Buxton's Chris Kent up to third after strong Cadwell Park display

Buxton’s Chris Kent moved up to third in the BMC British MZ250 Championship standings after a positive weekend at Cadwell Park.
Chris Kent in action at Cadwell Park. Photo: JTW Motorsport Photography.Chris Kent in action at Cadwell Park. Photo: JTW Motorsport Photography.
Chris Kent in action at Cadwell Park. Photo: JTW Motorsport Photography.

Round three of the Championship saw the riders head to Lincolnshire where Kent was again aboard his Powder House Coatings-supported MZ250.

Kent had a tough start, only qualifying seventh for race one, but on a dry track he was able to pick up two places around the first corner then moved to fourth as a rider ahead slid off.

On lap two he moved up to third when the rider in front ran wide and whilst attempting to regain the line, clipped Kent’s foot-peg and went down. The incident slowed the Buxton man and allowed a two second gap to open to the leading pair.

Back-markers came into play when the leaders were held up, allowing Kent to join the fight for the last two laps and eventually come home in second place.

He said: “I was really trying hard in qualifying but I couldn’t stop the bike properly in the hard braking areas and didn’t have much confidence in the front end.

“I’m not sure where the extra speed came from in the race but the bike still felt unsettled when braking, I was lucky to catch up!”

Race two saw Kent start from pole, drop to second then retake the lead until the race was stopped due to an incident with other riders.

The re-start saw Kent lead the first two laps of a shortened race. A three-way tussle developed but again back-markers caused gaps to appear then close again as each rider tried to find the fastest way past them and once again Kent finished second.

He added: “Race two was a tough race, any one of the leading three could have won. The slower riders really affected us all so I’m happy to get on the second step of the podium again.”

Sunday morning saw race three start with Kent fourth on the grid and lightning fast reaction saw him lead into the first bend, however, handling problems returned to mean he could only manage to finish third – race four seeing similar issues mean a fourth place finish.

He said: “Overall I’m happy with the results but I know I could’ve gone faster and challenged for wins if the bike was handling at its best. That’s something to work on for the next round on the Grand Prix circuit at Brands Hatch”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​