Kawasaki Racing Team - Jerez

[mick_dundee]

Nakkers finished 7th, can improve on that I reckon though Could we see a Kwaka on the podium this year?

[FoxyZX6R]

only if rossi keeps stuffing up like he did lap one turn one last nite

[Gosling1]

i don't know how much of that can be attributed to Rossi.........he got rammed from behind, and fell off as a direct result

It looked *very* ordinary, and I am still not sure, even after all the replay's, who *exactly* was at fault ??

anyone out there (Phil ... ) care to enlighten all of us ??

As far as Nakkers, well...... what a shit start from the front row FFS mate, you don't get it any easier than kicking off from out the front......dropped back to 6th/7th in the first corner *melee*, and basically that was it........

What happened to Randy ??

But I have to say, seeing 2 green umbrella 'groups' from the helicopter footage, well that made me very happy indeed.......but I think they need to do a lot more work if they are serious about a rostrum this season.......

Capirossi looked awesome, those slides were just fantastic.......

[Barrabob]

Shinya looks too surgical when he is riding he looked to be sitting on a 2inch wide line the whole way around with none of that sliding buisness he just sits on his line.

Supose its good for his points at the end of the season but unless the guy in front of him is off shinyas line he will never get past him. lol

Randy might need a while to heal at the end of the season he seems to be coming off it a bit, once he finds his feet he might be a bit of a terrior though.

And i reckon valenteeno is getting the dodgy tyres from 3 seasons ago, possibly his last season in motogp but if the yamaha keeps on chattering it will be a more interestin season.

[Phil]

i don't know how much of that can be attributed to Rossi.........he got rammed from behind, and fell off as a direct result

It looked *very* ordinary, and I am still not sure, even after all the replay's, who *exactly* was at fault ??

anyone out there (Phil ... ) care to enlighten all of us ??

)

the sight of toni elias *"praying"* to rossi on the slow down lap indicates who was ay fault. i believe shinya was borked (nothing to do with lars ) in the rossi - elias incident. elias clearly missed his braking marker AND was on the far inside of the track - it was bound to happen

As far as Nakkers, well...... what a shit start from the front row FFS mate, you don't get it any easier than kicking off from out the front......dropped back to 6th/7th in the first corner *melee*, and basically that was it........

What happened to Randy ??

But I have to say, seeing 2 green umbrella 'groups' from the helicopter footage, well that made me very happy indeed.......but I think they need to do a lot more work if they are serious about a rostrum this season.......

Capirossi looked awesome, those slides were just fantastic.......

randy's hand injury caused him to run off the track - a couple of times. he thought it was better for everyones safety if he parked it.

i thought it was a great race, pedrosa was a surprise as was casey stoner. considering how much testing he missed and being a rookie i thought it was a fantastic ride. melandri was probably the dissapointment for mine, he promised alot at the end of last year and didnt seem anywhere like being able to deliver last night, he was even over shadowed by his junior team mate elias. the battle between hoppa and roberts would have been a good one to see - sort of like a "told you so" scenario.

the fact that rossi only lost about 10 seconds on capirossi *after* he got going again with half a brake lever, bent foot peg and no rear brake speaks for its self really.

BUT the best battle of the night was in the 250's - the battle between dovizioso, takahasi and hector barbera was a doozy - gotta love takahasi's style, reminds me of a young haga.

Lorenzo is a shoe in IF - and thats a BIG if - he can keep it out of the gravel trap. westy's interview with bracksey when he described the fact he hasnt got a factory bike as "bullshit" was a classic.

rock on qatar

[redzedx7r]

said it before and i'll say it again Shinya is a good test rider and qualifier but can't race. The three GP rookies that finished in Jerez showed up a few of the old hands with their tenacity...Go Casey

I hope Randy is OK for Qatar the lad shows some promise

[Phil]

said it before and i'll say it again Shinya is a good test rider and qualifier but can't race.

you ARE kidding right.........

do you remember the 2000 season

[MadKaw]

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

A SOLID START TO THE SEASON FOR KAWASAKI'S NAKANO

Shinya Nakano finished today's Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez in a solid seventh place, but the Kawasaki rider declared himself disappointed that he hadn't been able to better capitalise on his front row starting position.

Nakano was quick away from the line, but was forced to back off as Toni Elias missed his braking marker for the first turn and collided with Valentino Rossi right in front of the Kawasaki ace. Nakano tried to fight back immediately, but was thwarted by the difficult track conditions.

