Kawasaki WSBK / WSS - Silverstone

[MadKaw]

Superpole Qualifying Puts Sykes On Row Four at Silverstone
WSBK, Silverstone, Great Britain, 31 July 2010
Tom Sykes powered his way into Superpole qualifying and ended up 13th on the grid for Sunday’s two 18-lap races at his home circuit of Silverstone. Tom’s team-mate for this weekend Akira Yanagawa worked hard to get on terms with his World Superbike Ninja ZX-10R machine, which is a very different spec of race bike to that he uses in Japan, and he was 25th on the grid.

The long 5.902km Silverstone circuit, back on the WSBK calendar in quite a different form from the version last used by WSBK in 2007, proved fast and bumpy in places but it met with great approval from the mass of competitors.

Sykes is racing at his circuit for this round but has little in the way of local knowledge of the new Silverstone. He worked well in practice to qualify easily for Superpole, and was in the top ten after regulation qualifying.

It was not possible for Tom to maximise his qualifiers in exactly the way he wanted to in Superpole, but he pushed all the way as he worked hard towards taking two good race results on Sunday.

Akira found arriving back in a very welcoming World Superbike paddock a difficult task on track at least, particularly at round ten of a long season when rival team and rider combinations are now well used to meshing as a unit.

Kawasaki Racing Team riders and technical staff will now use the last available practice session, the 20-minute warm-up on Sunday morning, to make final adjustments and tyre choice confirmations.

Tom Sykes: “We did a reasonable time on race tyres and I pushed hard on qualifiers. I feel we reached the maximum potential of where we are at right now. Overall I am happy enough but tomorrow we need to keep working to get a little bit better balance for full race distance. We have been working well so far and I want to carry that through to race day. The track is good, I am enjoying riding around it.”

Akira Yanagawa: “I am still having to study how the World Superbike Ninja ZX-10R machine works, and also the tyres. I used another tyre manufacturer when racing in Japan and this makes a lot of difference, especially in the corners. The World Superbike machine has a lot of power and a lot of electronics, so although the bike is nice to ride, the electronics can take over control on the exit of the corners. I have to learn to trust the electronics and work with them. In the morning, in warm-up tomorrow, I have 20 minutes to try something else to find a faster pace and I have to push more myself.”

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Both Ninja ZX-6R Riders In Good Shape For Silverstone Raceday
WSS, Silverstone, Great Britain, 31 July 2010
Joan Lascorz and Katsuaki Fujiwara had work to do in the early stages of practice at Silverstone but each earned strong starting places for Sunday’s 16-lap Supersport race. Joan will launch his Kawasaki Motocard.com Ninja ZX-6R from third place on the grid after finishing only 0.035 seconds from pole. Both his main championship rivals are also on the front row but Joan is confident he can make a strong showing at this long circuit, after a good period of practice and qualifying.

Katsuaki is really enjoying his return to Silverstone, even if he had to re-learn most of the track, which is now the longest on the calendar. He feels his machine works particularly well around this circuit and ‘Kats’ himself is now fully fit after a period of illness a few weeks ago.

Kawasaki Lorenzini by Leoni Ninja ZX-6R rider Fabien Foret was 13th in the overall qualifying rankings.

Joan Lascorz: “It is very close out there but I am happy with the bike and the way the team has worked in practice. We have done a good job but I had a small problem on my fast lap, missing a gear two corners before the end. But I am happy with my race set-up and tyre choice. We will just use warm-up to try something else, but not make a big change. The track is fast and fun, and I have a good feeling here, more than I did in Brno at the last race.”

Katsuaki Fujiwara: “Seventh was OK today and the track is good, maybe the long tracks are best for us. On Friday we started down the order but the team worked very well to find a set-up quickly. Then we improved again in the afternoon today and finally qualified seventh. The track is nice, I enjoy racing it, and there are some corners that seem the same as last time, but there are a lot of new ones as well. It is a little bumpy in the faster corners, but our set-up is coming good.”