Kawasaki WSBK - Brno

[MadKaw]

Recent Testing Action Set To Aid Sykes And Baz At Brno
WSBK, Brno, Czech Republic, 16 July 2012
Kawasaki Racing Team riders Tom Sykes and Loris Baz have not been short of track time recently, having tested at Motorland Aragon last week in preparation for Brno, the ninth round of the season. Currently Tom sits fifth in the overall Superbike World Championship fight having already won a race on his official Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R machine, at Monza in round four. Tom has scored six podiums in 2012 already, but is hungry for more to try and get himself back up to the top three overall championship placing he has enjoyed for most of the year.

Young French rider Loris Baz joined the KRT set up mid-season to replace the seriously injured team regular Joan Lascorz and since his introduction he has scored well in most races, with two eighth places his highest individual race results so far. Loris is 19th in the rankings at present.

Both Tom and Loris rejoined the team at Motorland Aragon for a two-day test last week, to help in their preparations for the Brno round this coming weekend. There are numerous similarities between the Spanish circuit and the Czech one, not least the changes of elevation and mix of broad, flowing corners. Long chicanes at Brno always provide opportunities for overtaking, while the steep drag uphill to the final chicane is a real test of engine power.

The Kawasaki Team Pedercini Superbike boys – David Salom and Leandro Mercado - are expected to be all ready to go when they head to Brno, each looking for more points scoring opportunities on their supported Ninja ZX-10R machinery.

In the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup class Bryan Staring (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) is looking for another win to follow on from his first victory at Motorland Aragon last time out. Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki) was a podium finisher last time out, in second, so he will be looking for more of the same form in the Czech Republic.

Tom Sykes: “It was a good two day test for us last week and we certainly found out a bit of information that we will see how that goes for us in Brno. We tested at Aragon again and we have done some amount of laps round there in the past few weeks! Brno next and it is an awesome circuit, one that I really love. The layout is great for the riders and it is a well thought-out circuit. It has a fantastic atmosphere and hopefully now the Ninja ZX-10R has will have an even better feel with the front end and I am a bit more excited to go there after our successful test. I cannot wait for Friday morning free practice.”

Loris Baz: “We tested at Aragon again recently and it is becoming like a second home now. We had good weather for two days and we tried a lot of things, and found some more improvements, so it was good to do. We worked a lot in hot conditions and we improved out pace compared to the race. So I think we made another little step, but we will see in Brno. It is a nice track for me and I like it. It should be good because some parts of Aragon are quite like parts of Brno so we have tried a few things to suit the Czech circuit.”

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Kawasaki’s Top Riders Ready For More Podium Action
WSS, Brno, Czech Republic, 16 July 2012
Three of Kawasaki’s top WSS riders have posted wins or podiums in 2012 so far, with Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Lorenzini) still out front in the championship lead as the series now approaches Brno. The WSS championship did not visit the MMP round in the USA, hence the eighth round of the championship occurs at Brno this weekend, not the ninth like the Superbike class. Kenan Sofuoglu has an enviable record at the Czech circuit, having taken two of his current total of 19 WSS race wins at Brno, in 2007 and 2010.

Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki Lorenzini) earned his first podium at the previous race in Motorland Aragon in what is his first full season in this class of racing. He has ridden in WSS at Brno before, but he did so as a wildcard rider. A small test near his team’s home base in Italy has set him up nicely to attempt to score his second podium of the year for his Lorenzini crew.

Fabien Foret and Romain Lanusse are two French riders competing for the hometown pride of their Czech based Kawasaki Intermoto Step team at Brno this weekend. Lanusse is a young rider learning his way in this class but Foret is a former World Champion and a proven winner in 2012, at the Imola round in April. In fourth place overall in the standings, Foret is 34 points behind Sofuoglu’s leading score of 117.

Joshua Day will be out for another top ten weekend on his GoEleven Kawasaki, while Florian Marino joins forces with a new Kawasaki squad this weekend, the MSD R-N Racing Team. No fewer than 35 bikes are scheduled to be on track in WSS this weekend.

