Kawasaki SAASC PI Race Report
Wed Sep 15, 2004 10:37 am
Kawasaki's SAASC Phillip Island Race Report
Yesterday
Round 7 Shell Advance Australian Superbike Championships 10-12 September, Phillip Island, Victoria.
A number of firsts greeted Kawasaki riders at the wet and windy final round of the Australian Supersport and Superbike Championships at Phillip Island over this last weekend.
Supersport
Robbie Baird placed his NINJA ZX-6RR on pole position after the only qualifying session, which was completed on Saturday morning. This was Robbie's first pole position of the year and he was awarded an extra bonus point in his quest to claim a final place in the top three of the Supersport championships.
This session was the first scheduled qualifying session of the day and was completed before the track became flooded. The over abundance of water forced the temporary closure of the track, resulting in some sessions being rescheduled and others cancelled altogether. Superbike qualifying was not held and the results of the dry Friday free practice were used to determine grid positions for three races on Sunday. This placed Jamie Stauffer on the front row in fourth and Robbie Baird on the third row in 11th.
Supersport Race One
The first Supersport race started at 5.40pm. It was raining and the temperature was a wintry seven degrees. In such atrocious conditions and fading light Robbie Baird showed his wet track pole position was not a fluke when he lead from the first turn. Baird then went on to complete his first lap four seconds faster than the remainder of the field. By race end the wily Queenslander held a commanding lead over the rest of the field to win by a massive 19.6 second ahead of second placed David Anthony's CBR600 and third placed Glenn Allerton. Fastest lap went to Baird with an amazing 1.50.381 in very wet conditions.
Jamie Stauffer retired on the fourth lap due to the wet and cold. He felt it was better to wait for drier conditions when he hoped to score a win from his front row qualifying position. The race win for Baird was the first for a Kawasaki rider in the Supersport series since 1999 when former KRT rider and World Supersport Champion Andrew Pitt won the Australian Supersport Championship. The winter weather, rain, and hail at times, played an important part in the final results of the team Kawasaki riders in Sunday's races, characterised by changing fortunes as the track conditions changed quickly from wet to part dry, or completely dry, or a mixture of both, which had teams swapping tyres just before the riders left the pits for the warm-up lap.
Supersport Race Two
The second Supersport race was held after a heavy shower of rain and officials declared the race to be wet which provides a tyre choice to the teams, with some starting with full rain tyres and some started with their normal dry race tyres. Both TKA riders started on wet tyres and this provide to be their undoing, with Baird's chance of a top three final series placing slipping from his grasp as his rivals Allerton and Holland finishing one two whilst Baird was back in the pits after a first lap fall and a shredded wet weather tyre.
Supersport race three
Jamie Stauffer finally had a dry track and was confident of having a good chance of a race win after Friday's dry free practice. Baird led off the line from pole position and was passed by Allerton. Stauffer made his way to the lead after passing a number of riders on the first lap. Jamie then also passed Baird and Allerton immediately pulled a gap. Lapping a full second faster than the others, Stauffer, with clockwork precision, pulled away from the rest of the field. Baird in third early in the race was being pulled back by a group of three riders - Holland, Greedy and Waters. Baird was able to regroup and held fifth at the finish. Baird's fifth place in the third race and his earlier win in the first race plus the bonus point for pole position gave Robbie third in the round points score and fourth in the series points score.
Stauffer's win in the final race of the series placed Jamie seventh in the round points and seventh in the overall series points score.
Team Manager Murray Sayle was happy to take the two wins in the final round but thought the weather hampered the team from achieving the results they were expecting after Friday and Saturday's practice and qualifying. "Jamie was happy with his dry setup but struggled to get his wet setup to match his expectations. This was opposite of Robbie Baird's situation, who thought he had a perfect setup for the wet, but was held back from finding a good dry set up by lack of dry track practice." Said Sayle
Superbikes
Normal practice and qualifying was abandoned and grid positions were taken from Friday's dry track free practice times. This provided Jamie Stauffer with a front row start but placed team mate Robbie Baird back on the second row. In the wet Sunday morning warm up Baird was fastest and thought his wet set up was almost perfect. Stauffer was also happy with the third fastest time in the wet and was also happy with his dry setup. A crash on the final lap of the warm up for Jamie left him muddy and his number one bike parked for the day. The team quickly prepared his second bike for the first race.
Superbike Race One
Jamie started the first race on wets as shower of rained passed over prior to the start. It was a tyre gamble and one that both Jamie and Robbie Baird, who also start on full wets, hoped would pay off. With the wind blowing, the track dried faster than the riders on full wets expected, and the front four riders pulled away from the rest of the field as they struggled for traction. Jamie held on to 5th as the race was declared at the end of eight laps.
Baird fell in the scramble through the second corner. He was uninjured, although his NINJA ZX-10R required some minor repairs to be ready for the second race.
