Kawasaki Moto GP - Assen

[redzedx7r]

Best yet bloody Hondas aren't even in the running!

[icebreaker]

Woo.. What a race this looks to be..


1. Chris V
2. Casey
3. Randy
4. Melandri
5. Hopkins
6. Edwards
7. Westy!!!!
8. Hofmann
9. Pedrosa
10. Loris
11. Rossi
12. Barros
13. Hayden HAHAHAHA!!!
14. Roberts
15. Nakano HAHAHA!! That'll learn ya!
16. Checa
17 Who cares.. lol


Go Aussie's!!! Go Team Green...

This is shaping up to be a tough race to watch... WTF do you go for, I think we should be happy what ever the result if this grid is anything to go by.


Dan

[Gosling1]

3 skippies in the Top 10 !! haven't seen that since Gardner/Doohan/Beattie back in the late 80's !!!! just awesome.

when you add Troy B and Troy C, plus all the other Aussies doing well in their respective championships across the globe, it looks unreal...............

[MadKaw]

Circuit: Assen
Date: 29/06/2007


DE PUNIET ON FRONT ROW OF THE GRID AT ASSEN
Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet will start tomorrow's Dutch TT from the front row of the grid after a gripping finale to today's qualifying session. Team mate, Anthony West, also came well within the top ten on the time sheet and will start from the front of the third row.

After a good start to the session, which saw him easily maintaining the pace of the frontrunners, de Puniet's confidence dropped as an already wet track became precariously slippery, with rain falling ever harder on the Dutch circuit. However, perseverance with his Bridgestone tyre choice paid off as drier conditions prevailed and, on his very last run, he put in his best time of the day. The 26-year-old Frenchman's final lap of 1'49.579 took him from a discouraging 13th in the line up, to a magnificent third, just behind fellow Bridgestone runners Chris Vermeulen, on pole, and Casey Stoner.

The Kawasaki rider also claimed the honour of being the fastest man of the session, with a top speed of 275.791kmh.

De Puniet has been showing increasing consistency of late and recently celebrated his best ever finishes in MotoGP with a fifth at Catalunya and a sixth last week at Donington Park. In yesterday's practice sessions, in the dry, he finished second in the field on combined times so, considering today's wildly different conditions, he's further displayed an ever-increasing maturity on the track and talent for taking his 800cc Ninja ZX-RR forward, regardless of the environment.

In front of packed grandstands at the 4.555km Circuit van Drenthe, Anthony West continued his mission to conquer the ZX-RR, aiming to find the best set up for what is only his second race for the Kawasaki Racing Team.

Confident in the wet, the 25-year-old Australian featured strongly at the top of the initial time sheets in the session but stagnated slightly, mid pack, as he struggled to maintain the pace. However, the vigour of his early performance enabled him to remain in seventh position until just towards the end.

In a stunning display of last minute gusto, West upped his time on his last lap, claiming sixth although, in a cruel case of inter-team irony, it was de Puniet's great finish that pushed him back to seventh as the chequered flag marked the end of the hour-long qualifying session.

Just 0.116 seconds off the man in front of him, Colin Edwards, West beat many far more experienced MotoGP riders with his time of 1'49.807, including Dani Pedrosa, Loris Capirossi, Valentino Rossi and current world champion, Nicky Hayden.

Today's results represent a significant step forward for the Kawasaki squad who, as the season progresses, are showing they're a team to be reckoned with. In tomorrow's 26-lap race, they're confident they can maintain this momentum.


#14 – 3rd - Best Lap 1'49.579
"I'm very happy and feeling a bit lucky! I found a tyre I really liked but then the weather changed for the worse and it was impossible to improve. However, I hung on, waiting for the conditions to get better and they did, just at the right moment. I thought I would be starting from the fifth row, and from there it's hard to do well in the race, so I'm really pleased. It's very important to get this third position on the grid. Today's conditions were not the best but I managed a good lap time and the bike and engine worked very well, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow."



#13 – 7th - Best Lap 1'49.807
"I'm not so happy, really. I was going well at the beginning but I lost that feeling and don't believe we've managed to find a good set up. The bike didn't feel stable, it was moving around a lot and not giving me confidence, so I didn't feel I was able to ride as I'd like to in the rain. I was quite surprised the last lap was that much faster as it didn't feel it, particularly. Still, I'm ten places further up the grid than I was at Donington, so that's not too bad, and ideally I'd like to stay within the top ten tomorrow. It looks like it might be dry so this grid position will help me at the start of the race. I've still got a long way to go though, just trying to catch up."



Crew Chief - Randy de Puniet
"The rain dried up a bit after a while so we decided to try Randy on a different tyre and he really liked it. The thing is, he only got two laps out of it before it started raining heavily again, for which it wasn't suitable, so he came in. But I told him to stick with it and hope the rain would ease, which it did, so he obviously waited until the last moment and just went for it. We've found good set ups for both wet and dry so we're ready for the race tomorrow and reckon he can comfortably make the top six. I'm really happy."



1. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'48.555; 2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.017; 3. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.024; 4. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda Gresini +1.124; 5. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.129; 6. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Factory Racing +1.136; 7. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.252; 8. Alex Hofmann (GER) Pramac d'Antin Ducati +1.372; 9. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +1.577; 10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +1.614

[Neka79]

3 skippies in the Top 10 !! haven't seen that since Gardner/Doohan/Beattie back in the late 80's !!!! just awesome.

when you add Troy B and Troy C, plus all the other Aussies doing well in their respective championships across the globe, it looks unreal...............

yea.... were pretty fuckin good

[Nanna10r]

What Launch control ?????

