Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

LACONI SOARS TO A FRONT ROW START IN ENGLAND
Donington Park, Europe, 31 March 2007 - Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse Ninja ZX-10R) put in a superb Superpole performance to secure third slot on the starting grid at Donington Park, placing himself in an ideal position for Sunday’s two 23-lap races.
Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse Ninja ZX-10R) was fast around the majority of the circuit but lost some time in the slower final parts and dropped to what was still a top ten position on the grid ranking, albeit on row three.

As former GP regulars, Laconi and Nieto used all their experience of Donington to make their pre-Superpole preparations, but each is still looking for that last improvement in set-up to allow them to challenge for top places in the races.

After a depressingly cold and wet start on Friday, Saturday was at least sunny and cold, with raceday expected to be a touch warmer and dry.

Regis Laconi: “I am very satisfied after Superpole. The bike is not perfect yet but the team worked well and improved the performance. I really wanted to get under 1’31 in Superpole but I slid a little into the first bend and lost a bit of time. We’ll see tomorrow but we have tried out our race tyres today and I felt good. I did 13 laps and no problems; the rear tyre was OK. I will use warm-up to try and make the bike go around here even easier, and feel better to go fast with.

Fonsi Nieto: “I think I could have gone a bit faster because in T1 and T2 I going very well but I lost so much in the last section and because of that I can do no better in the lap time. My general pace was good but we still lose some time there. We have to push hard in race and I have to make a good start to get the best finish.”


RIBA TAKES POPULAR POLE AT DONINGTON
Donington Park, Europe, 31 March 2007 - Former British Championship regular Pere Riba (GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) made the biggest possible pre-race impact at Donington Park after securing pole position with a blistering 1’34.066 lap in final qualifying.
His team-mate Fabien Foret (GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) suffered a fall at Craner Curves close to the end of the final qualifying session, but still earned a second row grid placing in 7th place, thanks to a 1’34.737 lap.

The first session on Friday dawned wet and cold and therefore today’s two 45-minute periods of Supersport track action, unofficial in the morning and timed in the afternoon, were vital in order to find a race set-up and get a grid position for Sunday’s 22-lap race.

Riba, who has great experience at Donington after three seasons in the British Championship, crashed in the morning session and lost time, making his afternoon performance all the more remarkable.

Pere Riba: “I tried really hard to get pole near the end and I saw 1’34.1, and then pushed harder to get a 1’34.066. This bike is all new so we could not use any of the settings for the previous bike here. I should know about Craner Curves after the time I have spent racing in England but I just tipped into the left - not even at maximum lean - and then the bike went away, like crashing on oil or something. But to recover from that to get pole on our number two bike was fantastic, it really shows how much potential our bike has because we are still near the beginning of its development curve. We have all worked very hard and it is already paying off.”

Fabien Foret: “I just fell at high speed down the hill, on the fast left-hander. I hurt my ribs a little bit but I will be ready for tomorrow. Lots of riders fell there also so it has been a strange weekend so far in Supersport. I hope the wind drops for tomorrow and the track is quite cold, but we have quite a good set-up with the bike. The only questions now are the tyres and the track temperature. I need to get a good start but I am ready for it.”

8:30 Foxsports 2.. Can't wait!!

icebreaker wrote:8:30 Foxsports 2.. Can't wait!!

Amen to that!

The new ZX6R looks to be a brilliant race bike (just don't ask the TKA boys ) with a win in it's second race and now pole in it's third outing. A real good chance of another win. My money is on Foret.

Great effort by Regis to get a front row start. Hopefully he can make good use of it and get off the line well but I'm not so confident of a podium. Hope he can prove me wrong.

Phil wrote:looks like troy corser had a problem on his superpole lap. upshot of that is 1 duc, 1 yammy, 1 kawasaki and 1 rhonda on the front row. pity bayliss looks like he is going just piss off and leave everyone else, i'd love to see a good fight Wink

Hopefully Corser and Brookes can charge through the field to good results. Both look to be fairly fast. And I don't mind if Bayliss destroys 'em and makes up some points on Toseland, so long as the battle for second is a cracker and JT can only manage about 5th!

Zoidberg wrote:

icebreaker wrote:8:30 Foxsports 2.. Can't wait!!

Amen to that!

The new ZX6R looks to be a brilliant race bike (just don't ask the TKA boys )

thats a bit unfair , if you were made to ride around on 2 year old tyres in a class as cutthroat as supersport i'm sure you would struggle too.

at winton they had ditched the shitty fat mans tyres and had dunlops, with no testing time, and were pretty close to the pace until maxwell crashed his number 1 bike and had to ride the spare that was virtually stock standard. shannon was struggling trying to find a development direction and race at the sae time. remember the yamaha boys have all the data from last year and the bikes are essentially the same

under the circumstances i think both shannon johnson and wayne maxwell, and all the guys in the team, are doing a great job, a bit more testing and they will be on the pace. just remember supersport is about as tough as it gets in the clinches.

