Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Circuit: Sepang
Date: 22/01/2008




BACK TO WORK FOR KAWASAKI IN SEPANG
The Kawasaki Racing Team's John Hopkins and Anthony West finally got their 2008 MotoGP campaign underway today, during the first of three days of testing at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia.

After almost seven weeks off the bike, both Hopkins and West used this opening day of testing to get themselves back up to speed aboard their 2008 Ninja ZX-RR machines. Recalibrating the brain to MotoGP speed is always a difficult process, but an inconsistent track surface with varying degrees of grip made the job even more challenging for both riders today.

Hopkins quickly mastered the tricky conditions, increasing his pace with every run, but his teammate joined a list of unfortunates, including Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi, who were caught out by the inconsistencies in the track surface.

On his last run of the day West lost the front going into the final hairpin, bringing his first day of testing to a premature end after crashing without injury.

Despite this being an acclimatisation day for the riders, both were able to start the evaluation process on new chassis and clutch components on their Ninja ZX-RR machines. This test and evaluation program will continue in earnest tomorrow, when Hopkins and West return for an intensive second day of testing, which will include a comprehensive tyre evaluation in conjunction with Bridgestone.

But while the workload promises to be punishing, the two regular race pilots will receive some welcome assistance from Kawasaki test and development riders, Olivier Jacque and Tamaki Serizawa, both of whom also completed a full schedule of testing today.


68 Laps - Best Lap 2'02.628
"Today was all about getting back up to speed on the bike after such a long layoff, but still we managed to test some new chassis and engine components, with positive results. Overall the bike feels improved over the bike I last rode in Jerez back in November, but we will only get to see the full potential of the new parts once we start the fine-tuning process over the next two days. Tomorrow we start tyre testing with Bridgestone, but we'll also continue working to improve the set-up of the bike, before switching back to focus on this completely during the final day here in Sepang. It's been a good start today, but tomorrow the real work begins."



56 Laps - Best Lap 2'03.387
"The first day back on the bike after a long break is always a bit of an experience. You feel like you're really motoring, only to come back to the pit box and find out that you're way off race pace. But it all comes back quite quickly, and I managed to improve my times with every run today. Unfortunately my day ended slightly earlier than was planned, after I lost the front at the hairpin. I turned in at the same speed as on my previous laps, but I think my line was a little bit different and I hit a bump as a result. Anyway, the front tucked under and down I went, luckily without injury. Despite the crash it's good to finally get the season underway, and I'm looking forward to getting back on the bike tomorrow."



Kawasaki Technical Manager
"It was a steady start today, but already we've had positive feedback from all four riders on the changes we've made to the bike for 2008. The real work starts tomorrow when we start the process of refining the set-up of the bike, and working our way through a pretty heavy tyre testing schedule with Bridgestone. Running four riders during a test like this puts the team under some pressure, but the amount of data we collect definitely makes it worthwhile, as it allows us to accelerate our development process."



1. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Honda LCR 2'01.377; 2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +0.487; 3. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +0.697; 4. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.039; 5. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +1.080; 6. Valentino Rossi (46) Fiat Yamaha +1.113; 7. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Tech 3 +1.172; 8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +1.181; 9. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha +1.186; 10. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda Gresini +1.245; 11. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.251; 12. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JIR Team Scott +1.406; 15. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +2.010

Looks like Randy landed on his feet..

hoffy wrote:Looks like Randy landed on his feet..

its only pre-season.... doesnt count for shit.. u kno that surely??

Neka79 wrote:

hoffy wrote:Looks like Randy landed on his feet..

its only pre-season.... doesnt count for shit.. u kno that surely??

Yeah, I was just testing ya

hoffy wrote:

Neka79 wrote:

hoffy wrote:Looks like Randy landed on his feet..

its only pre-season.... doesnt count for shit.. u kno that surely??

Yeah, I was just testing ya

i kno mate.. and im sure i passed

Circuit: Sepang
Date: 23/01/2008


HOPKINS CONFIDENT AFTER SECOND DAY AT SEPANG
Kawasaki's John Hopkins continued to improve his lap time during the second day of testing at a blisteringly hot Sepang circuit. The Anglo-American was just over half-a-second off the fastest time today, but is confidently predicting that this gap will be much reduced once he gets the chance tomorrow to dial in further the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR.