Kenan Sofuoglu: “I had an operation on my left knee after the Motorland Aragon round and I am now reaching the fitness level I want. My last training session left me feeling happy and confident and I think I am really ready now to ride at Brno, especially after a difficult raceday at Aragon. I want to take away a good result at the next race. It is important for me to do well and show good pace at the Brno round.”

Sheridan Morais: “We went to a circuit just near my team’s base, at Cremona, just for a day of testing to try a few things in bike set-up and get to ride the bike a bit more. I think we did over 30 laps there, so that was good. I have also just been at the house of one of my mechanics, up near Modena in the mountains for four or five days. Just training and riding a bike so I feel I am ready for Brno now. The guys have been working well on the engine settings so maybe they have found a few more horsepower for Brno. I have ridden at Brno as a wildcard in 2009, the only time I did a WSS race before this season, and finished sixth. I had one of my best Superstock 1000 results there last year. I like the circuit, it has lots of ups and downs and good corners.”

[MadKaw]

Sykes To The Power Of Seven At Brno
WSBK, Brno, Czech Republic, 21 July 2012
Kawasaki Racing Team rider Tom Sykes used his Ninja ZX-10R to full effect in qualifying once more to take his seventh Tissot-Superpole win of the year. His team-mate Loris Baz was 15th in Superpole. Sykes set a new track best of 1’58.010 seconds at Brno on the second Superpole session, declared wet after a small smattering of rain, but eventually held in dry conditions.

Superpole 2 was interrupted by an oil spill on the track, which claimed several riders as they fell on the slippery track surface. After a long delay thanks to necessary track cleaning a new schedule was announced. The planned 16.25 restart was once more delayed by a fall of rain on one part of the circuit. A wet Superpole was called but the eventual second and final 20 minute ‘wet’ Superpole session took place in the dry, allowing Sykes to set his new best time.

KRT rider Baz had a strong qualifying show at Brno, going tenth in the combined times and easily putting himself into Superpole. He was looking good to progress through Superpole 2 but a small mistake cost him the required lap time and he now lines up 15th, on the fourth row of the grid.

Kawasaki Team Pedercini Superbike rider David Salom had a great qualifying experience compared to most and took his Ninja ZX-10R to ninth on combined qualifying, then moving through Superpole one, to start the first attempt at Superpole 2, which was finally abandoned when he and three other riders fell on the oil spill. He ended up 11th on the grid, for a third row start, as his bike was too damaged to continue in the eventual wet Superpole 2. His team-mate Leandro Mercado qualified 21st on the grid for Sunday’s 20-lap races.

In the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup class Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki) qualified second and Motorland Aragon race winner Bryan Staring (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) was fourth, both starting off the front row.

Tom Sykes: “I think overall things are looking not too bad for tomorrow. I think there is no question that the Kawasaki and I have got the speed to do this sort of thing in one lap. In terms of race performance we will see how we go but I am fairly confident for the races tomorrow. We have tried three different tyres and got a lot of information this weekend. Hopefully we can convert pole position but that has been difficult this year. I am sure I will sleep well tonight and come out swinging tomorrow.”

Loris Baz: “I just missed a gear in the last corner. Normally I do the first part in second and the second part in third but I missed the gear between the corners and I just couldn’t do the lap time I wanted. It was looking like I would finish well but I ended up 15th. I think we have a good race pace because we improved a lot this morning, but it would have been great to start the races from the second row.”

David Salom: “I’m very satisfied with my morning qualifying and with the first phase of the Superpole. Unfortunately in the second phase I crashed because of some oil on the track and I was not able to restart because my bike was badly damaged. This morning I was able to improve my best lap time and enter Superpole. We solved some problems on the electronics of the bike and they are now working very well. We improved the bike set up and so I’m confident for tomorrow’s race. I’ll try my best to get two good results.”

