Kawasaki/Suzuki Review Assen | World SBK
- From: 'the Wire' | Published: April 27th, 2009 - 6:40 pm
Makoto Tamada finished the best-placed Kawasaki rider in race one at Assen after a tough weekend at ‘The Cathedral’ of racing, but he missed out on a chance to increase his points score. Stuart Easton, who is standing-in for injured regular rider Broc Parkes, secured a finish in the opening 22-lap race, one place behind Tamada. The Japanese rider was 17th and the Briton 18th.
In race two neither rider finished, after Tamada was forced to retire due to a technical problem with his clutch and Easton slid off while pushing hard on the brakes.
Qualifying form dictated much of the raceday fortune for the Kawasaki pairing, with Easton starting from row six and Tamada from row seven.
The next round is Monza, a race which Broc Parkes is hoping to be fit for, after suffering a collarbone injury in testing.
Makoto Tamada: “Not such a good weekend for me. From Friday I had not a good feeling at all from the bike. We tried many different settings but I did not manage to find a solution or a good direction. Even during warm-up I was still not happy with the settings but we made some last minute changes for race one and this was a little better. I had a good start in race one but in race two I wasn’t so lucky off the line and touched another rider and lost a few places. We then had some problems with the clutch around lap eight and this eventually put me out of the race on lap 10. It has been a very frustrating weekend for me and the team and I really hope that we can do better in Monza.”
Stuart Easton: “I was doing almost as good a time at the end of the first race as I did at the start. That was unusual, but I should have been a bit quicker early on. The tire was quite consistent at the end of the race. In race two I just went into the last chicane a bit quicker, trying to gain time on the brakes, because that is where the bike felt quite strong. I just pushed the front a bit and was late on the brakes, so as soon as I touched the throttle I folded the front. I have to say thanks the for the chance to come and ride for a big factory team; I have enjoyed the experience.”
Lascorz Takes First 2009 Podium For Kawasaki
Joan Lascorz raced his Ninja ZX-6R Kawasaki to a fine podium finish of third today, having led for nine of the 21 race laps at a warm and sunny Assen circuit. Lascorz was in the lead as the final chicane came into view but he could not stop Eugene Laverty and Cal Crutchlow outbraking him and passing him across the line. Lascorz was only 0.178 seconds from the win.
Joan found his machine had an advantage at some parts of the track, less of one at others, but his fully competitive form is a good sign for the team to take into the next race at Monza.
Katsuaki Fujiwara was riding strongly from a 15th place grid start, and even a leaking radiator hose could not stop him from collecting two points for his 14th place finish. He had been as high as 11th before his problems struck, and allied to his strong performances before qualifying it was a positive weekend in general for the experienced rider from Japan.
In the championship standings, Lascorz is eighth on 27 points, while Fujiwara is 14th, on 13 points.
Joan Lascorz: “Our race was good, I was comfortable at the pace but we had a little bit of chatter with the front suspension, so there were some places on the track where I could not really push. The bike is good now, it makes fast laps and strong results, but we need to be able to fight more in some corners. On the final chicane I braked as hard as I could but Laverty passed me inside. I know I braked hard but Laverty could brake harder on his bike, and when he went inside Crutchlow also came through. The finish of the race was good for the show but not so good for me! We have improved a lot since the start of the year but I feel we should have more points than we have.”
Katsuaki Fujiwara: “From lap ten I had a bit of a problem when the temperature went up a little and that lost me a bit of power. I think we lost some water, because there was a small hole in one of the hoses when we came in after the race. The engine was good, because it kept going and I was even able to continue to ride hard and earn some points.”
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Team Suzuki Alstare Brux rider Max Neukirchner just missed out on a front row grid place in Superpole and will start tomorrow’s pair of 22-lap races from row two of the grid.
He was the fastest rider in Superpole 1, nearly four tenths of a second ahead of his nearest rival, but lapped two tenths of a second slower in Superpole 2 and eventually managed the sixth quickest time in Superpole 3. His team mate Yukio Kagayama suffered a crash in the free practice and had to use his number two bike in Superpole. The number two bike was set up slightly differently and Yukio was unable to qualify for Superpole 3, despite turning in a lap of 1:38.288 – a time that would’ve qualified him just off the front row. Instead he will start the races from the third row. American Ben Spies (Yamaha) continued his run of good form by taking pole position this afternoon, with Jakub Smrz (Ducati) second, Leon Haslam (Honda) third and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) fourth.
Max – 6th, 1:38.353
I think we are in good shape on race tires and although the bike is not 100 per cent, it’s quite good. We’ve improved the bike since the last round in Valencia and if we can improve it a bit more, maybe we’d be able to risk using race rubber in Superpole 1 and keep our two qualifying tires for Superpole 2 and 3. I had no big problems today, but we’ll try a little suspension change in the morning warm-up tomorrow and see if we can improve the bike. The track felt better today and I was also able to do some good practice starts, so I am pretty confident of being up with the leaders at the beginning. The start is important here because otherwise you get held up round the first three or so turns.
Yukio – 9th, 1:38.288
This new Superpole system is a bit funny really, because I went faster than Max, but he’s on the second row of the grid and I am on the third! I was hoping to keep my position on the front row of the grid, but I crashed my number one bike in the free practice and had to use my number two bike in Superpole qualifying. It was set up a bit differently and I could not lap as confidently with it as my number one bike. There was no time to change the number two bike to the same settings as the number one bike, but we can do this OK for tomorrow. I am not sure why I crashed this afternoon. It was very sudden and I had no warning at all. My engineers will look at the data and then tell me if there was a problem or not. Fortunately I was not hurt at all, so I am in good condition for the races tomorrow. I need a podium!
Team Suzuki Alstare Brux rider Max Neukirchner endured a difficult day in the fourth round of the Superbike World Championship at Assen, but still managed to take a hard-fought for ninth place in the second race. Earlier in the day, he had crashed on lap seven, whilst in sixth, but grittily remounted and got back into the race. He fought his way up through the field to finish 13th.
In race two, he used the same bike and tires, but the bike was harder to ride. Despite the problems, he kept attacking and ended with 9th position. His team mate Yukio Kagayama also endured a hard day. He crashed on lap two of race one and was unable to get back on his bike. In race two he suffered problems, but still managed to finish 12th.
Max – Race 1: 13th, Race 2: 9th
Race one was good until the crash of course! The chassis was not quite 100 per cent perfect, but I really wanted to get a good result so I was pushing quite hard. I lost the front in the the chicane before the start finish straight and although I got back on the bike and started again, I was down in 22nd place. I decide to keep going and fight for some points and I managed to end 13th and get a few points, so I think the effort was worth it. We used the same bike and the same type of tires for the second race, but the bike didn’t work as well. It was harder to ride and more difficult to brake late. It was also not so easy in the turns and so I found it a bit frustrating, but I am only five points behind Fabrizio in the standings, so I know that I can improve a lot.
Yukio – Race 1: DNF, Race 2: 12th
I am not sure why I crashed in race one because it seemed to be a bit of a strange crash. Normally you lose the front end, on the brakes, going into turns, but this time I was exiting the turn and just getting on the gas when the front just suddenly went without any warning. I wasn’t hurt, but I was a bit angry.
In race two,I used the asme bike and same tires, but found it hard getting the bike to stop. It’s possible that there was a small problem with the clutch, but we will not know for sure until we get back to the workshops, look inside the engine after seeing all the data. I kept going and had the chance to pass Xaus on the last corner but there were yellow flags out, so I could not make my move.
I am hoping for better things in Monza, because I need some good results.
