KRT at Mallala

Post by **MadKaw** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 8:17 am

Team Green Just Misses Podium
07/06/06
Kawasaki's ZX-10R Superbike rider, Shannon Johnson, scored a fourth placing in the first race of the YMF Australian Superbike Championship at Mallala Raceway, South Australia, on Sunday.

Johnson, riding the KRT Kawasaki ZX-10R Superbike, started out the day well with a fourth placing, despite spinning his rear tyre on the wheel rim during the race.

“I got an OK start - not a great start, but an OK start”, Johnson said about the first race. “I put a pass on Robbie [Bugden] and Jamie [Stauffer] and put a gap on them and started catching Adam [Fergusson]. But then I spun the tyre on the rim and it was like riding a jackhammer around the track.”

Spinning the tyre on the rim happens when a very powerful machine combined with excellent traction causes the wheel to rotate independently of the tyre. When this happen it throws the wheel balance out, which in turn causes a nasty vibration.

It’s to the credit of Johnson, the bike and the Michelin tyre, that despite the vibration, he was still able to finish fourth in a national championship race.

“It’s comforting to know that even on a bad day we can still finish fourth.”

In the second race Johnson was challenging for a podium finish when a minor mechanical failure, a slipped drive chain, prevented him from finishing the race.

Although bitterly disappointed, Johnson said, “It’s just one of those things. It’s no-one’s fault, just bad luck”.

Johnson is fourth in the championship, still well within reach of the leaders and confident his results will improve.

Russell Holland and Jamie Stauffer won the two races on the day. Stauffer also leads the championship.

In the Supersport championship, KRT’s Josh Waters put together two good rides to take fourth overall on the day with 32 points - just one point off third, in fact.

His points haul has almost doubled his total points from the year and put him into eighth overall and on the end of a group of four riders separated by just 11 points.

Waters, despite a tough start to the season and non-finishes through no fault of his own, is still capable of being close to the top of the championship standings at the end of the season.

Jamie Stauffer also won the Supersport races and leads the championship.
The next round of the championship is on July 9 at Queensland Raceway.