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Sofuoglu On Pole After Close Qualifying Session
WSS, Brno, Czech Republic, 21 July 2012
Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Lorenzini) set pole at Brno after a hard fought contest that saw Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) third fastest, and only 0.162 seconds separate all the top four riders. Sofuoglu had to battle hard for his first pole position of 2012, despite not intending to sacrifice race set-up for a single fast lap time as usual. Such was the nature of the contest for a front row start, however, that he ended up only 0.002 seconds from second place man Jules Cluzel, and only 0.080 seconds ahead of Foret. This was Kenan’s 13th career pole position, his first for Kawasaki since joining the Lorenzini team at the start of this season.

Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki Lorenzini) was ninth in qualifying after working hard with his team in practice, overcoming some issues on soft race tyres to finish his main pre-race preparations confident that they have found a good race set-up.

French youngster Romain Lanusse (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) went 13th on the grid, while American rider Joshua Day (Team Go Eleven Kawasaki) was 15th. New Kawasaki runner in the championship, Florian Marino (MSD R-N racing Team India) was 23rd in his team’s first experience of WSS racing.

Kenan Sofuoglu: “Today was not too bad and normally I do not fight for pole position, I can accept it if I am on the front row. But I think the bike was very good and the set-up was good and I tried to make a strong lap time, which brought me pole. The most important thing is that I am ready for the race, I have good race pace and hopefully I can fight for the win on raceday. I am very sorry about what happened in Aragon but I do not think I put anyone in a dangerous position. When I moved my head to signal Fabien I think it looks like a very aggressive manoeuvre when you see it on TV. I do not have any problem with Fabien and I shook hands with him after the race. Of course I am sorry that it happened. I want to put this all behind me this weekend to focus on a good result, try to win the race and get some points back.”

Sheridan Morais: “I am only ninth and I am not happy about that but considering the weekend we have had up to now it is OK. I would obviously have wanted to start off the front two rows but the times are so close it is not bad. Kenan has been able to use the soft tyre but I am not able to use the soft tyre because I am getting too much chatter. I crashed out early on in qualifying yesterday and missed a lot of time there and the guys had to work through the night to rebuild the bike. Our race set up is good because I can only ride on the hard tyre and I was able to ride on that towards the end of the session. So it is nice to find a good race set-up but it will not be that easy starting from the third row. We have a race set-up so now I just look forward to the race.”

[MadKaw]

Good first race for the Kawis with Sykes 2nd, after leading for the last 1/2 of the race and bouncing Rea of him, and Baz in 3rd place.!!

Starings also won the Superstock 1000 race...!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gosling1]

sensational race Baz rode his ballz off to stay with the leading group, and after Rea tried to do a Marquez on Sykes - well it was great to see him on the podium and 2 Team Green bikes up there !! Bad luck for Rea hope he wasn't hurt.

Weird to see Sykes belting around the outer perimeter of some corners early on

Lets hope that the boys can back up for the second leg.......

[MadKaw]

Great result for the Kawis in the 600s with Foret 1st and Sofuoglu 2nd (or Snofawoglu as the Eurosport commentator calls him or Snufalufagus as Jus calls him) after a red flag with 4 laps to go.!!!!

[Gosling1]

and Broc Parkers in 3rd ! go Aussie !

[MadKaw]

Shakey Byrne on the zx10r won the BSB too...
Josh Brookes 2nd.!

[MadKaw]

sykes 2nd in race 2 after leading for all but the last lap...

[MadKaw]

Podiums For Sykes And Baz After Great Brno Weekend
WSBK, Brno, Czech Republic, 22 July 2012
KRT riders Tom Sykes and Loris Baz each scored podium finishes at Brno and in doing so moved up the championship table on a bumper day of success for most official Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R runners. Sykes, starting from pole for the seventh time in nine rounds, was a front-runner in each 20-lap Superbike race, pushing on hard and -particularly in race two - being able to fight back when under pressure in the final few laps, proving that there is still untapped potential being found in the race set-up of the Ninja ZX-10R.

