By Carly Rathmell
April 3 2006

After a positive start to the Bennetts British Superbike season, Hawk Kawasaki are now preparing for the second round of the championship, at Donington Park, Leicestershire, this weekend - 7th to 9th April. The 2.5-mile track is one of the team’s local circuits, with Hawk being based in Ashby-de-la-Zouch they are hoping for some positive results.

The three riders, Dean Thomas, Craig Coxhell and Peter Hickman, running onboard the Dunlop shod Kawasaki ZX-10s, are eager to improve on their results from the first round. 33-year-old Sheffield based Dean Thomas scored two consistent eighth places at the opening round at Brands Hatch a couple of weeks ago, and is looking forward to Donington.

The Australian Thomas commented, “I’m hoping Donington will be a good round for me. I enjoy the circuit and I know that the bike is good round there. We had a good start to the season at Brands, better than what I expected. We’ve only had a couple of hours of testing on the new Kawasaki, and I wasn’t expecting it to be on par with the other teams this soon in the year. I know how hard the Hawk team are working to ensure that we move forward and make progress at every round, and I have every confidence in them. Ideally I would like to be running up at the front. Considering the bike is brand new, I think once we have made a few alterations then that could be possible.”

His fellow Australian team-mate, 23-year-old Craig Coxhell, is eager to get to Donington, saying, “Brands was a mixed weekend for me. Once I had managed to get over the initial nerves in the first race, I managed to settle into a routine for the second one. I was delighted with the fourth place I got there, and hoping that I will get a similar result this weekend at Donington. After missing a year, it’s surprising how fast the pace has moved on, and I have to play catch up. I’ve only ridden the majority of British circuits once or twice, so not only am I learning a new team and bike, but also still getting used to the tracks. I know I’m capable of some good results, and hope that I can prove that over this season.”

The youngest rider in the team is 18-year-old Peter Hickman, who will be celebrating his 19th Birthday on Saturday. The rider from Burton-upon-Trent said, “The best Birthday present for me this weekend would be to get into the points! It’s only my third Superbike race and, although it’s a huge learning curve for me this year, I am desperate to get a good qualifying position and some good results in the races. It’s a lot to ask this early in the year, but I’m more than eager to go out there and try and mix it with the best of them. I throughly enjoyed Brands, and it was a totally wild experience, a big jump from Superstocks! As long as I finish both races this weekend I’ll be quite happy.”

2006 British Superbike calendar:

Round 2, 07–09 April, Donington Park, Derbyshire
Round 3, 14–17 April, Thruxton, Hampshire
test, 21 April, official test, Oulton Park
Round 4, 29 Apr–01 May, Oulton Park, Cheshire
Round 5, 19–21 May, Mondello Park, Southern Ireland
Round 6, 02–04 June, Mallory Park, Leicestershire
Round 7, 16–18 June, Snetterton, Norfolk
test, 05–06 July, official test, Croft
Round 8, 14–16 July, Knockhill, Scotland
Round 9, 21–23 July, Oulton Park, Cheshire
Round 10, 11–13 August, Croft, North Yorkshire
test, 17 August, official test, Cadwell Park
Round 11, 26–28 August, Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire
test, 31 August, official test, Silverstone
Round 12, 15–17 September, Silverstone, Northamptonshire
Round 13, 29 Sept–01 Oct Brands Hatch, Kent