Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

The eagle-eyed amongst you will also notice there is a 3rd Kawasaki and Suzuki running this weekend. The Kwakka is being ridden by the teams test rider: Naoki Matsudo.



Shinya Nakano did his chances of securing a new factory Kawasaki deal, or switching to a more competitive team, no harm by setting the second fastest time during Friday practice for his home Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi.

A problem with braking stability, so critical at Motegi, meant that Nakano finished the morning a disappointing eleventh fastest, but changes to chassis and suspension settings transformed the 28-year-old's Ninja ZX-RR ahead of the second hour of practice.

Nakano hit the top just five minutes into this afternoon's hour-long session, and remained in the top five on race tyres until many riders began switching to qualifying rubber with ten minutes left to run. Having dropped down to sixth place, Nakano then snatched second with a late qualifying tyre lap of his own.

"This morning we had some problems with braking stability, which made it very difficult to lap consistently," confirmed Nakano, who led the early stages of last weekend's Australian Grand Prix. "Between sessions we made some changes to the balance of the bike, which was a big improvement, and I was able to find a good rhythm very quickly this afternoon. Having said that, I think it's still possible to improve things further, as I could still feel the rear hopping about when hard on the brakes this afternoon - and you're hard on the brakes quite a lot at Motegi. Having the rear wheel trying to overtake the front on the brakes may look good on television, but it's not so good for a fast lap time. We know what we need to do to improve this, so I'm confident that we can go even faster tomorrow."

Regular team-mate Randy de Puniet finished the opening day in a creditable ninth place, while wild-card rider Naoki Matsudo recorded the sixteenth fastest time.

"This is the first time I've ridden the latest specification engine, so we knew we would have to spend some time this morning working on set-up," explained the 33-year-old. "At first I wasn't too comfortable with the engine braking, and the bike had a tendency to wheelie out of the turns, but now the set-up is much better. This is my one and only MotoGP race appearance this season, so this morning I was a little bit nervous to start with. But, once I'd settled into the practice session, and we'd made improvements to the set-up, I really enjoyed myself, and I'm looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow."

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Camel Yamaha Team 1min 46.981 secs
2. Shinya Nakano JPN Kawasaki Racing Team 1min 47.315 secs
3. Marco Melandri ITA Fortuna Honda 1min 47.449 secs
4. Colin Edwards USA Camel Yamaha Team 1min 47.581 secs
5. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team 1min 47.610 secs
6. Toni Elias SPA Fortuna Honda 1min 47.646 secs
7. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 47.731 secs
8. John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 47.915 secs
9. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki Racing Team 1min 47.982 secs
10. Kenny Roberts Jr USA Team Roberts 1min 48.002 secs
11. Casey Stoner AUS Honda LCR 1min 48.059 secs
12. Makoto Tamada JPN Konica Minolta Honda 1min 48.160 secs
13. Sete Gibernau SPA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 48.313 secs
14. Kousuke Akiyoshi JPN Team Suzuki MotoGP 1min 48.317 secs
15. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 48.389 secs
16. Naoki Matsudo JPN Kawasaki Racing Team 1min 48.722 secs
17. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 49.488 secs
18. James Ellison GBR Tech 3 Yamaha 1min 49.683 secs
19. Alex Hofmann GER Pramac d'Antin MotoGP 1min 49.761 secs
20. Carlos Checa SPA Tech 3 Yamaha 1min 49.899 secs
21. Jose Luis Cardoso SPA Pramac d'Antin MotoGP 1min 51.138 secs

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2006
KAWASAKI RACING TEAM PRESS OFFICE
22 SEPTEMBER 2006 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW FOR NAKANO AT MOTEGI

Shinya Nakano led the Kawasaki charge at Motegi today, storming to a sensational second place on the provisional grid during this afternoon's hour-long free practice session.

A problem with braking stability, so critical at Motegi, meant that Nakano finished this morning a disappointing eleventh fastest, but changes to chassis and suspension settings transformed the 28-year-old Japanese rider's Ninja ZX-RR ahead of the second hour of practice.

Nakano claimed provisional pole just five minutes into this afternoon's hour-long session, and remained top five on the timesheet until the leading riders started switching to qualifying tyres with ten minutes left to run.

Having dropped down to sixth place, as his factory rivals put in fast laps on qualifying rubber, Nakano underlined just how much Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR has improved this season, by snatching second place on the provisional grid with a final flying lap that was almost half-a-second faster than his qualifying time for this race last year.

And the Kawasaki pilot is confident that, with additional refinements to the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR overnight, he can improve his lap times further ahead of tomorrow's all-important qualifying session.

Randy de Puniet finished the opening day of practice in a creditable ninth place, but like his more experienced team leader, the 25-year-old Frenchman is confident that there is more to come during tomorrow morning's final free practice session.

De Puniet worked closely with his crew to refine the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR - fitted with the latest specification engine for the first time - during this morning's practice session, before switching his attentions to evaluating two different tyres from Bridgestone. With rain forecast for tomorrow, de Puniet, like many riders, opted to try a qualifying tyre at the end of this afternoon's session, and it was on this tyre that he set his fastest time.

Also riding the latest specification Ninja ZX-RR for the first time was Kawasaki wild card rider, Naoki Matsudo. The 33-year-old Japanese rider made steady progress during both practice sessions, as he and his crew refined the set-up of the new engine, before switching to a qualifying tyre at the end of the afternoon, and recording the sixteenth fastest time.

Shinya Nakano: 2nd - 1'47.315
"This morning we had some problems with braking stability, which made it very difficult to lap consistently. Between sessions we made some changes to the balance of the bike, which was a big improvement, and I was able to find a good rhythm very quickly this afternoon. Having said that, I think it's still possible to improve things further, as I could still feel the rear hopping about when hard on the brakes this afternoon - and you're hard on the brakes quite a lot at Motegi. Having the rear wheel trying to overtake the front on the brakes may look good on television, but it's not so good for a fast lap time. We know what we need to do to improve this, so I'm confident that we can go even faster tomorrow."

Randy de Puniet: 9th - 1'47.982
"Overall, I'm happy with the progress we've made today. This is my first time at Motegi with the MotoGP bike, so I faced quite a steep learning curve this morning, but I think we're almost there now. I tested a couple of different rear tyres from Bridgestone, and one definitely seems to offer an advantage here, but I still need to do more work on the set-up of the bike. At the moment I'm just over a second off pole position, but as we get the bike dialled in tomorrow, I think I should be able to close this gap significantly in qualifying."

Naoki Matsudo: 16th - 1'48.722
"This is the first time I've ridden the latest specification engine, so we knew we would have to spend some time this morning working on set-up. At first I wasn't too comfortable with the engine braking, and the bike had a tendency to wheelie out of the turns, but now the set-up is much better. This is my one and only MotoGP race appearance this season, so this morning I was a little bit nervous to start with. But, once I'd settled into the practice session, and we'd made improvements to the set-up, I really enjoyed myself, and I'm looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow."

FREE PRACTICE - COMBINED TIMES
1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team 1'46.981; 2. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.334; 3. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda +0.468; 4. Colin Edwards (USA) Camel Yamaha Team +0.600; 5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +0.629; 6. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda +0.665; 7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.750; 8. John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP +0.934; 9. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.001; 10. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts +1.021; 16. Naoki Matsudo (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.741