Hopkins's Kawasaki teammate, Anthony West, will be looking for the same level of improvement on the final day of testing, after a successful morning that saw his lap time tumbling with every run aboard the 2008 Ninja ZX-RR.

Both riders worked their way through an intensive tyre testing program with Bridgestone while conditions were good this morning, before switching back to working on the set-up and evaluation of chassis and suspension components as track temperatures soared and grip levels dropped during the afternoon session.

West identified a front tyre and rim combination that gave him more confidence in the front end of the bike, as he pushed to close the time gap on his more experienced teammate. The Australian will continue with the same combination tomorrow when he hopes to see another significant improvement in his lap time, before the Kawasaki Racing Team head for his home circuit in Australia for the next round of testing.

Hopkins focussed mainly on evaluating rear tyres that may prove suitable for use at the first race in Qatar, which is likely to be run under similar conditions as experienced today in Sepang. The 24-year-old Kawasaki rider ended the test confident that the tyre data acquired today would allow Bridgestone to identify the best combination of construction, profile and compound for the unique demands of the Qatar circuit.

The final day of testing tomorrow promises to be a punishing one for both riders, with race simulation runs scheduled in the morning and further work on machine set-up planned for the afternoon.


55 Laps - Best Time 2'01.874
"We started out this morning by running through some tyres that Bridgestone have brought here, basically to try and identify what will work for the first race of the season in Qatar. It was a useful test, I felt pretty comfortable on the bike and I think it will stand us in good stead come Qatar. We've also continued the evaluation of the two chassis options we have here, and at the moment we've gone with the one closest to the 2007 spec. The other chassis option has some positive points, but we need to do some more work on a few areas before we go with it on the race bike. The engineers will now take this chassis back to Japan, together with the data on it that we've collected, and I guess we will be testing further revisions pretty soon. Tomorrow I'll do a long distance run, and then we'll be looking to refine the set-up of the bike to suit my personal preferences, which I'm looking forward to."



66 Laps - Best Time 2'02.579
"This morning we kept the changes to a minimum and I just concentrated on improving my feeling with the bike, and also my lap time. I managed to improve with each run, so I was pretty happy about that. We also tested a new front tyre with a slightly different profile than I've used before, and there was some improvement in the front end feeling as a result. This afternoon we tried to do some rear tyre testing, but it was difficult to get a good feel for the different tyres, because the track lost a lot of grip as the surface temperature went up; I just ended up sliding around everywhere. Tomorrow will be a hard day, because I'm scheduled to do a race simulation, but it will be interesting to see how my lap time averages out over a long run."



Kawasaki Technical Manager
"Both riders have mainly focussed on tyre testing with Bridgestone today, with positive results from some of the new front and rear options that we've tested for the first time here in Sepang. Anthony found a front that gave him more confidence, and John identified some improvements on turn in with a couple of the rear tyres. We've also continued with comparison tests of the two chassis options we have here, and we now have a pretty clear direction for future development. Finally, we've continued refining the engine braking system on the bike with some success, but we know there are further improvements to be had in this area."



1. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Honda LCR 2'01.139; 2. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Tech 3 +0.188; 3. Valentino Rossi (46) Fiat Yamaha +0.298; 4. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha +0.444; 5. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.499; 6. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.735; 7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +0.778; 8. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JIR Team Scott +0.867; 9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda Gresini +0.956; 10. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +0.963; 11. James Toseland (GBR) Yamaha Tech 3 +1.137; 12. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.232; 13. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.440;

I know it's early but isn't it strange that the Yamaha Michelins are out gunning the Yamaha Bridgestone?

Circuit: Sepang
Date: 24/01/2008


KAWASAKI CONCLUDE SUCCESSFUL SEPANG TEST
Kawasaki's competition manager, Michael Bartholemy, declared himself satisfied with the progress made by the team's four riders, as the season opening three day test at Sepang was brought to a successful conclusion this afternoon.

