Kawasaki – Monza, Superpole review | World SBK
- From: 'the Wire' | Published: May 9th, 2009 - 5:31 pm
Broc Parkes returned from injury to post 13th best time in Superpole on his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R and start the 18-lap races at Monza from the fourth row of the grid. In regular qualifying Parkes was 16th and only 1.452 seconds from the fastest time in the pre-Superpole session, and after the first of three Superpole sessions, he and his team made a good job of getting into the second elimination round.
Parkes is still not back to his full best in terms of his physical condition following his big crash in testing, and was well down the order on day one. On the latest specification of machine today, which featured some upgraded parts for the Monza round, he was a force to be reckoned with, heading off Assen podium finishers Leon Haslam and Jakub Smrz in Superpole
Makoto Tamada was unable to reach the top 20 qualifying level and therefore enter the Superpole contest, and he now starts 23rd on the grid.
The 5.973km Monza circuit is the fastest one on the WSB calendar, with Parkes setting an average lap speed in his best Superpole lap of 196kmph.
Broc Parkes: “Pretty much race I have been at I have made it into the second sector of Superpole, so I’m really happy about that again. But I think I have three 13th places on the grid already so it would have been nice to have made that next step up to the third row. After yesterday I didn’t expect to be so high up the grid but my fitness was a bit better today. Physically, I am still struggling a lot but to be 13th out of 29, I’m happy. My shoulder doesn’t feel too good but the bike was easier to ride today and I could ride it the way I wanted to, but I still couldn’t move around on it like I would normally. I think it will be tough tomorrow, but I think I will feel a little bit better again.”
Makoto Tamada: “I just could not get comfortable on the bike today and that meant our qualifying did not turn out the way we wanted. I hope we can find something more for tomorrow because normally like this track.”
WSS
Joan Lascorz yet again showed the prowess of both his Ninja ZX-6R Kawasaki and himself with another impressive qualifying session in the WSS class, going second on the pre-race timesheets. In five races so far Lascorz has been second fastest in qualifying four times, and the latest success in finding a competitive set-up on an all-new bike allowed him to compete for pole once again. He also has strong race pace, and is looking forward to showing himself as a potential winner yet again in Sunday’s 16-lap competition.
Katsuaki Fujiwara encountered some problems in the lone qualifying session this afternoon and therefore he will commence the races in tenth place, starting from the third row of the grid.
Lascorz has opted to use the engine spec with a greater top end output for Sunday’s race, and posted impressive top speed figures on his way to second overall ranking.
Lascorz: “A front row start again which is good, and the times at the top are very close. We have already made our tire choice and we are happy with the speed of the bike in a straight line and our race pace. We had a small problem with our set-up this morning, but we found our way later in the day and set a good spread of lap times, despite the red flag interrupting the session. We have two engine specs this weekend, and we have decided on which one to use tomorrow.”
Fujiwara: “There was a small problem early on in the session with the exhaust so I had to come in and change bikes, made a good time but not quite as good as the others. Then when I went out again there was a red flag, which disturbed my rhythm, so I lost a bit of concentration. Now I only have one small problem, in the rear suspension to fix for tomorrow but the team is very confident they know how to fix it.”
