Kawasaki Racing Team - Jerez

[MadKaw]

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2006
KAWASAKI RACING TEAM PRESS OFFICE
23 MARCH 2006 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KAWASAKI RARING TO GO AT JEREZ SEASON OPENER

After a long but successful winter test programme spanning four months and three continents, the Kawasaki Racing Team return to the Jerez circuit in Andalusia, Southern Spain this weekend for the opening race of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship season.

It was at this circuit 12 months ago that Shinya Nakano secured his best result of 2005, bringing his Ninja ZX-RR home in fifth place. One year on and the Kawasaki rider returns to Jerez to race the all-new version of Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR, and with his sights set firmly on a podium finish.

Nakano has good reason to be confident of a strong result in Sunday's 27-lap Spanish Grand Prix, having posted the third fastest time overall during the IRTA test at Jerez less than two weeks ago, where the top three positions were filled by riders on Bridgestone tyres.

Nakano's teammate, Randy de Puniet, has been a revelation during testing, surprising many with the speed at which he's adapted to the demands of riding Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP machine. The 25-year-old rookie capped an extensive winter test programme by finishing fifth fastest overall during the IRTA test at Jerez earlier this month.

And while de Puniet is the first to admit that he still has much to learn about racing in MotoGP, he arrives in Jerez determined to mark his race debut in the premier class with a strong performance throughout practice and qualifying, followed by a good result in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

Jerez is one of the most popular events on the MotoGP calendar, with more than 200,000 spectators packing into the circuit over the course of a race weekend.

Both Nakano and de Puniet cite the 4.423 km Jerez circuit as one of their favourites, due in equal parts to the technical nature of the track and the thrill of the high-speed final section.

Shinya Nakano: #56
"Hopefully we will be able to carry on the momentum from the IRTA test here two weeks ago, building up throughout practice to end Saturday with a good qualifying position. Qualifying is important this weekend for two reasons; firstly this is a difficult track on which to overtake, so the closer you are to the front of the grid the better, and secondly because it is Harald Eckl's 50th birthday on Saturday and it would be nice to give him something extra to celebrate! We proved during the IRTA test that both the new Ninja ZX-RR and our Bridgestone tyres work well around this circuit, so I'm confident that we can put in a strong performance on Sunday. If everything comes together on the day, I think a podium finish is a realistic target for us."

Randy de Puniet: #17
"After a successful overseas test schedule, and finishing fifth fastest here at the IRTA test, my feeling with the Ninja ZX-RR is good coming into my first MotoGP race weekend. But I am not fooling myself, I know I am still on a steep learning curve and that racing is very different to testing. My final position this weekend is less important than continuing to do a good job on the bike, and putting in a strong performance during practice, qualifying and the race. Testing has been good, but now I'm looking forward to Sunday and making my MotoGP race debut aboard the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR."

[Nanna10r]

BRING IT ON !.

[mfzx6r]

BRING IT ON !.

Free practice is on right now on the motogp site

only a few min to go till it ends

[Steph]

Looking good so far:

The following release is from Kawasaki...

The 2006 season opened at Jerez today, with Kawasaki's Shinya Nakano and Randy de Puniet both putting in impressive performances during this afternoon's one-hour free practice session, to finish in fifth and ninth place respectively.

Overnight rain left the 4.423 km Jerez circuit damp and slippery for this morning's opening free practice session, during which both Kawasaki riders opted to remain in the pit box, venturing out only at the end of the session but completing less than 10 laps between them.

An improvement in the weather for afternoon free practice was good news for the thousands of Spanish race fans lining the circuit, but conditions on track remained unpredictable, as damp patches in the faster sections almost caught out a number of riders early in the session.

Both Kawasaki riders complained of losing the rear through the fast series of turns at the back of the circuit, with de Puniet out of the seat on a number of occasions as the rear tyre on his Ninja ZX-RR span up after losing traction on the slippery track surface.

Nakano and de Puniet took advantage of improving grip levels towards the end of the session to test a new rear tyre from Bridgestone, constructed using a revised drive compound to increase traction out of the turns while remaining more consistent over race distance.

And while conditions weren't ideal for evaluating subtle differences in tyre construction, both Nakano and de Puniet set their fastest times on the new tyre with just minutes of the session remaining.

While declaring themselves happy with today's performance both Kawasaki riders remain confident that, as conditions tomorrow are forecast to match those during the recent IRTA test at Jerez, there are significant improvements still to come.