Superbike Race Two
Race 2 was stopped after four laps due to rain and the restart stopped after one lap. The races was declared on the results of the first leg and half points awarded. Jamie was in fourth position and added to his series total.
Superbike Race Three
Held on dry track with threatening clouds Jamie got a great start and was right with Shannon Johnson as they pulled away from Shawn Giles. Stauffer passed Johnson only to be passed back. Stauffer was getting good drive onto the front straight and kept in touch with Johnson down the front straight. Stauffer at mid race distance found a small gap in the fast right leading to the Hay Shed and forced his way past Johnson. Johnson regained the lead and it was heading to a close finish as Stauffer was preparing for a last lunge for the lead on the final lap when he missed a gear change and lost his momentum, to finish 0.304 behind Johnson at the line. Giles on the Suzuki finished 5.6 seconds behind Stauffer in third position.
Overall
Jamie Stauffer's fifth, fourth and second placed Jamie third overall on the day. Jamie set the fastest lap of the day on Sunday and was happy with the results and being close enough to win the final race of the series. Jamie scored enough points to close up to his brother Daniel Stauffer in the end of series points score, but the half points award in the shortened second race stopped any chance to catch his Daniel. Jaime finished in fifth place just one place and 2.5 points from Daniel. Robbie Baird, after his two crashes on Sunday did not start the last two Superbike races to focus on his Supersport bike as he still had a slim chance going into the final race to secure a top three finish. Team Manager Murray Sayle thought Jamie's ride in the last race was his best of the series on the fast developing NINJA ZX-10R.
"With the data we collected from the ZX-10R at this meeting we will study it closely back at the workshop and will be better able to set the bike for dry weather when we return for the support races at the 2004 Cinzano Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix in five weeks." Said Sayle.
"We have a good wet setup and need to refine the dry setup to get both riders closer to the front at our next visit to the Island, our only unknown is the sometimes unpredictable Phillip Island weather."
Murray Sayle went on the thank the team's highly valued sponsors this year - Fuchs Silkolene oils, Michelin tyres, Goodridge brake pads and brake lines, AFAM sprockets, Akrapovic exhausts, NGK spark plugs and Thor clothing.
Yesterday
Round 7 Shell Advance Australian Superbike Championships 10-12 September, Phillip Island, Victoria.
A number of firsts greeted Kawasaki riders at the wet and windy final round of the Australian Supersport and Superbike Championships at Phillip Island over this last weekend.
Supersport
Robbie Baird placed his NINJA ZX-6RR on pole position after the only qualifying session, which was completed on Saturday morning. This was Robbie's first pole position of the year and he was awarded an extra bonus point in his quest to claim a final place in the top three of the Supersport championships.
This session was the first scheduled qualifying session of the day and was completed before the track became flooded. The over abundance of water forced the temporary closure of the track, resulting in some sessions being rescheduled and others cancelled altogether. Superbike qualifying was not held and the results of the dry Friday free practice were used to determine grid positions for three races on Sunday. This placed Jamie Stauffer on the front row in fourth and Robbie Baird on the third row in 11th.
Supersport Race One
The first Supersport race started at 5.40pm. It was raining and the temperature was a wintry seven degrees. In such atrocious conditions and fading light Robbie Baird showed his wet track pole position was not a fluke when he lead from the first turn. Baird then went on to complete his first lap four seconds faster than the remainder of the field. By race end the wily Queenslander held a commanding lead over the rest of the field to win by a massive 19.6 second ahead of second placed David Anthony's CBR600 and third placed Glenn Allerton. Fastest lap went to Baird with an amazing 1.50.381 in very wet conditions.
Jamie Stauffer retired on the fourth lap due to the wet and cold. He felt it was better to wait for drier conditions when he hoped to score a win from his front row qualifying position. The race win for Baird was the first for a Kawasaki rider in the Supersport series since 1999 when former KRT rider and World Supersport Champion Andrew Pitt won the Australian Supersport Championship. The winter weather, rain, and hail at times, played an important part in the final results of the team Kawasaki riders in Sunday's races, characterised by changing fortunes as the track conditions changed quickly from wet to part dry, or completely dry, or a mixture of both, which had teams swapping tyres just before the riders left the pits for the warm-up lap.
Supersport Race Two
The second Supersport race was held after a heavy shower of rain and officials declared the race to be wet which provides a tyre choice to the teams, with some starting with full rain tyres and some started with their normal dry race tyres. Both TKA riders started on wet tyres and this provide to be their undoing, with Baird's chance of a top three final series placing slipping from his grasp as his rivals Allerton and Holland finishing one two whilst Baird was back in the pits after a first lap fall and a shredded wet weather tyre.
