by MadKaw » Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:58 pm
Laconi and Tamada Battle At Brands
Brands Hatch, Great Britain, 3 August 2008
Régis Laconi and Makoto Tamada could not overcome the set-up issues that were presented to them after qualifying in Brands Hatch’s races, and each leaves Round 10 without scoring more points. Laconi’s hand injury did not help his races today, and he fell when he missed a gear in race one. In the second outing he was also luckless while riding hard in a group of riders by missing out on a point by a fraction of a second. His lack of feel and confidence in his front-end set-up decided all for Laconi today.
Tamada’s first visit to Brands hatch was approached in his usual professional manner, but he simply could not find a set-up to allow him to get on terms with the riders in the points scoring positions, not helped by stating the races from a lowly qualifying slot.
Régis Laconi: “I’m really sorry about the crash in race one as it happened just three laps from the end. I was entering the last curve when I had some problem with the gear and found a false neutral. It’s a pity because I was pushing really hard and gaining positions, even if my wrist was really hurting. I was in the 15th place when I crashed. In race two I tried few times to overtake other riders but when I saw that the riders in front of me were tightening their lines I just had to slow down in order to avoid another crash.”
Makoto Tamada: “This has been a very difficult weekend for the whole team from the beginning and it has been impossible to obtain good results. The positive thing is that I felt more confident today with the ZX-10R compared to these last few days so I tried to push as hard as I could without taking too many risks. I wanted to finish the races.”
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McConnell Falls Early As Fujiwara Gets Taken Out
Brands Hatch, Great Britain, 3 August 2008
GIL Kawasaki riders Billy McConnell and Katsuaki Fujiwara were working well towards good Brands Hatch raceday finishes until each fell, in separate incidents. McConnell lost the front on his Ninja ZX-6R, while Fujiwara was intensely unlucky to be right behind another rider who had high-sided and Katsuaki crashed into his machine, without injury. His own bike cart-wheeled into the gravel trap, being extensively damaged on the way.
Katsuaki Fujiwara: “I am OK after my crash but it was a heavy crash and it was impossible to restart. It has been a difficult weekend again, starting 26th you can only get so far in the finishing order anyway, but then we had a crash that was unavoidable.”
Billy McConnell: “I just lost the front end going into Clearways, which was a shame because we have been working and working with the boys all weekend and getting the race set-up sorted. I got a half-decent start but these guys are fast even in the first few corners, and I was just hanging in there. Our bike may not be the fastest but it is good on the front end, so I was trying to run with good corner speed. I hit the two little potholes at Clearways and folded the front so it was not a good result. Crashing out was not the best way to prove myself.”
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Podium For Morais In Superstock Thriller
Brands Hatch, Great Britain, 3 August 2008
Wildcard Pedercini Kawasaki rider Sheridan Morais took a well-deserved podium at Brands Hatch on his Ninja ZX-10R, finally taking second place, 4.1 seconds from the win Matteo Baiocco (O Six Kawasaki) looked set for a potential win but his unlucky fall at Stirling’s bend stopped him challenging eventual winner Maxime Berger at the end.
Conditions at Brands started off wet but quickly dried out, and those who had made wet weather tyre choices suffered, as those on regular dry tyres benefited.
Dave
2010 Z1000
ex bikes
05 ZX-10R Race Bike - No.77
95 ZXR750R M Race Bike - No. 75
98 ZX9R Race Bike - No. 000
zx6r, zx7r, GPX750, GPX500, lots of KX's.

I ride way too fast to worry about cholesterol