Britain's Bradley Ward was back in the top ten twice as the 2020 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship debuted at the Ridge Motorsports Park this weekend.
Despite a small spill in Practice on Friday the #57 FLY Racing ADR Motorsports Kawasaki rider lined up thirteenth and twelfth on the grid for the two races at the technically demanding 2.5 mile circuit.
A red flag on lap one of the opening encounter saw a reduction in laps, with Ward coming home tenth, a couple of seconds from the top eight. Sunday’s second race once again saw Ward in the mix. He eventually crossed the line ninth, securing his fifth top ten finish of his ‘rookie’ Superbike season.
"I didn’t make Superpole so started race one from the fifth row. I was a lot more comfortable with the bike after we made some changes in Warm-Up and was able to make a good start – I think I was eighth," said Ward.
"There was a big pile up and the race was red flagged. I made another solid start in the restart and was sixth or seventh into the first few corners. On the third or fourth lap I caught my knee at Turn 6, which is a long sweeping left hander.
"I ripped my knee slider off, so from then on it was pretty difficult as I rely on my slider quite a lot for feeling. I was lapping consistently but I do believe that I would have been able to run a faster pace had it not been for the earlier incident.
"Sunday I was moved up to twelfth on the grid. I was on the outside but made a good start. I was seventh and then got hit, so I have a nice tyre mark on my leathers – there was definitely a bit of rubbing at Turn 1.
"Uribe passed me and I didn’t have the pace to run with him. My pace was similar to Saturday, but I was unable to get into the ‘43s. In the end it was another top ten, more points and I kept it upright. There was a lot of carnage, so we have to be happy that we were able to go to a new track, learn it and come away with two good results.”
