Kawasaki WSB / WSS - Qatar
Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:53 pm
TAMADA AND LACONI SCORE POINTS ON NEW KAWASAKI
Doha/Losail, Quatar, 23 February 2008
Makoto Tamada (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) finished 12th in race two at Losail, shortly after his team-mate Régis Laconi had secured a point in race one. Tamada had been forced out of race one with a technical problem but charged hard from a lowly starting position, passing many riders on the first few laps on his new model Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R.
Laconi battled hard in each race, earning a 15th place finish for himself in race one, missing a point in race two by just one place. He suffered from having an imperfect machine set-up going into the race, which prevented him from making progress through the field.
The 18-lap races were won by Troy Bayliss and Fonsi Nieto and were held in dry and sunny conditions, with the strong winds that blighted qualifying much less powerful today.
Makoto Tamada: “It was a good end to the race weekend to finish in the points in race two. We had a lot of chattering from the bike on the first two days, and also this morning, but in the races it was a lot less. We had a technical problem in race one, but race two I started well, and the lap average was not so bad.”
Régis Laconi: “A lot better than qualifying but not what me or anyone in the team really wants. We had so many problems with chattering and it is hard to ride the bike like that. It has been hard to get rid of it. I tried my best in the races, and we tried a few different settings in the suspension in race two, but with little effect.”
WALKER INTO THE TOP TEN AT LOSAIL
Doha/Losail, Quatar, 23 February 2008
Chris Walker (GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) made his way from 20th on the grid to ninth in the World Supersport race at Losail, fighting until the last lap to improve his position. Katsuaki Fujiwara (GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) had a tough race but also improved on his starting position, taking a point for 15th place in raceday track conditions that suited his machine settings more than they did in qualifying.
The race, over 18-laps of the 5.380km circuit, had 24 finishers.
Each rider in the GIL Kawasaki team is new to the squad for 2008, making their early points scoring performances more than respectable. Many of Fujiwara and Walker’s championship challengers failed to finish the Losail race, which was won by Broc Parkes, from Joan Lascorz and Craig Jones.
Chris Walker: “I’m happy with the finish and I thought to myself this morning if I could scrape into the top ten I knew I would be pleased. Ninth for everyone in our garage is pretty cool. I really enjoyed the race, even if I was not in the place I wanted to be in. I was right there until the last five laps, then I had to slow a bit. But until then, it was really good and I learned a lot once again. The boys in the garage worked well today and we went back to the setting we had in the pre-race tests. It has been a bit tough for us this weekend so to finish ninth is good. This is actually my best ever finish at Qatar, even in Superbike!”
Katsuaki Fujiwara: “I’m really happy to get 15th because that one point could be very important when we arrive at the final round. Last week we tested here and the feeling was good but for the race weekend there was a lot of wind and lower track temperatures, which made qualifying difficult. Today the conditions were better and we made some small changes to the settings. Although it was not perfect I felt good and was able to be very consistent.”
Doha/Losail, Quatar, 23 February 2008
Makoto Tamada (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) finished 12th in race two at Losail, shortly after his team-mate Régis Laconi had secured a point in race one. Tamada had been forced out of race one with a technical problem but charged hard from a lowly starting position, passing many riders on the first few laps on his new model Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R.
Laconi battled hard in each race, earning a 15th place finish for himself in race one, missing a point in race two by just one place. He suffered from having an imperfect machine set-up going into the race, which prevented him from making progress through the field.
The 18-lap races were won by Troy Bayliss and Fonsi Nieto and were held in dry and sunny conditions, with the strong winds that blighted qualifying much less powerful today.
Makoto Tamada: “It was a good end to the race weekend to finish in the points in race two. We had a lot of chattering from the bike on the first two days, and also this morning, but in the races it was a lot less. We had a technical problem in race one, but race two I started well, and the lap average was not so bad.”
Régis Laconi: “A lot better than qualifying but not what me or anyone in the team really wants. We had so many problems with chattering and it is hard to ride the bike like that. It has been hard to get rid of it. I tried my best in the races, and we tried a few different settings in the suspension in race two, but with little effect.”
WALKER INTO THE TOP TEN AT LOSAIL
Doha/Losail, Quatar, 23 February 2008
Chris Walker (GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) made his way from 20th on the grid to ninth in the World Supersport race at Losail, fighting until the last lap to improve his position. Katsuaki Fujiwara (GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) had a tough race but also improved on his starting position, taking a point for 15th place in raceday track conditions that suited his machine settings more than they did in qualifying.
The race, over 18-laps of the 5.380km circuit, had 24 finishers.
Each rider in the GIL Kawasaki team is new to the squad for 2008, making their early points scoring performances more than respectable. Many of Fujiwara and Walker’s championship challengers failed to finish the Losail race, which was won by Broc Parkes, from Joan Lascorz and Craig Jones.
Chris Walker: “I’m happy with the finish and I thought to myself this morning if I could scrape into the top ten I knew I would be pleased. Ninth for everyone in our garage is pretty cool. I really enjoyed the race, even if I was not in the place I wanted to be in. I was right there until the last five laps, then I had to slow a bit. But until then, it was really good and I learned a lot once again. The boys in the garage worked well today and we went back to the setting we had in the pre-race tests. It has been a bit tough for us this weekend so to finish ninth is good. This is actually my best ever finish at Qatar, even in Superbike!”
Katsuaki Fujiwara: “I’m really happy to get 15th because that one point could be very important when we arrive at the final round. Last week we tested here and the feeling was good but for the race weekend there was a lot of wind and lower track temperatures, which made qualifying difficult. Today the conditions were better and we made some small changes to the settings. Although it was not perfect I felt good and was able to be very consistent.”