TOUGH START TO LAGUNA WEEKEND FOR KAWASAKI
The Kawasaki Racing Team endured a difficult opening day
at Laguna Seca, but Jamie Hacking and Anthony West remain
confident of significant improvements tomorrow, once their
respective crews have found a solution to the front-end problems
that plagued both riders during today's two practice sessions.
The technical and twisty Laguna Seca circuit demands that
a rider has the utmost confidence in front-end grip, and both
Kawasaki riders struggled today to find a set-up that provided
the required level of feedback from the front tyre.
This lack of feeling resulted in Anthony West crashing heavily
during this afternoon's hour-long practice session, after
losing the front under braking for turn two. The 27-year-old
Australian was uninjured in the crash, but struggled to regain
his confidence in the front-end of the bike during the remaining
20 minutes of the session.
Kawasaki's engineers will investigate the problem overnight
using the data collected during today's two free practice
sessions, and they are confident of finding a solution that
will allow both riders to realise their full potential ahead
of tomorrow's all-important qualifying session.
Despite the set-up problems, Jamie Hacking maintains that
he has enjoyed making his MotoGP debut today. The 37-year-old
British born rider has adapted quickly to the demands of riding
a pure prototype racer like the Ninja ZX-RR, and he completed
both of today's practice sessions without incident.
Jamie Hacking
#12 - 18th - 1'24.050
"The important thing is that we've made it through both
practice sessions safely today. When I tested the bike in
Japan I felt comfortable straight away, but Laguna is a very
different racetrack to Autopolis and the bike feels very different
here. We made some set-up changes for the second session this
afternoon, but they didn't lead to the improvements we were
expecting, which meant I wasn't able to improve on my lap
time from the morning practice. I could have pushed a bit
harder, but without the feeling from the front end there would
have been some risk. We will look at improving the front-end
feeling overnight, and my aim tomorrow is simply to continue
making progress with the set-up of the bike. I'm not looking
for anything crazy going into qualifying tomorrow, as long
as we keep improving with every session then I'll be satisfied."
Anthony West
#13 - 19th - 1'24.483
"The conditions were quite difficult this morning, with
mist still hanging around some parts of the circuit. We had
some difficulties getting the bike to turn in and hold a line
during the first practice session, but this was much improved
for the second session this afternoon. We still have issues
with the front-end; you need to have confidence in the front-end
grip at this circuit, and it still feels a bit vague at the
moment through some sections of the track. Halfway through
the session I decided to push harder anyway, and that's when
I lost the front under braking for turn two. It was a big
crash, but luckily I didn't do any more damage to my back.
The team are working hard now to find a solution to the front-end
problem, and I'm confident that they'll have it sorted for
tomorrow's practice and qualifying sessions."
Naoya Kaneko
Kawasaki Technical Manager
"Both riders are complaining of a lack of feeling from
the front-end, and this makes it difficult for them to have
the confidence to push for a fast lap time. Obviously we need
to find a solution to this issue ahead of tomorrow's practice
and qualifying sessions and, together with Bridgestone, we
will be looking at the data to identify what we need to change
overnight. I'm confident that, if we can give the riders more
feedback from the front, then we will see significant improvements
in their lap times tomorrow."
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'21.826; 2. Nicky
Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +0.808; 3. Valentino Rossi
(ITA) Fiat Yamaha +0.853; 4. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo
Honda Gresini +0.982; 5. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki
MotoGP +1.021; 6. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini
+1.098; 7. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha +1.251; 8. Andrea
Dovizioso (ITA) JIR Team Scot +1.271; 9. Toni Elias (SPA)
Alice Teamw +1.288; 10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki
MotoGP +1.359; 18. Jamie Hacking (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team
+2.224; 19. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +2.657
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