In race one the first laps were conducted on a damp track surface but as the sun appeared the track dried rapidly and Sykes was able to get to the lead and then keep second place when eventual double race winner Marco Melandri passed him. A collision between Sykes and Jonathan Rea with three laps to go saw Rea fall but Tom hold on to score second.

Right behind Sykes his team-mate Loris Baz was having a brilliant ride to third place in not only his rookie season in this class, but also only his fifth competitive ride on the official Kawasaki Racing Team machine. He was only 1.948 seconds from the race win and his 2012 season podium total stands at

In race two Tom was only 0.140 seconds from Melandri at the flag, fighting all the way to try and re-pass the experienced rider. His two second place finishes at Brno take him to third again in the championship, with his home round up next at Silverstone.

For Loris race two was still a very positive event, finishing eighth for the third time this year but again close to the leaders on total race time. He is now 16th overall.

Kawasaki Team Pedercini Superbike riders David Salom and Leandro Mercado were both unlucky, with Salom only 18th in race one and then a non-finisher in race two. Mercado fell after colliding with another rider under braking and he missed race two as his bike was comprehensively damaged in the high-speed fall.

In the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup class Bryan Staring (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) won in soaking wet conditions, his second win in succession on his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R machine. In third place, Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki) was another rider having a bumper day for Kawasaki, adding to his podium score from the recent Aragon round. In the standings Staring is third, 24 points from the lead, with Guarnoni fifth, 32 points behind.

Tom Sykes: “We started very strong in race two and the lap time was good, then the tyre dropped a little bit in performance but the very small adjustment we made after race one meant that the tyre felt very consistent. I made my own race out in front alone and I think I am quite good at managing it and it seemed to work. We started to go a little bit faster towards the end but I felt a little bit of attack from Melandri. Finally the lap time got affected but it was great to battle with a rider like this. We know he is strong on the brakes but with help from Kawasaki and my crew chief Marcel I had a bit of an answer today. I was not quite as easily dealt with as in previous races. Hopefully we can carry this forward. Having the Ninja ZX-10 working so well at the end of the race is such a good breath of fresh air. It has proved a few people wrong. In race one I felt the hit when Jonathan Rea and I collided. Jonathan went for a gap that unfortunately was not there. I tried to stay with Marco in race one and when I attacked the corner the front was not allowing me to attack so I ran a bit wide to square the corner off and when I did I just saw a bit of Jonathan in my side view, at which point it was too late.”

Loris Baz: “I can’t believe I am here on the podium in race one. I could not dream of being on the podium when I started in Superbike just a few races ago. I started well and just tried to stay there with the other riders. We have been working very well in Kawasaki, all the mechanics and so on, and we never go in the wrong way. Because I am tall we had to make some changes to the geometry of the bike since I started riding it, but it really feels like I have been riding this bike for a year or more. I still think I am dreaming right now to be on the podium. In race two I got a good start again but it took a bit of time to overtake two riders in front of me. I had a really good feeling with the bike again. I could not make a step to pass some other riders but I am really happy. It is out best race in the full dry conditions and we were only 13 seconds from the front so it was really close.”

Bryan Staring: Superstock 1000. “We have now won one race in the dry and one race in the wet on the Ninja ZX-10R so it makes me happy, the team happy and I’m sure Kawasaki too. It maybe looked like an easy race but it is difficult when you have to control the gap all the time. I saw the gap come down to La Marra behind me but I got the time back again. It all came together again on Sunday again. Considering two rounds ago I was in 11th overall and now I am third. Obviously that’s really good, but I do not want to think about it too much, I will just take it one race at a time. We had a lot of bad luck at the start of the season but it has been coming together better for us in the past few races. A huge thanks to my team and a big, big thanks to Kawasaki.”

Jeremy Guarnoni: Superstock 1000: “It was a very wet race and I was not happy because we did all the weekend in dry conditions and I was fast in those. In the race I made a good start and after a while I went third. I am really happy because it is another podium and I am closer to the lead in the championship.”

