Kirkham and Dienza part company.

Following another difficult outing at Cadwell Park last week, Jon Kirkham and Dienza Performance have split and will pursue other options for the remainder of the 2005 British Superbike season.

Kirkham struggled throughout practice and qualifying at the Lincolnshire circuit with times that were several seconds off the pace.

Compromised by his grid position Kirkham then got caught up in a major accident on the first corner of the first race on the Bank Holiday Monday, crashing with Chris Burns and Steve Brogan.

The force of the impact left Kirkham severely battered and bruised and as a result he was unable to start the second race.

"It's been a battle all weekend. We were off the pace during practice and qualifying and this compromised my start. Getting taken out on the first corner pretty much sums up how the season has gone so far," he shrugged.

It has indeed been a trying year for Kirkham, with his team's title sponsor Sendo withdrawing its support due to financial reasons after the Croft round of the championship.

Dienza Performance then stepped in to run the squad from Silverstone retaining Kirkham and the same Kawasaki ZX10s he had ridden all season. But following a meeting after Cadwell a decision was taken by Kirkham not to race with the team at any more events this year.

With a number of options to be explored, Kirkham intends to make an announcement regarding his plans for this season and beyond in the coming weeks.