I would struggle in the supersport class if I ran a turboed superbike!

I'm not having a go at TKA. They just don't appear to be getting the support and raceparts from KHI to allow them to be competitive. Their Aus ZX6R's are a long way less competitive than the Yank and World supersport one's. All I meant was they would be frustrated at seeing the potential of the thing but are so far off on where they would like it to be. I'm sure with decent tires and more development they will get competitive. At least more competitive than the ZX10R which has been a big letdown in all superbike racing for mine.

Zoidberg wrote:I would struggle in the supersport class if I ran a turboed superbike!

I'm not having a go at TKA. They just don't appear to be getting the support and raceparts from KHI to allow them to be competitive. Their Aus ZX6R's are a long way less competitive than the Yank and World supersport one's. All I meant was they would be frustrated at seeing the potential of the thing but are so far off on where they would like it to be. I'm sure with decent tires and more development they will get competitive. At least more competitive than the ZX10R which has been a big letdown in all superbike racing for mine.

a bit more help would be good, but you have to remember that as far as bike sales go australia is a small drop in the ocean. some parts are starting to come and i expect by queensland they will have been installed. i know for a fact the team is doing as much as they can with the limited resources that have to deal with at the moment.

rest assured it is not the riders or the team that are lacking, the early start tp our season didnt really help mattters.

in regards to the superbike - yes we would all love to be winning but there is alot of competition out there, especially in aussie supers, i have witnessed how hard the guys are trying from up close and we are talking (except for jamie who is a class of his own at the moment) differences of .1 or .2 a second/lap. that is not alot really and it wont be long before we see green bikes back up there.

BTW, anyone remember who was on the podium for the first few races last year.........it was shannon before the tyres literally started falling to peices, and unfortunatly i saw that happeing as well

less than 1hr to go !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Phil wrote:a bit more help would be good, but you have to remember that as far as bike sales go australia is a small drop in the ocean. some parts are starting to come and i expect by queensland they will have been installed. i know for a fact the team is doing as much as they can with the limited resources that have to deal with at the moment.

rest assured it is not the riders or the team that are lacking, the early start tp our season didnt really help mattters.

in regards to the superbike - yes we would all love to be winning but there is alot of competition out there, especially in aussie supers, i have witnessed how hard the guys are trying from up close and we are talking (except for jamie who is a class of his own at the moment) differences of .1 or .2 a second/lap. that is not alot really and it wont be long before we see green bikes back up there.

BTW, anyone remember who was on the podium for the first few races last year.........it was shannon before the tyres literally started falling to peices, and unfortunatly i saw that happeing as well

Yeah, it must be super frustrating for the TKA boys to know what the supersport bike is capable of but be unable to fully unlock that just yet, especially when Honda have a new bike also but get better support to be instantly competitive.

And the ZX10R has been a worldwide disappointment for mine. It was supposedly developed with the focus of being a race winner but hasn't been any where near it. I reckon the Aussie boys have done a brilliant job to get it competitive enough to be at worst a semi-regular podium getter, even with rubbish tires. Hopefully it can become a race winner by seasons end and the new model for next year has a better race kit.




SUPERBIKE RACE 1 AND SUPERSPORT SPOILER (don't wanna get any nose out of joint)














Sadly the good weekend for the Kwak World supersport team came to little with Foret disapperaing (I assume he pulled out from injuries) and Pere Riba copping a ride through for a jump start which gave him such a great advantage he went from 3rd to around 15th. At least Guigliano (or whatever his name is) had a real good ride to finish 6th.

And the crappy weekend for Aussie riders continued with Bayliss crashing out of the lead and possibly losing his little finger. Corser put in a strong performance at least after a poor launch came from 9th through to second. Toseland won and Biaggi 3rd.

i looked at the finishing sheets...Bayliss wasnt listed for race 1 at all..and was listed as a DNF in race 2....

did he start race 1??

Neka79 wrote:i looked at the finishing sheets...Bayliss wasnt listed for race 1 at all..and was listed as a DNF in race 2....

did he start race 1??

yep, he highsided out of the lead on about lap 3 or 4. he has lost most of the little finger on his right hand and was straight to the horsespiddle to have it operated on, consequently he didnt start race 2.

toesland had a mechanical fault of some sort in race 2 and that left haga, biaggi and corser to have a thrilling race to the end

NIETO AND LACONI SHARE SIXTH PLACE FINISHES
Donington Park, Europe, 1 April 2007 - Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse Ninja ZX-10R) and Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse Ninja ZX-10R) each scored a sixth place finish at Donington Park; Nieto in race one and Laconi in race two.
In race one Laconi made a great start from his front row qualifying position, but had to slow as the race came to an end after 23-laps, with Laconi finishing seventh, one place down on a forceful Nieto.