Shinya Nakano: 5th - 1'41.939

"This morning was a bit of a wash out. I waited right to the end before going out to bed in a new engine, but the track was just too slippery for the cut slick I'd opted for in the rear of the bike. This afternoon the conditions were better, but parts of the track were still very slippery right to the end of the session. We tested a new rear tyre from Bridgestone right at the end, with positive results, but we'll need to confirm the results tomorrow when conditions are due to improve. It took me a little time this afternoon to get used to having so many bikes around me on track; a one-hour practice session is very different to the day long tests we've been doing over the winter when you mostly have the track to yourself! I'm happy to finish in the top five today, and tomorrow we just need to find those final tenths of a second from me and the bike to put us in the best position for qualifying."

Randy de Puniet: 9th - 1'42.455

"There was nothing to learn this morning on track, as conditions weren't dry enough for slicks nor damp enough for full wets. It was a bit of an anti-climax after waiting so long to make my MotoGP debut! At the start of the afternoon session I felt a little bit nervous; I don't know why, because I felt okay this morning, but it quickly passed. Conditions were difficult this afternoon, and there were a couple of places on the fast sections of the track where the rear tried to come round on me when on a fast lap, but I don't think this will be a problem if the weather improves for tomorrow as forecast. Overall I'm happy to finish inside the top ten today. Tomorrow we need to continue working the same way, so that we're ready for my first MotoGP qualifying session in the afternoon."

[red_dave]

Fark yeah...

Let's go Nakkers!

[Strika]

FP3

Melandri
Capirossi
Pedrosa
Gibernau
Stoner
Roberts
Elias
Hayden
Edwards
Rossi.............+0.684

[icebreaker]

Qualifying Practice is looking good... Finally dropping under 1min 40..

1. Loris 1.39.064
2. Sete 1.39.285
3. Shinya 1.39.526
4. Hayden 1.39.666
5. Pedrosa 1.39.734
6. Elias 1.39.875
7. Melandri 1.39.932
8. Randy 1.40.146
9. Rossi 1.40.160
10. Edwards 1.40.181

19.. Hoffman!!! (Last)


Fark they are all close though..... Who know's what'll happen once they're racing and not just tucking in behind each other...

[Steph]

KAWASAKI ON FRONT ROW IN JEREZ!

The following release is from Kawasaki Racing:

Kawasaki's Shinya Nakano will start tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix from the front row of the grid, after qualifying his Ninja ZX-RR in third place during this afternoon's incident hit qualifying session.

Nakano dedicated his front row start, his first for Kawasaki since the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2004, to team boss Harald Eckl, who celebrates his 50th birthday today at Jerez.

Nakano's Kawasaki teammate, Randy de Puniet could not be in better company on tomorrow's grid, where he will line up between reigning world champion, Valentino Rossi, and vice-champion, Marco Melandri, after finishing his debut MotoGP qualifying session in an impressive eighth place.

Qualifying got off to a difficult start for Nakano and de Puniet, with both Kawasaki riders crashing out just three minutes into the session when Alex Hofmann's Ducati dropped oil at the entry to turn eight following a mechanical failure.

The lack of oil warning flags meant that Nakano and de Puniet were quickly joined in the turn eight gravel trap by a number of other riders, causing the opening qualifying session of the season to be red flagged, and a 20 minute delay in proceedings.

The crash rendered the number one machines of both riders unusable, forcing them to switch to their spare bikes for the remainder of the qualifying session.

But worse was to come for MotoGP rookie de Puniet. On his first lap into the restarted qualifying session the 25-year-old Frenchman missed his braking marker at the same turn eight, ran straight on and stalled his Ninja ZX-RR in the gravel trap.

With his number one bike damaged, and his spare bike still out on the track, it looked like de Puniet might have to sit out the qualifying session. But, after a nervous ten-minute wait, the marshals returned de Puniet's Ninja ZX-RR to the pit box and, after a quick once over by his crew, the Kawasaki rider was able to rejoin the session with 40 minutes left to run.

It is a measure of de Puniet's maturity that he immediately put the problems behind him, focussed only on the job at hand, and promptly qualified seventh during his first run on race tyres. With 15 minutes left to run de Puniet's crew fitted the first of three qualifying tyres in the rear of his Ninja ZX-RR, with the Kawasaki rider taking maximum advantage of the increased drive grip to secure a third row grid position with the eighth fastest time.