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First And Second For Foret And Sofuoglu
WSS, Brno, Czech Republic, 22 July 2012
Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Lorenzini) went 1-2 in a shortened 13-lap race at Brno, with both riders in the podium hunt from the very beginning of the race. Fabien made a dash to the lead at his team’s home circuit before the chasing Sofuoglu and Broc Parkes closed him down on lap 13 and Sofuoglu passed on lap 14. At that point another rider crashed and with his machine stranded on the racing line the red flag was displayed and the result called after 13 laps, and with full points allocated.

That left Foret the winner, for the second time this year, and promoted him to third in the championship.

Sofuoglu was obviously disappointed not to win but his second place, and a fourth place finish by his main championship rival Sam Lowes, extended his championship lead to 23 points.

Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki Lorenzini) was finally seventh in the race, having started ninth on the grid, and is sixth overall in the points now.
Romain Lanusse (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) was 11th, and is 17th in the standings.

Stefano Cruciani (Puccetti Racing Team Italia Kawasaki) finished tenth and Florian Marino of the new MSD R-N Racing Team India squad took his Ninja ZX-6R to 13th, a vast improvement on his starting place of 23rd.

Kenan Sofuoglu: “I think there is a wall for me to first position recently! But it is not so bad because I knew I could catch Fabien and I just waited to catch up with him. Finally I did and passed and I still had energy to improve and push for the last four laps and improve. Then I saw the red flag and at that moment I thought I was more than one lap in the lead and I was in first, but when I got back they told me I was second. So many right now I have a little bit of bad luck, but still we are leading the championship and pulling a gap. That is the most important thing. Sometimes you can do everything but winning is not for you. But it is not so bad.”

Fabien Foret: “We made a plan this morning with Andrew my crew chief and I tried to respect it by pushing really hard at the beginning of the race to make a gap. I was struggling to keep the gap and when you are at the front you are a reference for the riders following behind. When I saw the riders coming by I just kept it calm and tried to save a bit of energy for the last three laps. Kenan passed me and I could see that I was a bit faster than him in some places, and he was definitely a bit faster than me in other places. I tried to adjust myself a little bit on the bike and then the red flag arrived. I was a bit upset because I though I had been passed for the lead at this stage but it turned out it was my weekend. It was good to win, very good.”

Sheridan Morais: “I got quite a good start, even if starting ninth is not so easy and I did not lose any positions. One of the other rider's engines blew in front of me and I got dropped back but then I had a pretty good race pace and manage to get back up a bit. I saw Cluzel in front of me and I think I was managing to close that gap until it was red- flagged. I am happy with the bike and the way we went forward but I am not happy with the race in general because I feel we could have been fighting at the front again. But thanks to the guys in the team for all the hard work.”

[dilligaf]

kwakas don't punt so easily

[Blurr]

sensational race Baz rode his ballz off to stay with the leading group, and after Rea tried to do a Marquez on Sykes - well it was great to see him on the podium and 2 Team Green bikes up there !! Bad luck for Rea hope he wasn't hurt.

Weird to see Sykes belting around the outer perimeter of some corners early on

Lets hope that the boys can back up for the second leg.......

Looked the other way around to me

Sykes did a Marquez on Rea

[Gosling1]

well of course it looked the other way around to you - otherwise you would be in Pol's corner !!!

[stetto]

Pass was fine Russ, Sykes doesnt have to give way he still had the position hes allowed to defend it. And Pols a little sook

[Blurr]

Pass was fine Russ, Sykes doesnt have to give way he still had the position hes allowed to defend it. And Pols a little sook

I 100% agree mate, I think Marquez's move along with Skyes move were both fine.

I was just pointing out that Gos was praising the Skyes move and bagged Marquez for the same move. Seemed confusing to me.

[Gosling1]

....sarcasm.....[sahr-kaz-uhm]

Origin:
1570–80; < Late Latin sarcasmus < Greek sarkasmós, derivative of sarkázein to rend (flesh), sneer; see sarco-

Sarcasm is "a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt",[1] usually conveyed through irony or understatement....In Australia it is often referred to as 'taking the piss'......

I hope that clears it up