[icebreaker]

Wasn't quite the race I had hoped for...

IMO full credit to Rossi for this result, and full credit to Stoner, the only Bridgestone shod bike up front... Great effort by both I recon.


Randy, what a start... And well what a finish *sighs*

Westy... Did well for his 2nd race, tussling with some big names in MotoGP and managing to scrape inside the top 10 basically beating his 250cc efforts in terms of race result and in the top class, so he's got to be happy... yeah yeah.. Westy happy... as if.. lol


And Nakano.. Man if you were Nakkers you'd have to be absolutely kicking yourself for giving up your Kawasaki contract to go to Honda... I recon no one would have expected Nakano to be so uncompetitive this season...


Dan

[MadKaw]

Circuit: Assen
Date: 30/06/2007


TOP TEN TERRITORY FOR FIGHTING WEST AT ASSEN
Hard charging Anthony West showed today at Assen why he was drafted into the Kawasaki Racing Team for the remainder of the 2007 season, as he stormed to an impressive, and hard fought, top ten finish in only his second MotoGP race aboard Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR.

West, who only joined the team at last week's Donington Park race in the UK, has barely had time to get used to the 800cc Ninja ZX-RR but that didn't stop him finishing the Dutch TT Grand Prix in a superb ninth position.

The ex-250cc and World Supersport rider, with a reputation for being a wet weather maestro, surprised and delighted the team with an exemplary performance at a dry and sunny Circuit van Drenthe. He showed great determination and a tenacity rarely seen in a newcomer to the premier class.

After a patchy start from an otherwise healthy seventh place on the grid, the 25-year-old Australian soon got into the swing of things, eventually finding himself in a four-way battle with Alex Hofmann, Carlos Checa and Marco Melandri. Despite the best efforts of these infinitely more experienced riders to unnerve him, West held his own, dicing with enthusiasm as the riders rode a large proportion of the race in each other's company.

Having found huge confidence in his new machinery and Bridgestone tyres, West never weakened, staying strong in the pack and earning himself more championship points to take his total to 12 after just two races.

Fellow ZX-RR rider, de Puniet, also got off to a bad start but, similarly, began to make great progress as he established his rhythm. It was disappointing after his front row start, his second of the year, but he soon caught up with Chris Vermeulen, lying in seventh, making a charge towards the front runners.

After some extremely strong and promising early laps, he went to pass the young Australian but they collided and both ended up in the gravel. De Puniet, unable to restart, returned to the pits, out of the race.

It was a massive disappointment to the Frenchman, who's been putting in some great rides lately, especially at Catalunya and Donington, where he managed a fifth and a sixth, respectively. It also continues his bad luck at Assen, after last year's nightmare when a mechanical problem meant he had to start from pit lane.

It's two weeks until the next MotoGP race, at Germany's Sachsenring on 15th July, giving both Kawasaki men plenty of time to reflect on the highs and lows of what transpired to be a thrilling race for the 91,429 fans who gathered to watch it.


Race Position: 9th - Championship Position: 18th
"I was nervous on the line and, as soon as I released the clutch, I knew my start wasn't a good one. A lot of people went past and I couldn't quite get it together for the first few laps, but then I found a good rhythm. Hofmann, Checa and Melandri and I formed a bit of a group and we fought for the rest of the race. We were changing positions a lot, holding each other up, everyone trying everything: it was a bit wild at times. It was a great experience and I learned a lot. I'm really glad I could stay with those guys for the rest of the race and that I didn't drop out of the group. I'm really happy: one of my goals was to be in the top ten this year but I didn't expect it to be at this race!"



Race Position: DNF - Championship Position: 13th
"I'm disappointed because I got a bad start, losing eight places between the line and the first corner, and I don't know why. I really need to work on it. After that, I passed some riders and got to eighth position, behind Vermeulen. I tried to pass him but the front of my bike hit him and we came off. I'm really sorry for Chris, and disappointed for the team, because it had otherwise been a really good weekend."



Kawasaki Competition Manager
"Basically, it was a very good weekend. Randy's been confident in both the wet and the dry the whole time and his starting position was excellent. Anthony also did a great job on Thursday and Friday. Neither of them got off to a good start and then Randy had bad luck with his crash but, from the other side, Anthony rode a fantastic race. It's not often someone impresses me but I must say that today, he did. He's only had a matter of hours on our bike in the dry but he's a fighter: battling with Checa, Hofmann and Melandri. I'm really happy. On the last lap, I still didn't believe he could finish in that position but he did. It was a fantastic job."



1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha Factory Racing 42'37.149; 2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +1.909; 3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +6.077; 4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +10.465; 5. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +13.138; 6. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Factory Racing +15.139; 7. Alex Barros (BRA) Pramac d'Antin Ducati +36.075; 8. Alex Hofmann (GER) Pramac d'Antin Ducati +41.768; 9. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +43.605; 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda Gresini +43.796; DNF. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +15 Laps

[Neka79]

great race...better make sure the "spolier" warning is in the topic..in case...

was great to see a decent race between Casey and Rossi..makes for an interesting next few races...

to make up 20 points Rossi needs to finish in front of casey for like 6 races (and he needs to finish top 3)..how many are left??