Lee Jackson was a double podium finisher at Knockhill last season and as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship prepares to head north of the border next weekend (June 16/17/18), the Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki rider is focused on securing his first podium finish in 2023.
Jackson scored a fourth place last time out at Donington Park to edge closer to the top three, with further changes made with the Cheshire Mouldings Kawasaki, giving the Lincolnshire contender a more familiar feeling and with it more confidence. The team were not present at the recent private test, but Jackson believes that they will be in the fight next weekend.
Jackson said: “Donington Park was my best weekend so far; I went there pretty open minded seeing as Oulton Park was a bit better than Silverstone, but it was still not quite where I wanted to be. Donington Park was really good, we made changes not big ones, but quite a lot of changes on Friday. We had a new link that matched the actual factory swingarm, which we hadn’t used yet this season and that was probably the most positive and the biggest effect we have done so far this year.
“It was fantastic and made my bike feel so much more like the feeling I had last year. That isn’t always what you want of the bike feeling the same, but it gave me familiarity which was a lot better.
“Going into Saturday I felt a lot more confident and was really looking forward to going into Superpole and really my main aim was getting into it to be honest as it is something that I enjoy doing, so I was happy to get through on Friday. We made a decision to go on the SC0 tyre, which I think paid off, as nobody knew what the tyre gamble would be. I knew I could be fast on it even without much testing so it boosted my season.
“The round at Donington Park definitely made me feel better and the feeling I had with the bike too was improved. We were pretty close to the podium in race two; the Safety Car bought a lot of us back into the race and it felt good to be back at the front battling, proving what we can do and not lost it since the end of last season!
“It is onwards to Knockhill now. We didn’t have the test, but I am looking forward to it and I am feeling strong. I am looking forward to trying to get on the podium for the first time in 2023.”