JACK Kennedy returns to Mar-Train Yamaha for the 2022 British Supersport season, and at the opening test of the preseason he finished fastest overall.
Clocking a 1:51.234, Kennedy beat his pole position time of 2021 at the Norfolk Circuit as he got back aboard a Yamaha R6 for the first time since 2019.
That 2019 season was one of particular dominance for Kennedy, winning almost countless races before moving to the Superbike class for 2020. The pandemic hampered Kennedy’s 1000cc efforts, and he returned to Supersport last year with Kawasaki, becoming champion for the third time.
Since Kennedy and Mar-Train were last together in British Supersport, the former has been off to race in the World Championship, before coming back to win three of the last four Supersport titles in Britain; while Mar-Train returned to the BSB paddock in 2021 after taking a few years out of short circuit action.
As evidenced by Kennedy’s almost immediate pace on the Mar-Train R6, the reunion of 2012’s runners-up (in rather brutal fashion, it must be said) is off to something of an ominous start.
After the first test in Snetterton, Kennedy said, “We had plenty of track time and used the time wisely during this first test to get me comfortable on the Mar-Train Yamaha R6.
“It took me a little while to get me where I wanted to be - setting up everything with suspension, engine breaking, fuelling and throttle response but when we got there in the end the bike finally felt like mine. It felt like I had a motorbike I could really push the limit on,” Kennedy continued.
Finally, Kennedy added, “We had some good pace towards the end of today and we ended up on a good set up. It was a very successful two-day test for not turning a wheel on the bike before and for me not riding a bike since the last Supersport race last year in October. We are happy leaving here quickest – I wasn’t sure we were going to do that as we haven’t tested at all this year. To sum it up, I am really happy and can’t wait for the next test at Donnington Park.”
