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Gareth Fullerton

Jack Kennedy 'bruised and battered' after British Superbikes crash at Knockhill

Jack Kennedy was left "battered and bruised" after suffering a nasty crash at Sunday's British Superbike Championship round at Knockhill.,

The Dubliner - racing for Lisburn-based Mar-Train Yamaha Racing - was thrown off his bike after clipping the kerb at a high-speed chicane during the morning warm-up.

Kennedy sustained several injuries while his R1 bike required a significant rebuild ahead of the final two races.

Read more: O'Neill charts teenager's 'hell of a journey' with Northern Ireland

Despite the injury ordeal, Kennedy managed two 13th-place finishes on Sunday, following on from Saturday's 11th place in the sprint race.

"I was really beat up from Sunday's crash. It was really painful," Kennedy said.

"I felt as if I had been in a washing machine, so it took a while to recover from it.

"I was already nursing sore ribs from my crash at the Knockhill test, but luckily enough this one didn't really affect them. It was my lower back, neck and ankles that were all really bad after this crash.

"We started well in Free Practice 1 but didn't improve in FP2 which saw us knocked down the order.

"We made a big change for FP3 which improved the bike, and we ended up qualifying 11th on the grid.

"In race one on Saturday we started 11th and finished 11th. We had a coming together with Tommy Bridewell which saw us lose three places and we had a big moment to lose another two places.

"But I managed to make some good passes and had good pace which was positive. It was frustrating to lose those early positions though and lose the front group.

"But the pace was there."

The Mar-Train team made another change to the R1 on Sunday which saw Kennedy sitting in P7 in Sunday's warm-up session before he crashed at turn six.

The Dubliner added: "The bike was working great, but I clipped the kerb over the blind chicane on the last lap which sent me into the air and rolling through the gravel before hitting the air fence.

"It was a very painful crash. It was very difficult getting through those two 30-laps races, with me feeling second-hand.

"So, to come away with three points finishes is a positive when you consider everything that happened. Finishing 13th obviously isn't where we want to be, but we have to take the positives."

Mar-Train Yamaha Racing team owner Tim Martin added: "It was an eventful weekend. We finished 11th in Saturday's opening race and made good progress with the lap times.

"We tried a new set-up on Sunday morning which was working much better, but unfortunately Jack got it slightly wrong at one of the chicanes and took a big tumble.

"Thankfully he was okay in terms of no broken bones, but he was bruised and battered and very sore. The bike was also bruised and battered.

"The rebuild of the bike was an absolute testament to the whole team. I can't thank them enough.

"They all worked extremely hard getting the bike back, repaired and through scrutineering and ready for the two races. Also, thanks to Chris from McAMS for assistance with parts and things we didn't have.

"It was a real Yamaha effort.

It proved a positive weekend for Carrickfergus rider Glenn Irwin who claimed two wins from the three races at Knockhill.

Irwin - who suffered a crash of his own in race two - won Saturday's sprint race before doubling up with victory in Sunday's race two.

The BeerMonster Ducati rider now sits third in the overall standings.

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