Supersport race three
Jamie Stauffer finally had a dry track and was confident of having a good chance of a race win after Friday's dry free practice. Baird led off the line from pole position and was passed by Allerton. Stauffer made his way to the lead after passing a number of riders on the first lap. Jamie then also passed Baird and Allerton immediately pulled a gap. Lapping a full second faster than the others, Stauffer, with clockwork precision, pulled away from the rest of the field. Baird in third early in the race was being pulled back by a group of three riders - Holland, Greedy and Waters. Baird was able to regroup and held fifth at the finish. Baird's fifth place in the third race and his earlier win in the first race plus the bonus point for pole position gave Robbie third in the round points score and fourth in the series points score.
Stauffer's win in the final race of the series placed Jamie seventh in the round points and seventh in the overall series points score.
Team Manager Murray Sayle was happy to take the two wins in the final round but thought the weather hampered the team from achieving the results they were expecting after Friday and Saturday's practice and qualifying. "Jamie was happy with his dry setup but struggled to get his wet setup to match his expectations. This was opposite of Robbie Baird's situation, who thought he had a perfect setup for the wet, but was held back from finding a good dry set up by lack of dry track practice." Said Sayle
Superbikes
Normal practice and qualifying was abandoned and grid positions were taken from Friday's dry track free practice times. This provided Jamie Stauffer with a front row start but placed team mate Robbie Baird back on the second row. In the wet Sunday morning warm up Baird was fastest and thought his wet set up was almost perfect. Stauffer was also happy with the third fastest time in the wet and was also happy with his dry setup. A crash on the final lap of the warm up for Jamie left him muddy and his number one bike parked for the day. The team quickly prepared his second bike for the first race.
Superbike Race One
Jamie started the first race on wets as shower of rained passed over prior to the start. It was a tyre gamble and one that both Jamie and Robbie Baird, who also start on full wets, hoped would pay off. With the wind blowing, the track dried faster than the riders on full wets expected, and the front four riders pulled away from the rest of the field as they struggled for traction. Jamie held on to 5th as the race was declared at the end of eight laps.
Baird fell in the scramble through the second corner. He was uninjured, although his NINJA ZX-10R required some minor repairs to be ready for the second race.
Superbike Race Two
Race 2 was stopped after four laps due to rain and the restart stopped after one lap. The races was declared on the results of the first leg and half points awarded. Jamie was in fourth position and added to his series total.
Superbike Race Three
Held on dry track with threatening clouds Jamie got a great start and was right with Shannon Johnson as they pulled away from Shawn Giles. Stauffer passed Johnson only to be passed back. Stauffer was getting good drive onto the front straight and kept in touch with Johnson down the front straight. Stauffer at mid race distance found a small gap in the fast right leading to the Hay Shed and forced his way past Johnson. Johnson regained the lead and it was heading to a close finish as Stauffer was preparing for a last lunge for the lead on the final lap when he missed a gear change and lost his momentum, to finish 0.304 behind Johnson at the line. Giles on the Suzuki finished 5.6 seconds behind Stauffer in third position.
Overall
Jamie Stauffer's fifth, fourth and second placed Jamie third overall on the day. Jamie set the fastest lap of the day on Sunday and was happy with the results and being close enough to win the final race of the series. Jamie scored enough points to close up to his brother Daniel Stauffer in the end of series points score, but the half points award in the shortened second race stopped any chance to catch his Daniel. Jaime finished in fifth place just one place and 2.5 points from Daniel. Robbie Baird, after his two crashes on Sunday did not start the last two Superbike races to focus on his Supersport bike as he still had a slim chance going into the final race to secure a top three finish. Team Manager Murray Sayle thought Jamie's ride in the last race was his best of the series on the fast developing NINJA ZX-10R.
"With the data we collected from the ZX-10R at this meeting we will study it closely back at the workshop and will be better able to set the bike for dry weather when we return for the support races at the 2004 Cinzano Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix in five weeks." Said Sayle.
"We have a good wet setup and need to refine the dry setup to get both riders closer to the front at our next visit to the Island, our only unknown is the sometimes unpredictable Phillip Island weather."
Murray Sayle went on the thank the team's highly valued sponsors this year - Fuchs Silkolene oils, Michelin tyres, Goodridge brake pads and brake lines, AFAM sprockets, Akrapovic exhausts, NGK spark plugs and Thor clothing.
re: Kawasaki SAASC PI Race Report
Wed Sep 15, 2004 4:24 pm
Now thats more like it. We be Catching them. Cant wait for the GP.
cheers Brett
cheers Brett
re: Kawasaki SAASC PI Race Report
Wed Sep 15, 2004 8:25 pm
Goodonya Bairdy and Jamie bout time the greenmachine TKA took some wins, heres hoping for next years series gonna be some top competition from the new bikes coming out of the other manufacturers 
re: Kawasaki SAASC PI Race Report
Wed Sep 15, 2004 9:11 pm
talking about competition from other manufacturers I am actually quite surprised the 05 R6 didnt get an underseat exhaust, i though for sure it would considering this is the new trend and the R1 went that way.