Whats wrong with Kawasaki moto GP effort.

[MadKaw]

It didn't take yamaha very long to get a team together that could win motogp, they only bought em a couple of years ago....

Kawasaki had as much world superbike experience as Ducati did.
The WSB team from 96+ is whats running the MotoGP team.

Problem with Kawasaki in WSB was they didn't have good enuff production bike to remain competative from 99 to 04.
The first zxrr was based on a bored and stroked version of the zx7rr..

[Shaman]

maybe we need to employ a couple of Shamans to do a rain dance before every meeting...

Someone call my name? *starts chanting*

I gotta admit it is disappointing to see the Kwakas sitting so far back, though - when that happens, however, focus (for me) normally shifts to either Pedrosa or Stoner. So happy Pedrosa shovd it all in their faces when all the critics were saying he was too small to muscle a motoGP bike around the track...

Still, I can't really speculate as to why there's so much of a difference between the Kwakas and the leaders... I know both Randy and Nakano have skills, just maybe not the 'hunger', as someone's already said above... gotta have that fire to succeed... if not, you can see that they're not in a rhythm and don't ride the bike to its full extent (like Mick Doohan used to - sideways, anyone?).

[aardvark]

focus (for me) normally shifts to either Pedrosa or Stoner.

Perdrosa shits me. Not sure what it is about that smarmy little prick.

Casey is a great example to all those that want to follow in his footsteps. JB told him that he should stay in 250's for another year, where he would surely become world champ and that if he went to play with the big boys and didn't win he'd become "Casey Who??". He had enough confidence in his ability to make the switch. Not only tho, after his huuuge off last weekend, towards the end of the race the cameras cut to him and he gave a smile and a wave. Most unusual for a GP rider in that position.

Rossi is the best in the world. His pre-race preperation (which apparently includes watching videos of the previous 3-5 years worth of racing at the track, and also watching videos recorded by his team of other riders during practice/qualifying), his mental strength, his desire to win and the fists full of talent are what make him the best in the world. When he's really on it and someone's pushing him to the edge, their isn't anyone who is as good to watch.

As for the other riders in the paddock, I think they've all sub-counsciously resigned themselves to the fact that they can't beat Rossi. Which is why it's good to see Pedrosa and Stoner out their. Those two at least believe they can beat the man, and in the process are dragging a couple of the others with them.

Shinya is a clinical rider and as far as I can tell is doing the best with the machine he has been given. It's not all about the bike and the rider, but about the mechanics, the engineers and everyone else invloved in making the bike the way the rider wants it. Is that actually happening? At the other end of the scale, you need a rider that is able to develop the bike and actually tell the mechanics what it is they want. Is that happening?

I'm not convinced that Kawasaki need a rider who can ride the bike on the edge. They tried that with Gazza and even though the bike at the time was a piece of shit, it didn't suit his riding style. It obviously isn't a winning bike with Shinyas extremely clinical style, so I guess they need something in between.

So the question turn to who should they pick up? OJ? He gets second in a wet race and has failed to perform when given any other chance. Hardly a decent choice. Ant West? Sure, the boy can ride but his attitude of late has just been downright shitty. Although, I'd suggest his determination to show the world what he can do could only work in his favour. Jamie Stauffer? Sorry, still sore that TKA let him go. OK, let's face it, if you want to see if the bike is capable of winning, you have to ask for Rossi. He's the best there is. If he can't win on it, the throw the bike away and start again.

[diesel]

i ponedered last night if it was worth sending some sort ofletter to kwak HQ outlining our concerns and ideas, not so much for them to take notice of what we're saying (they've probably been over this that many times anyway) but to find out what they are thinking and planning. We are, after all, the people who buy their bikes.

[Stretchy]

The main problem i see is with tyres and electronics.

The bike has the outright speed when the pin is pulled, you can see this in there qualifying efforts.

The race pace is slowed because of lack of grip after 8 - 10 laps and the fact that they only have a dual switchable mapping and not triple switch mapping like Yam,Hon and Ducs have. This might not sound like much but if it loses you a second a lap it is a huge problem.

A Rider willing to push and win would also help the cause.

As Long as that rider is not Rossi i would be happy.

My choice would be to get Bayliss to finish his career where he started, on a Kawasaki.

[aardvark]

The high speed nature of the Mugello circuit, venue for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, mercilessly highlighted the current engine limitations of the Suzuki GSV-R and particularly the Kawasaki ZX-RR.

Shinya Nakano had qualified his Ninja in an excellent fifth and made a lightening launch from the grid to slot into third place at the first turn. But from then on Nakano was a sitting duck; his rivals simply pulling out of the slipstream to continuously demote the Kawasaki rider.

"I got my best start of the season to jump from fifth to third place by the first corner. But that's where the problems started. I just couldn't stay with the leading group, they simply drove past me on the straight and they were gone," said Nakano, who slipped back to eighth by lap five and was soon caught by the second group of riders - who also out-powered the 28 year old.

"The same was true with the second group; I could run with them through the corners, but they'd just disappear when we reached the straight," confirmed Shinya, who finished eleventh at the flag. "I had no problems with the bike, the tyres worked well throughout the race and I was pushing as hard as possible. But we still ended up outside the top ten, after John Hopkins passed me on the very last lap.

"I knew he was coming, but there is little you can do to defend your position when it's so easy to pass our bike on the straight. We know we need to find more top-end power, and we know we need to improve the driveability of the Ninja ZX-RR, and I think this can be seen quite clearly from today's result," he concluded.

Kawasaki team principal Harald Eckl agreed with his star rider's account, but hopes that his suffering won't be in vain...

"This weekend we have a number of key people from KHI in Japan visiting the team, and I think that they will leave here with a better understanding of where our development efforts need to be focussed after today's race," declared Eckl. "Improvements in the driveability of the Ninja ZX-RR are important, but as Shinya showed today, we also need more top speed if we are not to concede positions on the straights at fast circuits like Mugello and Catalunya. Both riders rode a good race today, but the end result doesn't really do their efforts justice."

Meanwhile, although lead GSV-R rider Hopkins had been able to overtake Nakano on the very last lap, a tenth place finish also underlined Suzuki's own need for greater engine performance - Hopper's best race lap being only 13th quickest, 0.4secs slower than even Nakano and over one-second from Loris Capirossi.

[QLDZX6R]

Have heard D.Beattie say a couple of times suspects reason nakkas qualifies so well then drops off during the race is Bridgestone, Ducati is different because b/stone developing tyres with them,sort of cosied up with them because of their profile and doubt the bigK gets the quality tyres Duke do.