While track and weather conditions were perfect for qualifying yesterday, the situation was different today for the race. Strong, gusting winds slowed Nakano through some of the faster turns, while problems when hard on the brakes forced the 28-year-old Japanese rider to follow first Marco Melandri and then Casey Stoner, unable to overtake on the brakes into the turns.

After closing onto the back wheel of Stoner's Honda out of the final turn, Nakano lost out on the drag race to the line by the narrowest of margins, as he was forced to settle for seventh place.

For Nakano's Kawasaki teammate, Randy de Puniet, his MotoGP race debut was a short one. The 25-year-old Frenchman was forced to pull out after just eight laps as a result of an injury he sustained earlier in the day.

De Puniet was highsided from his Ninja ZX-RR during morning warm-up, leaving him with a severely bruised and swollen right hand. Despite pain killing injections prior to the start of the race, de Puniet was in considerable pain from the start.

The injury to his hand also stopped the Kawasaki rider from applying full pressure to the front brake and, after running straight off the track at more than 240 km/h as a result, de Puniet made the decision that to continue would be dangerous.

De Puniet will return to France for treatment on the injury tomorrow, and is confident of being back to full fitness for the Qatar Grand Prix in two weeks time.

Shinya Nakano: 7th
"After such a good qualifying session I'm disappointed that I didn't finish higher today. I got a reasonable start, but then Toni Elias collided with Valentino Rossi right in front of me, forcing me to back off. I tried to come back straight away, but conditions on track were very different compared to yesterday. There seemed to be less grip available and that caused me a few problems, as did the strong wind through some of the turns. I didn't feel so comfortable when hard on the brakes today either, which meant I had to brake earlier than normal for some of the faster corners. So, while I could quite easily follow Marco Melandri and Casey Stoner, it wasn't possible to pass them on the brakes. Passing on the straights wasn't an option either, as we are still a little bit down on outright top speed compared to some of the others. As I said, I'm disappointed with the result, but glad to have at least scored world championship points in the first race of the season."

Randy de Puniet: DNF
"I was struggling out there with my injured hand; I just didn't have the power to brake as hard as I needed to. And then, eight laps in, I lost the front at the fast right-hander at the end of the lap and ran straight off at 240 km/h. I knew then that it wasn't safe to continue and so I pulled into the pits. I'm bitterly disappointed not to finish in my first MotoGP race through injury, but I hope to be fully fit again by the time we get to Qatar for round two."

Harald Eckl: Team Principal
"Shinya did a good job, in what was a tough race for him. Conditions have definitely changed from yesterday, which meant he started the race with a less than perfect set-up, but he overcame the problems to score a solid finish in the first race of the season. You could see he was unable to overtake on the brakes, but it was also obvious that we need to find some more power from the engine, so that he at least has the option to overtake out of the slipstream on the straights. I'm sure Randy was hoping for a better MotoGP debut, but the two crashes he had in qualifying yesterday put him on the back foot, and then he crashed and injured himself again this morning. I have every confidence in Randy as a rider; he has shown he has the speed, but now he needs to match this with consistency. He's a strong character, so I'm sure he'll bounce back ready for the next race in Qatar."

MOTOGP RACE RESULT
1. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team 45'57.733; 2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +4.375; 3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +9.996; 4. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda +10.135; 5. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda +19.547; 6. Casey Stoner (AUS) LCR Honda +21.237; 7. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team +21.372; 8. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts +32.414; 9. John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP +32.659; DNF. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team

[Pabs]

I am with Phil on that Melandri was dissapointing,he should have been up on podium given his last years results(last few races).
And what is Honda doing with Nicky Hayden using him as test dummy!!?Fark
Pedrosa obviously had advantage !!
and Casey's result was FANATASTIC!!!!

[Gosling1]

...BUT the best battle of the night was in the 250's - the battle between dovizioso, takahasi and hector barbera was a doozy - gotta love takahasi's style, reminds me of a young haga....

it was a great battle indeed, in fact I reckon it was the race of the night....great freigh train for most of the first half of the race, then a bit smaller, then down to 2.......it was fantastic to watch......some of those passing moves were *horn* !!

[redzedx7r]

said it before and i'll say it again Shinya is a good test rider and qualifier but can't race.

you ARE kidding right.........

do you remember the 2000 season

Fair enough his dices with OJ on the 250's was something but for the last 2 years he seems to ride without any heart....would you if you had to ride that underpowered (compared to the Duc's, Hondas & Yammies) p.o.s.?