After two days evaluating new chassis and engine components, John Hopkins and Anthony West were able to focus this morning on fine-tuning the base set-up of their Ninja ZX-RR machines, before embarking on a race simulation as the heat, and the track temperatures, headed skywards during the afternoon.

While the two race pilots racked up the laps, test rider Tamaki Serizawa brought the paddock to a standstill when he debuted a screamer version of Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR.

The distinctive high-pitched scream of the development bike was enough to bring a crowd of people out of their pit boxes and onto the pit wall as Serizawa flashed across the start finish line to continue the bike's first shakedown test.

Olivier Jacque gave the screamer motor its second outing during the afternoon session, with positive results. Both test riders will continue the evaluation of the bike during the second Sepang test in early February.

Hopkins and West now head for the second test of the season, which will take place at the Phillip Island circuit in Victoria, Australia, starting on 30th January and concluding on 1st February.


5th - 42 Laps - Best Time 2'01.198
"I'm happy with how things have gone, and I leave this test pretty motivated for the next. Overall I'm really pleased with the bike; we have a couple of small things to address, but we've now got a clear understanding of what our goal is and where we need to be, and I think we're ready to make the next step. I was pretty pleased with the first race simulation on the bike; the traction control works really well, so I didn't have to adapt my riding style so much to compensate for the drop off in grip as the tyres started to go off towards the end. This is a big positive. Now I'm looking forward to getting to Phillip Island. I followed Randy in the race there, and the Kawasaki looked to be working well, now we need to take it to the next level. It's another new track for me on the Kawasaki, and I hope the test in Australia will turn out to be as positive as these last three days in Malaysia have been."



15th - 39 Laps - Best Time 2'02.978
"We tried a few more front tyres again today, working towards identifying the ones that give me the most confidence in the front, and that we can continue with during the next few tests. We also tried some different engine brake and traction control settings, before running a race simulation this afternoon. The idea of the endurance run was too give me a better feel for the bike when the tyre performance has started to drop off. The only problem today was that the track temperature was already quite high when we began, and that meant that the grip had already started to fall off. It was a bit weird, because I actually went faster towards the end, which we obviously weren't expecting. One positive point is that the revised chassis components appear to have eliminated the chatter that plagued us during the race here last season although, because of the grip issues, we will need to confirm this at Phillip Island next week. It's been a hard three days to be honest, because the heat and humidity really takes it out of you. Things should be a lot better at Phillip Island next week, although it was 40 degrees there when I was visiting my grandfather over Christmas. Hopefully it's cooled down a bit now."



Kawasaki Competition Manager
“Overall I'm happy with the progress we've made during these three days in Sepang. Both riders have had the chance to get back up to speed after the long winter break, and John was quick to get to grips with the 2008 Ninja ZX-RR. Despite the tricky track conditions that caught out more than a few of the leading riders, John was consistently fast throughout the test and has provided Kawasaki's engineers with both the necessary data and a clear direction for their development efforts over the coming weeks. John has also set the target for Anthony, who knows he has some work to do when we get to Phillip Island next week. He didn't seem to settle as quickly as John, but his lap times improved throughout the second and third day at the test, so I'm sure he'll be able to close the gap significantly at his home circuit. We've covered a lot of ground for the first test of the season, and the contribution of our two test riders shouldn't be underestimated. Olivier Jacque and Tamaki Serizawa have completed individual test schedules equal in intensity to that of our two race pilots, and this will pay dividends for Kawasaki in terms of development. Now we must look to carry this momentum on to Phillip Island, where we'll be looking for both riders to finish higher up the timesheet."



1. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team 2'00.326; 2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.334; 3. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha +0.440; 4. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Tech 3 +0.853; 5. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.872; 6. Valentino Rossi (46) Fiat Yamaha +1.099; 7. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JIR Team Scott +1.121; 8. James Toseland (GBR) Yamaha Tech 3 +1.419; 9. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.422; 10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1.452; 11. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Honda LCR +1.547; 12. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda Gresini +1.706; 15. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +2.652

thank god one Kawasaki is ahead of Randy !!! Go hopster and West !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!