Donegal motorcyclist Richard Kerr finished in an impressive fourth place at the MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Championship race at the weekend.
The Kilmacrennan man, and his AMD Motorsport/RK Racing team, were making their debut at the event, one of the series taking place at the picturesque Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.
Competing at the venue for the very first time, the 2.38-mile circuit saw Kerr run in sixth place in his qualifying group with a best time of 1’26.568, a more than encouraging 1.657s adrift of pole position man and reigning champion Hayden Gillim. On the overall qualifying times though, he had to settle for 12th place and a fourth-row start.
With two races on the schedule, he had plenty of opportunities to improve and did so immediately with a solid eighth place in the opening 14-lap race. However, lapping a full second than he’d managed in qualifying, the second encounter saw him move up the order to take an excellent fourth place at the chequered flag.
That made him the second Honda rider to finish with the excellent results already placing him third overall in the early championship table behind fellow Honda rider Gillim, who won both races at Barber Park, and Bryce Prince.
In addition to the two Stock 1000 races, Kerr also contested the three MotoAmerica Superbike races which featured multiple champions Cameron Beaubier and Jake Gagne as well as World Superbike Championship podium finishers Loris Baz and Xavi Fores. Again, the Kilmacrennan man acquitted himself well and with 15th in Saturday’s race, he improved to 11th and 12th on Sunday to pick up ten hard-earned points.
“Overall it was a good weekend, what with a new track for me to learn, first time racing against the American riders and my first time on Dunlop tyres so there was a lot to take in during the weekend,” he said.
“We had a lot on our plate so to come away third in the Superstock standings is very pleasing. I was also pleased with my rides in the Superbike races where I ended being the second best placed Superstock rider across the three races. The heat wasn’t too bad as I’ve been training hard and that paid dividends as with five races, it was a busy weekend. I picked up some nice prize money too so overall, it was a really enjoyable experience.”
Kerr said he is now looking forward to the next round at Brainerd in June.
He paid a big thanks to AMD Motorsport and his team here: Simon Bleasdale, Liam Kelly and his dad Ivan as well as Jones Honda.
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