Nakano took pole position halfway through qualifying, but had dropped back down to fifth as the final ten minutes approached. Timing his final flying lap to perfection right at the end of the session, the 28-year-old Japanese rider was unlucky to miss out on pole position after losing time at the third split.

Nakano will line up for tomorrow's start alongside pole sitter Loris Capirossi and second placed Sete Gibernau, on a front row dominated completely by Bridgestone for the first time in MotoGP.

Shinya Nakano: 3rd - 1'39.526

"Qualifying on the front row was one of our targets for this year, but to do it at the first race is fantastic. We knew that Kawasaki and Bridgestone had made a big step forward during winter testing, but you're never sure exactly how competitive you're going to be until you get to the first race. I think this result confirms that our feeling during pre-season testing was correct. Right at the start of the session I crashed because of oil on the circuit, but apart from having to switch to my second bike, it didn't really have any effect on the outcome. To be honest, I was quite surprised when I looked down at the dash because it didn't feel like a fast lap and I was expecting the other riders to make bigger improvements. But they didn't, so I'm on the front row of the grid for the first race and I'm happy with that. It's also a nice 50th birthday present for our Team Principal, Harald Eckl!"

Randy de Puniet: 8th - 1'40.146

"For sure, this is not the way I wanted to start my first MotoGP qualifying session! First I crash on the oil at turn eight through no fault of my own, and then I stall my second bike in exactly the same place after missing my braking marker and running on. The ten minutes I had to wait for my bike to come back were pretty stressful, because at that time I hadn't completed a single lap! I was a little bit nervous when I rejoined the session, but I was able to settle down towards the end and I'm happy with my final grid position. Of course, I never expected to be starting my first MotoGP race ahead of the reigning world champion, but I won't be thinking about that on the grid tomorrow. My only aims for the race are to get a good start and then ride as hard as I can for 27 laps."

Harald Eckl: Team Principal

"I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present really! This afternoon didn't start so well, but both riders bounced back and showed just how much of an improvement we've made during pre-season testing. Both riders did a fantastic job. Shinya pushed hard all session to finish on the front row, and Randy showed tremendous mental strength to come back so strongly after such a difficult start to his first MotoGP qualifying session. It was also good to see Bridgestone fill every position on the front row of the grid for the first time in MotoGP. After today's strong performance by both riders, I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow."

[greenmeanie]

Full MotoGP qualifying times from the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, round one of the 2006 world championship.


1. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 39.064 secs
2. Sete Gibernau SPA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 39.285 secs
3. Shinya Nakano JPN Kawasaki Racing Team 1min 39.526 secs
4. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team 1min 39.666 secs
5. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 39.734 secs
6. Toni Elias SPA Fortuna Honda 1min 39.875 secs
7. Marco Melandri ITA Fortuna Honda 1min 39.932 secs
8. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki Racing Team 1min 40.146 secs
9. Valentino Rossi ITA Camel Yamaha Team 1min 40.160 secs
10. Colin Edwards USA Camel Yamaha Team 1min 40.181 secs
11. Chris Vermulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 40.215 secs
12. John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 40.340 secs
13. Kenny Roberts USA Team Roberts 1min 40.497 secs
14. Carlos Checa SPA Tech 3 Yamaha 1min 40.851 secs
15. Casey Stoner AUS Honda LCR 1min 40.982 secs
16. Makoto Tamada JPN Konica Minolta Honda 1min 41.119 secs
17. Jose Luis Cardoso SPA Pramac d'Antin MotoGP 1min 41.749 secs
18. James Ellison GBR Tech 3 Yamaha 1min 42.267 secs
19. Alex Hofmann GER Pramac d'Antin MotoGP 1min 42.341 secs

[Nanna10r]

YEAH BAYBAY :D
Cheers Brett

[Phil]

how good is randy going..........thats impressive stuff. nakers has finally got a bike that he can compete on. interestingly rossi ranked nakano in his top 5 riders.

bet michelin wont take 3 bridgies on the front row too well at all

[Mojo67]

Onya Nakkers, go for it mate

[matchan]

yeah, go Super Shinya !!

I se Westy qualified 6th on his privateer aprilia, in front of both KTMs

Matt

[Phil]

yeah, go Super Shinya !!

I se Westy qualified 6th on his privateer aprilia, in front of both KTMs

Matt

thats rubbing salt into open wounds ....fancy getting rid of westy and replacing him with the "the pog"

1945 cant come quick enough.

[FoxyZX6R]

god u guys stay up late (or is that u get up early? )

i love foxtel

im off to watch the races tell u all soon if u like?