The INCompetition Aprilia Racing team made a welcome return to the Bennetts British Superbike Championship this weekend at Donington Park. They drafted in experienced Supersport rider Brad Perie, who was without a ride at the time. It was a weekend of two halves, a podium in the opening race on Saturday and an unfortunate crash battling for a podium in race two.
From the off Brad gelled with the Aprilia RSV-4 racing in the Pirelli National Superstock class. He was able to qualify for race one on the second row in fourth. He got a great start and was battling for the lead until the red flag came out shortly afterwards. On the re-start he secured another great start and was instantly in a battle for a podium finish. He dug deep and pushed hard to bring the Aprilia home in a fantastic 3rd place.
For race two he started on the front row in third and he gained another great start and was instantly fighting up at the front. He was locked in a battle with former INCompetition rider Josh Owens for second place. Unfortunately, Brad made a mistake going into the Melbourne Loop crashing out and taking out Josh in the process, we are very sorry to Josh and hope he is ok.
Brad – “I’m happy with my first weekend back after being off a bike for so long. I think our results and pace exceeded out initial expectations and to come away with a podium on Saturday was the icing on the cake.
It was a shame to end the weekend how we did, but I can hold my hands up to my mistake as the team have been faultless all weekend but nevertheless, we were fighting at the sharp end, which fills me with a lot of confidence going forwards. I’m extremely sorry to Josh and hope he’s ok.
I’d like to thank Ian, Myra and the whole INCompetition team for their hard work and hopefully we can build on this for Oulton.
My thoughts are also with the two riders that crashed on Saturday and hope they are ok and make a good recovery.”
Ian Newton – “We’re really pleased with how Brad has settled in with the team and the Aprilia. It is a V4 and they are different to ride, and Brad has adapted very well. The first race result was fantastic, and he has shown great form all weekend. We worked well as a team, and I am sure this will continue in the future.
The second race crash was unfortunate as he was in another great position for a strong result. It was an unfortunate accident and will we rebuild and look forward to getting to Oulton Park and continue this progress.”
