|
 MotoGP:
Kawasaki Confident after flying start at Assen
Today saw the start of the ninth
MotoGP round of the season at the A-Style Dutch TT Assen, in
the Netherlands. After the first two free practice sessions,
Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet and Anthony West lie second and 18th
on combined times, respectively.
Despite threatening clouds overhead, both sessions remained dry
and de Puniet used his time constructively, with him and his
team aiming to find a good set up and tyre choice, ready for
Saturday's race. Happy with the results, he also managed to head
the time sheets for the vast majority of the second session,
until Casey Stoner just beat his time by a minuscule 0.212 seconds
with just eight minutes to go.
Feeling happy and relaxed, the 26-year-old Frenchman, competing
in his second year at premier class level, is looking more and
more impressive on his 800cc Ninja ZX-RR, shod with Bridgestone
tyres. Having now recovered from recent injuries it seems, perhaps,
that now is the time for him to shine and the first statistic
he'll be aiming to better will be the 11th place grid position
he achieved here last year.
West was also running well and was increasingly happy with his
bike's set up until an unfortunate lowside at the second gear,
140 km/h Ruskenhoek corner. Hugely disappointed after the crash,
the young Australian, for whom Assen is only his second outing
on a four-stroke MotoGP machine, made it back to the pits to
continue on his second bike.
Nonetheless, he and his mechanics had not wasted time, having
succeeded in making good progress, finding a healthy set up for
the ZX-RR. Furthermore, the day's riding meant plenty more valuable
practice for Anthony, who won at Assen on a 250cc in the 2003
world championship.
Large crowds are traditional at Assen and this weekend is sure
to be no exception. Even with patchy weather forecast, it's unlikely
anything will detract from the spectacle of the MotoGP machines
tearing around the 4.555km track: a favourite of many of the
riders. Kawasaki are feeling optimistic, both for the race and,
prior to that, tomorrow afternoon's qualifying session.
Randy de Puniet - #14 2nd Best Lap 1'38.040
"I'm very happy. This afternoon, we made some improvements
to the front and rear suspension, plus worked on our tyre choices
for the race, and it all worked very well. The bike felt right,
I managed good lap times and I'm in second behind the leader
of the championship. I know he beat me, even though I was at
the front for most of the practice session, but it was more important
today for me to find a good set up and I have. It's really positive
and I feel like we're moving in the right direction."
Anthony West - #13 18th Best Lap 1'39.751
"I was feeling good until I crashed; everything felt right
and the changes we'd made this morning were working really well.
It was strange because I was already in the corner, just ready
to open the gas, but then I lost the front and went down. I don't
know why: perhaps the tyre wasn't warm enough as I'd only done
one lap on it. Maybe I need to warm them up a bit more on the
left hand side. So yeah, obviously I'm not very happy but at
least the set up we found was good."
Naoya Kaneko - Kawasaki Technical Manager
"I thought the session was quite promising, yes. Anthony's
crash was unfortunate but Randy went well, with steady lap times.
I think it's only now that he's recovered from his crash at Le
Mans that we can see what the bike can do. Also, the Kawasaki
seems well suited to this circuit: last year we had a good race
with Nakano and things seem to be similar now. I'm feeling optimistic
for qualifying tomorrow."
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'37.828;
2. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.212;
3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +0.286;
4. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha Factory Racing +0.320;
5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +0.393;
6. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Tech 3 Yamaha +0.428;
7. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Factory Racing +0.513;
8. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +0.608;
9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda +0.616;
10. Alex Barros (BRA) Pramac d'Antin Ducati +0.657;
...
18. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.923
back to NEWS
overview
|