’t for the unfortunate yellow flag error my race results could have been better” says Li
On behalf of the whole BCperformance Motogo team, huge thanks must go to Patrick Li of Motogo motorcycles and Hong Kong/Macau Kawasaki distributor Titanic Moto Centre Ltd for the opportunity to race in the Chinese Superbike championship this year. With plans currently being made to return to China in 2015 both Ben Burke and Patrick Li will now concentrate on their domestic campaigns kicking off next month at Phillip Island for the MotoGP Support classes.
