Kawasaki WSBK / WSS - Imola

[MadKaw]

Penultimate Round For KRT Riders
WSBK, Imola, Italy, 20 September 2010
Tom Sykes and Ian Lowry will once more join up to compete for the Kawasaki Racing Team in WSBK, this time around facing the challenge of the classic Imola circuit in Italy. Sykes had a season best combined performance of fifth and seventh last time out and is raring to go again at a circuit he has already tested at, earlier in the year. At that particular tyre test session, Sykes was in the top ten and the English rider is happy to go back to this unique circuit inside the very heart of the city of Imola.

In the overall standings Tom is now 15th, with the rider ahead only six points away - and therefore eminently catchable. Having tested both the 2010 and 2011 Ninja ZX-10R machines at Valencia recently, Sykes is at maximum readiness to race, not only at Imola but also in the final round of the current championship at Magny-Cours on October 3.

For Ian Lowry his first ever WSBK race came at the German round in early September, and he is back for more at Imola, another circuit he has never seen before. He was 12th in race one at the Nürburgring and hopes for that kind of result - or better - in each race at Imola.

Tom Sykes: “I am looking forward to getting back to Imola because we had a positive test there a few months back. We have had some good settings to work with since then too. We know where we are at with the bike and we have to take the settings we had in Germany on to Imola and get some more results like we had there. We just have to find a balance between the settings we had in the test at Imola and where the bike is now. Imola is a bit like a British track in some ways, some very bumpy sections as well, so you have to concentrate hard.”

Ian Lowry: “I have never been to Imola before so this will be another learning experience for me. The boys have been there, testing earlier this year, and they said the bike was pretty good there. So I want to get out on track and get into it again. WSBK racing is still all new to me and I think the team are happy enough if I keep progressing and I feel better every time out on it. There are no slow riders out there in World Superbike!”

------

Parkes Out For Another Podium As Fujiwara Looks For His First Of 2010
WSS, Imola, Italy, 20 September 2010
Katsuaki Fujiwara and Broc Parkes are once more the official Kawasaki Provec Motocard.com riders this weekend, after being paired up at the previous round in Germany for the first time. After being initially awarded fourth, the exclusion of another rider eventually put Broc a superb third in the Nürburgring finishing order; a great ride in his return to the WSS class. He had already earned a front row grid placing in qualifying, one place up on team regular Fujiwara.

Katsuaki was unlucky in the previous round in Germany, having to retire and therefore scoring no points, but his current 12th place in the overall rankings could be improved on soon. He is only six points from eighth place, with two rounds left to run, at Imola and then Magny-Cours one week later. Katsuaki is a former Imola race winner, taking the WSS honours in 2002.

Kawasaki Lorenzini by Leoni Ninja ZX-6R rider Fabien Foret was just off the podium last time out in Germany, posting a fourth place finish and pushing himself up to ninth in the championship standings in the process.

Katsuaki Fujiwara: “We had no good luck last time we raced, in Germany earlier this month, but we never give up and we will be back to try for a podium at Imola. Two races left and so I have to make up some points on the riders in front of me. I like Imola, but it is very bumpy in places, so you have to work hard for the whole lap.”

Broc Parkes: “It was good to get some time on the race bike outside of a race weekend. We could fine-tune some things that I couldn’t do in Germany. I was quite satisfied with the test and we found some good developments, especially to do with improving my feel with the bike. I think we achieved quite a lot in that Valencia test. The times were good but I was not there to try and set records; mainly I wanted to get the bike set-up more the way I wanted it. I was a lot happier with the new front-end set-up after the Valencia sessions. Imola is a nice track, and it has been good to me over the years.”

[mfzx6r]

live timing as we speak oh and go Parks

http://www.worldsbk.com/livetiming/

[laidback]

Sykes P1 atm

[mfzx6r]

more live timing Brock Parks #1 morning practice

[TopCat]

Tom Sykes pole for today's race.
Anyone know whether Sykes has been signed up for next year. He's ridden well this year - deserves a chance to really prove himself on the '11 ZX10R.
TC

[Phil]

Tom Sykes pole for today's race.
Anyone know whether Sykes has been signed up for next year. He's ridden well this year - deserves a chance to really prove himself on the '11 ZX10R.
TC

Not sure but he has been testing it - a good sign I'd say

I wonder what they will do if Mr N Haga is keen to ride it, would he bring enough sponsorship $$ to pay his wage AND fund a team......