In race two, Laconi finished in a season-best sixth place, but Nieto was unfortunate to fall when he went in too hot to Coppice. In the overall standings, Nieto is tenth on 30 points, while Laconi jumps to 11th, with 24.

The conditions at Donington were cold and windy but compared to day one’s early icy rain or day two’s even colder dry weather, raceday ended up as the best of the entire weekend.

Regis Laconi: “I was very happy with most of this weekend although my medium tyre in race one was not the best choice and I changed it for race two, going to the hardest. I was disappointed not to have that one on in the first race, but it was my choice. The only problem was a lack of side-grip from the new tyre and it was difficult for me to ride the bike like that; I was standing the bike out of corners everywhere. But we really finished not so far from the leading riders in race two, so I am happy. I was pushing hard and the bike was starting to work very well.”

Fonsi Nieto: “I am not very happy even if the first race was not so bad, and I finished sixth. I tried to make a good pace at the end and used a hard tyre. In race two I crashed on the entrance to Coppice corner. I wanted more from this track because I love it. So we have to work hard to bring the level up some more.”

GIL KAWASAKI RIDERS OUT OF LUCK AT DONINGTON
Donington Park, Europe, 1 April 2007 - After qualifying pole Pere Riba (GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) looked set to score at least a podium finish at Donington, but after being judged to have jump-started the restarted 22-lap aggregate race, he finished down in 15th place, scoring only a single point.
He had been lying fourth in the first leg before it was stopped, waiting for the last few laps to make a move on the riders with him in the leading group.

His team-mate Fabien Foret (GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) managed to start the race despite a heavy fall in qualifying, but an engine problem in the first leg of an aggregate race put him out of contention on lap eight.

Riba was particularly aggrieved at his misfortune as he felt he had not made a jump start, and knew he was in a strong position to go for his first win of the 2007 season.

In the championship Foret is now fourth, with Riba sixth.

Pere Riba: “I would really like to see my start again just for me to be sure because I don’t think I moved at all. All the work on the weekend, especially after the crashes, and everything going so well after the first leg, and then to get almost nothing, is really disappointing. This weekend was good and I knew it was possible to win when I was in the race, I was just waiting.”

Fabien Foret: “I had a problem with the engine and that was my race finished. It was a shame to end this weekend this way and I was in great pain from my ribs. I now look to Valencia as we have had a good test there, so I am ready to get back to the positions we have been used to making so far.”

GIUGLIANO’S ATTACK GIVES HIM SUPERB SIXTH
Donington Park, Europe, 1 April 2007 - World Supersport rookie rider Davide Giugliano (Lightspeed Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) found his latest engine spec a great help during his first visit to Donington Park, and he finished sixth in the aggregate race.
Despite a disrupted qualifying period, because of poor weather on day one, he was a more than solid fixture towards the front, despite only starting from row four.

Giugliano was in brilliant form from the outset of the weekend, second fastest in the first qualifying session in the wet, and then 14th on the final grid, despite having to start almost from scratch again on a dry second day of qualifying.

He rode the circuit on raceday like a seasoned veteran of the Donington layout and had he been able to start from the first rows of the grid, he may well have earned an even better finish.

Davide Giugliano: “I made the best use of the time we had and to score sixth in the race was fantastic for all of us. My bike was very good with the latest engine developments, the set-up of the chassis worked very well and I like this track a lot. I hope to be competing with the top riders from now on because this was a big step forward for us.”

Even though it's not a Kwaka...
Update on Bayliss: I just heard on the news that they had to amputate his little finger, left hand. It was apparently caught between the track and the throttle when he went for a slide

At that level of racing - anyone know how much of an impact a missing pinkie might have? Shame it happened at all, but OTOH I guess he's damn lucky it was only the pinkie

Lots of riders lose a little finger. I guess it affects riders differently. Didn't curb Doohans career too much...

Zoidberg wrote:Lots of riders lose a little finger. I guess it affects riders differently. Didn't curb Doohans career too much...

or barry sheene (RIP) or magoo or plenty of others. it really depends on how they use the brake too, some use 4 fingers others use 1, just depends on how troy did it.

he's a tough customer - he'll bounce back

hahaha poor bugger..im sure he wont be too worried tho, its only a pinkie..the only thing it will ruin in his life is if he tries to "4 finger" sum slapper (or mina) and he hasnt got 4 fingers!!