Successful BEC debut for Kawasaki & Knight

Competing in the British Enduro Championship for the first time ever on a Kawasaki Manxman David Knight has again claimed a winning result – this time topping the second day of the Central Wales Auto Club organised Knighton Enduro. Despite having just one-week to prepare for the second round of the BEC series, the Paul Bird Motorsport/Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team backed rider finished third on day one before moving to the top of the overall results on day two. Importantly, having never raced his KX450F in enduro competition before, Knight came away from the event having made sizeable improvements in the set-up of his machine.

David Knight: “All things considered I’m really pleased with the way the event went. Really it was a case of getting on and racing the bike in an enduro to find out what areas of the bike need to be worked on, and I know exactly what I need to do now. A better result on day one would have been nice, but the important thing for me was that I was able to make changes to the bike and improve the bike during the event. Having only had a few weeks on the Kawasaki I knew that the bike wouldn’t be set-up properly for enduros straight away. The few small changes that we made after the first day resulted in a big difference on day two – I know what areas I need to work on, and what direction to go in, now.

“I struggled a little on the first day do get the power down on the special tests. I was also riding a little bit too smoothly. There wasn’t any time to change anything so it was just a case of sticking with it. Third isn’t brilliant but both Edmondson and Wakely were riding well. I learned a lot about the bike, which was the most important thing for me. I changed the gearing and softened the suspension for the second day and it was better straight away. As the tests dried out the bike was awesome. Everything is heading in the right direction, which I’m pleased about it. My riding improved as well. Paul Edmondson is still one of the fastest riders in the world on slippery, grassy conditions so to beat him on the second day is good. I know what direction I want to go in now and what stuff I want to test. I really enjoyed both days, had a good laugh, and learned a lot about the bike, which is what I wanted to do.”

Results – ’09 BEC Rnd 2, Knighton Enduro
Day 1
1. Paul Edmondson (Suzuki)
2. Si Wakely (Husqvarna)
3. David Knight (Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team)