[Six Addict]

fucken go kawasaki?! we wont know what to do with ourselves if we actually win a race

[mfzx6r]

there'd be alot of this if we one

[Gosling1]

should be a good race........Go Tom !

[the kid]

Guttsy ride in the first race from Sykes .

[Six Addict]

where did he come?

[MadKaw]

Great ride from Sykes.!!
He was on pole, got a 6th in the first race and a 4th in the 2nd.
Also Parkes got a 4th in the WSS, after a crap start was in 14th and made his way thru the pack..

[Six Addict]

[MadKaw]

Another Season Best Raceday For Sykes
WSBK, Imola, Italy, 26 September 2010
Tom Sykes made good use of his pole position start at Imola today, taking his Kawasaki Racing Team Ninja ZX-10R to sixth place in race one and fourth in race two, his best combination of the year. Tom led race one for eight laps, and race two for four, as he battled for every millimetre of advantage up front. These results even best his fifth and seventh from last race weekend in Germany and Tom is now 14th in the championship, one place higher than he was at the start of raceday.

Allied to the Superpole win on Saturday Sykes and his team enjoyed their best weekend of racing on all fronts, and fourth in race one was a personal best for Tom on his Kawasaki.

For Tom’s Imola team-mate Ian Lowry this circuit was an even more difficult prospect to learn than the Nürburgring, which had hosted the previous round. Despite working hard in each race he just missed out on points in each 21-lap contest. He was 17th and 16th today.

After some of the pre-race sessions on Friday and Saturday had been plagued by frequently damp and very slippery track surfaces, raceday was dry, and the team found good settings for Sykes despite the lack of dry practice.

The championship title was also decided at Imola, and Max Biaggi is the 2010 WSBK Champion, the first Italian rider to have won this series outright.

Tom Sykes: “Fantastic results for us. We had had a bit of a dream weekend; pole position as well in qualifying, and starting from the best grid spot really helped us out in the races. I am always happy leading races. I have made no secret of that and I just love racing on empty tarmac. I had a taste of that today, led a few laps so I was certainly not out of my league. It was fantastic to get a sixth and a fourth for Kawasaki.”

Ian Lowry: “It is a hard place to learn here. I did my best lap time of the weekend in the race and I am improving all the time. I just lacked those two dry sessions yesterday so we were still making improvements to the bike even into the second race. I was disappointed in race two but I have to be realistic because I have never been to this track before.”

---

Determination From Parkes And Fujiwara Earns Them Top Five Results
WSS, Imola, Italy, 26 September 2010
Broc Parkes was fourth and Katsuaki Fujiwara fifth at Imola, in a welcome dry race after the practice days had been adversely affected by rain. Parkes is now 14th overall, after only two races. For Parkes fourth was an unlikely final outcome at the end of lap one, when he was only 14th, having been almost last after being run wide in the first corner. He rallied strongly, despite his recent viral infection, and simply charged through the field to fifth, before a technical issue for another rider on the last lap put him fourth.

The last rider Broc overtook was his own team-mate, as Fujiwara scored fifth, finding some rear traction issues later in the race. Kats is now back into the overall top ten, capitalising on his strong front row performance in qualifying, and earning 11 points for fifth place.

Team regular Joan Lascorz, injured at Silverstone, is now guaranteed third place in the championship, as the only rider capable of overtaking his static points total of 168 retired on the last lap today.

Kawasaki Lorenzini by Leoni Ninja ZX-6R rider Fabien Foret got involved in a first chicane multiple rider incident, which put him out of the race before a lap had been completed.

Broc Parkes: “I got hit in the first corner, maybe because I didn’t get the best of starts, so that left me almost last. I had to run wide and then I was really a bit upset! So I pushed with everything all the way through the race and made some pretty big moves in the first few laps to come through. I could even have possibly had a podium at the end, but I have to be happy to have made the race I did from where I started.”

Katsuaki Fujiwara: “My bike was consistent, but it was difficult to find a good setting for the gearbox; last year was the same here. The beginning of the race was good but at the end it was too busy, too many gear changes and when the tyre grip drops off it makes it difficult to control. I was getting lots of little slides. Broc and I were inside the top five places, so not so bad for the whole team.”

[GPZ_Jim]

boogity boogity boogity!!

Heres hoping Tom can carry this excellent form into next yr, and that Kwack can retain him

Sykes for most improved this year?