Kawasaki Moto GP - Jerez test

[MadKaw]

Circuit: Jerez
Date: 16/02/2008




HOPKINS RIDES THROUGH THE PAIN BARRIER AT JEREZ
After a successful team launch yesterday evening, the Kawasaki Racing Team got down to work proper today, during the first of three days of testing at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain.

For John Hopkins today marked his first outing on Kawasaki’s Ninja ZX-RR since the turn one highside that prematurely ended his pre-season test at Phillip Island less than three weeks ago. The crash left the Anglo-American with a badly torn abductor muscle in his groin, which continued to cause Hopkins discomfort on the bike during today’s test.

Hopkins managed to work his way through a short test programme to evaluate new components on his Ninja ZX-RR, but called it a day after riding through the pain barrier to complete 29 laps of the 4.423km Jerez circuit.

The 24-year-old Kawasaki rider will continue testing tomorrow, but with his focus now on regaining full fitness in time for the opening race in Qatar, will stop should the injury continue to cause him problems on the bike.

With his teammate still suffering with the effects of his injury, Anthony West shouldered the tyre testing duties for the Kawasaki Racing Team today. The 26-year-old Australian completed a total of 84 laps, as he worked to evaluate a range of new tyres brought to the test by Kawasaki’s tyre partner, Bridgestone.

West will focus tomorrow on refining the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR further, working with his crew to improve both the braking stability and agility of his machine.

Kawasaki’s Technical Manager, Naoya Kaneko, is positive that, despite Hopkins’s injury, the Kawasaki Racing team has made big steps forward with the machine set-up today but the aim remains to strengthen the overall package prior to the season opener.

West
15th - 84 Laps - 1:41.821
"This morning we managed to make some small improvements to the set-up of the bike here at Jerez, before switching our attention to tyre testing for Bridgestone. We tested a number of new tyre combinations, with positive results, and I’m sure the data we collected will prove useful to Bridgestone’s development process. Tomorrow we will return to fine-tuning the bike for the characteristics of the Jerez circuit, which is very different in character to Sepang and Phillip Island. With John being injured we have many settings to try and we want to make the best use of the track time so we can be in contention right from the first race."


Hopkins
16th - 29 Laps - 1:41.901
"The injury has caused me a few more problems than I was expecting today and it’s still quite painful. My main aim has to be to regain full fitness for the first race, so although I will definitely continue testing tomorrow, it may be that we call it a day early if the injury continues to be a problem. It’s definitely been a case of riding through the pain barrier today, but I don’t want to jeopardise the recovery process by pushing too hard too soon. On a more positive note we did manage to test some parts today, we’ll just have to see how the injury feels before we make a decision on what to do next."



Kawasaki Technical Manager
"Today Anthony completed a tyre evaluation and we collected some good development data for Bridgestone. We have done a lot of work with the balance of the machine, mainly working with the suspension and, although we still have some work to do to make machine more stable, we are making good progress. We are not 100% where we’d like to be yet, but we also have some new components to test for improving engine performance of the machine. Our target at the moment is to have better turning and to have a better overall package for the first race. With John’s injury it’s difficult to see where we’re at, but sometimes we face these problems in racing; for us it’s important that he is fit for the first race and I am not worried about machine set-up so much for him."



1. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team 1'39.200; 2. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Honda LCR +1.023; 3. Valentino Rossi (46) Fiat Yamaha +1.441; 4. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JIR Team Scott +1.567; 5. James Toseland (GBR) Yamaha Tech 3 +1.568; 6. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +1.622; 7. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Tech 3 +1.745; 8. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha +1.858; 9. Alex De Angelis (RSM) Honda Gresini +1.970; 10. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +2.152; 11. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda Gresini +2.235; 15. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +2.621; 16. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team +2.701

[MadKaw]

Circuit: Jerez
Date: 17/02/2008


WEST MAKES HIS MARK AT A WET JEREZ
Kawasaki's Anthony West stamped his mark on proceedings during the BMW award qualifying practice held today at the Jerez circuit in Spain. The Australian posted the fourth fastest time aboard his Ninja ZX-RR in difficult conditions, which his injured teammate John Hopkins opted not to ride in.

West ended the 40 minute session just 0.219 seconds behind second placed Valentino Rossi, as Casey Stoner took the honours, and the BMW car that was up for grabs, by topping the timesheet. In third place was Nicky Hayden, making West the first rider on the timesheet who hasn't won a MotoGP World Championship.

26-year-old West also gathered valuable data in the less than ideal wet, but drying, conditions to learn more about the handling of his Ninja ZX-RR. The Kawasaki rider completed three tyre evaluations for Bridgestone and is hoping for dry weather tomorrow, so that he can continue working with his crew to refine the overall set-up of the bike before the conclusion of the three-day test in the afternoon.

John Hopkins entered the circuit during the wet session this morning and, despite suffering the effects of his Phillip Island injury, posted the 10th fastest time and completed a total of 12 laps.

The 24-year-old Anglo-American continued with vital work on refining the machine set-up to suit his personal preferences, but found the wet conditions harder on his injured abductor muscle because of the requirement to hang further off the machine in the turns, and the tendency for the bike to move around more in the wet conditions.

Rather than run the risk of aggravating the injury further, Hopkins opted to sit out this afternoon's timed session, although he will test again during tomorrow's third and final day at Jerez should the weather conditions improve.



West
4th - 15 Laps – 1:50.799
"Although we are closer to where we need to be time-wise, I am not completely happy with today. In the wet conditions this morning we tried some different settings to improve the bike handling and turning to suit my style more. This afternoon we continued with some tyre evaluations for Bridgestone, although the condition of the track was not brilliant as it was wet in some places and completely dry in others. However, for us this has been valuable, as it has given us the worst scenario in terms of track conditions, which gave us an indication of machine handling on a wet but drying track. There are definitely some areas for improvement, and hopefully we will get some dry test time tomorrow to use the data we have collected, so we can leave here with a clear progression plan prior to the Qatar test."


Hopkins
DNS
"Conditions during the timed session this afternoon were far from ideal when you're carrying an injury, which is why I opted to sit it out. My priority has to be regaining full fitness for the first race, and I didn't want to risk aggravating the injury just to try and win a car I don't need. I tested what I needed to test this morning and I think we made some progress with changes to the electronics and traction control systems to suit my personal preferences. I will ride tomorrow, depending on the weather, but it is still going to be quite limited due to the pain I still have from the Phillip Island injury."



Kawasaki Competition Manager
"I am pleased with today as everything is starting to come together and we know where we are at in relation to the other teams. Conditions were not brilliant out on track today, but I think John made the right decision by not riding, as it is important he is fit for the first race. I think Anthony has shown that he is really not far off the pace and I am happy with his result. During the afternoon he tried three different tyres and the last one he used was working for him well, despite the fact the track was mainly wet but also dry in some places. I hope tomorrow that the weather improves so that John is able to ride, and also so Anthony can improve his lap times in dry conditions, which has been our main aim since starting pre-season testing."



1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'49.263; 2. Valentino Rossi (46) Fiat Yamaha +1.317; 3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +1.522; 4. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.536; 5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JIR Team Scott +2.049; 6. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda Gresini +2.331; 7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +2.631; 8. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Honda LCR +2.716; 9. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice d'Antin Ducati +2.795; 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +2.975; DNS. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team

[Phil]

has Rossi declared his independaence from Italy...........he now lives in the country 46

[Wattie]

has Rossi declared his independaence from Italy...........he now lives in the country 46

new country for tax purposes