In what proved to be some of the closest and most hotly contested racing of the WSBK weekend, Mackay Kawasaki’s Luke Burgess posted the fastest lap time of the race on his way to the race and round win.

Luke Burgess say’s, “I was pretty confident that I was going to do well .I’ve raced the Ninja 250R quite a bit before but they’ve been restricted for this series to be more competitive so I wasn’t sure how the bike was going to go. I ended up coming away with the win after some close racing so it was a good result. I’d like to thank Kawasaki Australia, Mackay Kawasaki, United Fasteners, Tomsey Racing, S&S Polishing, JP Piping Systems and Shell Oil.” 

After qualifying in pole position, 14 year old Olly Simpson from SA took 2^nd place on his Ninja 250R, just .091 seconds behind Burgess. Burgess and Simpson were in a league of their own at Phillip Island finishing the race 24 seconds ahead of 3^rd place.

Olly Simpson say’s, ““Luke (Burgess) and I had a good battle. I was hoping to win and was unlucky. I think I have a very good chance at winning the Championship. I know I have to be consistent, not crash and get some race wins. I’d like to thank Kawasaki, Contour Camera’s and SA Motorcycles.”

The Kawasaki Ninja 250R has proven to be the clear motorcycle of choice in the new Australian 250cc Production class with 9 out of the 14 entrants at Phillip Island competing on board the Kawasaki model. Kawasaki contributes this to the strength and reliability of the Ninja’s Parallel-Twin engine, the sales success of the motorcycle (the Ninja 250R has enjoyed 3 years as the country’s highest selling Learner motorcycle) and also the Kawasaki provided contingency program for riders in the class.

Kawasaki enjoyed a highly successful weekend at Phillip Island with multiple podiums in multiple classes including the premier World Superbike and World Supersport classes and also the Australian Prostock 1000 class where New South Welshman and 2010 Australian 600 Superstock Champion Matt Walters took 2^nd overall with 4-2 results. Kawasaki also leads the Manufacturers Championship within this class, a class that Kawasaki is the official naming rights sponsor of.

Matt Walters say’s, “It was a good weekend and a great start to the Championship for me. The first race wasn’t so good but we made some changes for the 2^nd race that paid off. We’ve had really limited bike time coming into the season so this is a positive result and we’ll look to build on this. Thanks to Kawasaki, Kawasaki Connection, Austar coal mine and Rover Coaches for supporting me in 2012.”

250cc Production class riders Luke Burgess and Olly Simpson and Pro Stock 1000 rider Matt Walters now prepare for the 2^nd round of the Australian Superbike Championship at Broadford, Victoria on 23-25 March.