AMD Motorsport and Richard Kerr are all set and ready to go ahead of the opening round of the 2023 Pirelli National Superstock Championship, which takes place at Silverstone this Easter weekend.
The opening event of the new season gets underway tomorrow (Good Friday) ahead of races on both Saturday and Sunday, with 11 rounds in total being held between now and October.
Dumfries-based AMD Motorsport and Kerr have enjoyed two successful seasons together with the most recent, 2022, seeing the Donegal rider finish in a fine fifth overall on the CBR1000RR Honda Fireblade.
The 22-year old took two victories, at Donington Park and Knockhill, with an additional podium taken at the former and he was the only rider to score points in all the 18 races to take place. A regular finisher in the top six, Kerr is now ready to challenge for the title in his third year in the class.
Kerr kickstarted his season at the beginning of March with three days testing at the Calafat circuit in Spain, where good weather allowed him to put in some strong lap times on the Honda. Upon returning to the UK, he then took part in the official test days at both Donington Park and Silverstone although conditions were, in the main, cold and wet.
However, he did manage to complete 14 laps in the dry at Donington and he was immediately on the pace, posting the sixth fastest time. It was a similar story at Silverstone where the circuit was damp at best, and soaking wet at its worst, with, again the sixth fastest time recorded across the two days.
Richard Kerr: “Testing went well in Spain with the bike feeling really good and although it was hard to know what a good pace was, I felt like I was pushing on. There were some other Superstock riders out there and I was a bit quicker than them which was good. At Donington we managed to get 14 dry laps but that was all we got as it rained for the rest of the time and it was similar at Silverstone. We didn’t get much wet weather last year, so it was good to get a lot of wet laps in and we definitely found a better direction to go for with regards to a wet setting.”
“I’m feeling good about 2023 and with last year being such a good season, the aim is to build on that, and I believe we will be pushing for the podiums at every round. If all goes to plan, we’ll be pushing for the championship towards the end of the year so I’m really excited and more ready than ever. I put in a good winter of hard training and definitely feel fit and stronger than last season so huge thanks to all my personal sponsors and everyone at AMD Motorsport. I’ve a good bunch of people around me this year so all the boxes are ticked; it’s just a matter of going faster on the track!”
Fraser Dykes, Team Owner: “We’re all really excited about the new season although it doesn’t seem like five minutes since we were at the final round last year! 2022 was obviously a good year for Richard and the team with our first victories and having got that taste, we definitely want more. Richard’s made excellent progress year on year, and we now feel ready to challenge for the race wins on a regular basis and, of course, the championship. Testing has gone well so we’re as ready as we can be so let’s go out there and see what we can do!”
The two races this weekend, both held over 22 laps of the 1.64-mile Silverstone National circuit, are scheduled to take place at 15:45 on Saturday and 14:55 on Sunday.
Pictures by Tim Keeton – Impact Images Photography
