Kawasaki down one for Kyalami | World SBK
- From: 'the Wire' | Published: May 12th, 2009 - 10:55 pm
World Superbike returns to Kyalami and South Africa for the first time since 2002 and this up-and-down circuit full of contrasting corners should offer good opportunities for Broc Parkes. Parkes had a strong weekend back in WSB at Monza after a recent testing injury interrupted his early-season push, taking his Ninja ZX-10R to a fantastic top ten finish in race one and a second points scoring finish in race two, despite not being at full fitness yet.
Parkes acknowledges that Kyalami will be a very physical circuit to race around, but the tough Aussie is looking forward to the experience all the same after exceeding his own expectations at Monza last Sunday.
Makoto Tamada will miss the Kyalami race after breaking his left wrist in a race one crash at Monza, and thus Parkes is scheduled to fly solo at this much-anticipated meeting.
Kyalami is an old friend to World Superbike, although there will be small modifications to one area of the track compared to the version last used in WSB. Some of Parkes’ main rivals have tested at Kyalami recently, which makes the early practice sessions particularly important for Broc, so he can give a good account of himself in Sunday’s two WSB races.
Broc Parkes: “Monza was our best weekend so far. I think Kyalami will be a little bit harder on my body but I have another four or five days to get fitter again, and every day I am getting better. We didn’t test there so we are going to start a little bit behind, but it was the same at Monza. Hopefully by Sunday we will be there to fight again for good points.”
Strong recent results for Joan Lascorz and Katsuaki Fujiwara have put each rider’s confidence at a high level as the Kyalami round approaches this weekend. Lascorz took his Provec Motocard.com Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R to a fine second place at Monza last time out, while team-mate Katsuaki Fujiwara was sixth in the Italian race, held on May 10th.
The new model Ninja ZX-6R has proved its credentials already and with ever-improving set-up and a greater pool of data to draw on, the fact that Kyalami is a new track for the team does not reduce their combined confidence and determination to succeed.
Joan Lascorz: “We had a good result at Monza despite my early problems in the first laps, and that gives me and the team a good feeling that we can have even more positive results from now on. Kyalami is another new track for us but there are points at stake, so we will be out to improve our championship position yet again.”
Katsuaki Fujiwara: “Our base setting has been much improved at the last races and it was good for me to run near the front at Monza, for some of the race at least. One of our rival teams has tested at Kyalami in the winter, so we will have to make the most of our practice time. I have raced at Kyalami before, so that will help us if I can remember it well when I get there.”
