June 25 saw the second round of the Kawasaki Road Racing Championships held at the Thailand International Circuit in Nakhon Chai si. Ben Fortt from Pattaya was entered in the series on his Kawasaki ZX10R superbike, competing for the Bangkok based Kawasaki YSS Motul Racing team.
Saturday qualifying was a very tense affair with less than a second covering the top 4 riders but Fortt managed to set the fourth fastest time and give himself a favourable starting position for the following day’s opening race.
On Sunday’s race day, as the red lights went out for race one, there was a tremendous roar as the bikes sped off the starting grid and Fortt hit the first bend in second place. He pressured the leader for the full 12 laps of the race and just managed to edge his way to the front and win by a short margin at the chequered flag. The young Pattaya rider punched the air as he crossed the line, displaying an outpouring of emotion.
In race two, Fortt got another good start and was in third place on the opening lap. Slowly he picked off the 2 bikes in front and again crossed the line first to give him a double success for the weekend.
The next race of the series will be held at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, one of Fortt’s favourite tracks and he will be quietly confident of more success next month.
