Kawasaki Moto GP Estoril

[MadKaw]

Circuit: Estoril
Date: 10/09/2007




DETERMINED KAWASAKI FOCUS ON ESTORIL
This weekend sees the return of the MotoGP series to Portugal for the 14th round of the world championship, at Estoril. The Kawasaki squad, represented by Randy de Puniet and Anthony West, will be there to persevere in their mission to gain points and continue the relentless development of the Ninja ZX-RR which, already, has made it very much a machine to beat.

Both riders stayed at Misano for a day's testing after the last round two weeks ago, evaluating some new components and perfecting the set up of their bikes.

De Puniet will be determined to perform at the highest level after his crash at San Marino. After putting in some increasingly powerful performances this season, including a superb top five finish at Catalunya in June, the 26-year-old, who lives in Andorra, is unwavering in his pursuit of a podium place in this, his second season at premier class level.

History shows the Frenchman has a strong record at the 4.182km circuit: he managed no less than four top ten finishes here in his 250cc days, including three thirds, and managed 10th spot last year on the erstwhile 990cc ZX-RR. With his increasing mastery of the new 800cc machinery and ample confidence in the Bridgestone tyres used by the squad, de Puniet will be fast, agile and unyielding as he fights for a good outcome this weekend.

West, meanwhile, is steadily coming to grips with the advanced bike and tyre technology of MotoGP and is proving a strong team member and reliable, fast and consistent rider, gradually learning his way around the 200+bhp Ninja.

The 26-year-old Australian has managed to score points in every race he's run for the team, having joined Kawasaki in June. Last time out, at Misano, he grabbed another fine placement, crossing the line in 8th position and, like de Puniet, arrives at Estoril with a number of previous top ten results at the circuit from when he competed in the 250cc class. He will be out to maintain the positive momentum of his achievements so far, which have impressed both team and fans alike, ultimately aiming for a personal best, which will mean beating the remarkable seventh he scored at Laguna Seca in July.

Sited near the Atlantic coast and close to the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, Estoril is a circuit of long corners (including the famous Parabolica), a tricky chicane towards its northern parameters, bumpy sections and a long start/finish straight, which demands plenty of top end power as the bikes stretch their legs past the paddock.

Given its proximity to the bike-mad racing fans of Spain, the Estoril round of the championship always proves a popular one. Furthermore, with the possibility of the title being claimed this weekend by Casey Stoner, there's likely to be even more interest in Sunday's 28 lap race than usual. Either way, it's a complicated and varied circuit which makes for a major challenge to all the riders and, therefore, a great spectacle for those who will be watching.


Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #14
"We stayed at Misano to test, which was very constructive. I was trying out a new swingarm, and immediately got a good feeling from it, so hope to use it in Portugal. Estoril's a very technical circuit. There's a long straight, which should be good for the ZX-RR, and another back straight, but the rest is really slow, especially the chicane at turns nine and ten. I think we're going to do really well there with the 800cc bike. We can certainly be at the top."



Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #13
"At the test after the Misano race, we made some changes to the set up which immediately made me quicker and helped with the chatter problems I've been having, which means I should be able to run faster in Portugal. I like the track at Estoril, although it's quite complex. It will be better than Misano for seeing what the revised engine's capable of, especially down the long start/finish straight, but the slow, tight sections will keep us on our toes as well!"

[MadKaw]

Circuit: Estoril
Date: 14/09/2007


SPLIT SECOND SEPARATES LEADERS AT ESTORIL
The 14th round of the MotoGP World Championship got underway today as the first practice sessions of the Portuguese Grand Prix took place at Estoril.

Dry and sunny weather welcomed the bikes on track and Kawasaki riders, Randy de Puniet and Anthony West, climbed aboard their 800cc Ninja ZX-RRs with the aim of conquering the 4.182km circuit. Both were using the new specification engine they've been testing recently and, judging by their performances today, it's offering them no shortage of accessible power.

After both sessions, de Puniet claimed fifth place on the leader board with a fastest lap of 1'38.287 and a top speed of 313.9kmh. The 26-year-old Frenchman and his crew succeeded in finding a good set up almost immediately and, with promising results from the start, he came home just 0.337 seconds off the day's fastest man, Casey Stoner.

He was also fortunate with his early tyre choice as the Bridgestones he used in the morning performed admirably, despite Estoril's punishing series of corners, including the famously fast and long Parabolica. The day's progress was hugely encouraging for de Puniet and, despite riding with a broken rib sustained at the last round at Misano, he's upbeat about his chances in tomorrow's crucial qualifying session.

His team mate, West, was also fabulously fast on his Ninja today. His final placement on combined times was 14th but that figure disguises the fact he was well under a second behind Stoner: just 0.773 seconds, in fact. He has still struggled somewhat with set up, generally getting used to the bike and varying his riding style to suit its numerous demands but, with a top speed of 313.2kmh, fifth on the time sheets, he wasn't hanging about. Furthermore, he found the new spec engine really came in to its own on the long Estoril start/finish straight: the first time either rider has really seen what it can do at full chat.

The Australian completed 56 laps in total today with his fastest time being recorded just before the end of the final session: an indication his progression to confident and capable MotoGP rider is unwavering as he rides through a steep learning curve and, generally, comes up trumps. Certainly, with times so close to riders far more experienced on this machinery, West's advancement shows no sign of letting up.


#14 - 5th - Best Lap 1'38.287
"I've been happy with the bike since this morning, when we immediately found a good setting. In the first session, I did 24 laps with the same rear tyre and my times were very good. I tried a harder compound but was sliding a bit so I went back to the first one. I didn't realise my rib was broken until I got it checked out last week and, this morning, it was a bit painful to move on the bike; I was much more confident this afternoon after it had subsided a bit. We'll try to improve the ZX-RR a little for Saturday but it's already very good for the race. We just need to perfect some little bits."



#13 - 14th - Best Lap 1'38.723
"I'm still struggling a bit with chatter and rear grip but I'm sure we can improve things tomorrow. And I've been trying to change the position of the bike in corners and shifting my weight around to make it feel more stable. It feels like it's moving around a lot in the Parabolica, so I don't feel too confident through there, but I'm not losing much time through the rest of the track, just little parts here and there. Once we can fix that I can move up and be more consistent. The top speed down the straight's pretty good and, overall, the new engine felt great: really strong."



Kawasaki Technical Manager
"The times today have been very tight, with most riders within a second of each other, so there's actually very little gap between Randy and Anthony. Randy has a found good package and the machine set up seems to be okay; we just need to polish it a bit with some small adjustments. West has a few problems we can improve upon, but he's working hard adapting to our bike and developing the skills needed to set it up and he's really making progress. Our Bridgestone tyres are working well: Estoril is a tough track for rubber, but that's the same for everyone, so we're happy with the performance overall."



1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'38.105; 2. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Tech 3 Yamaha +0.039; 3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha Factory Racing +0.170; 4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +0.251; 5. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.337; 6. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +0.521; 7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.531; 8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +0.568; 9. Alex Barros (BRA) Pramac d'Antin Ducati +0.663; 10. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Tech 3 Yamaha +0.680; 14. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.773

[MadKaw]

Circuit: Estoril
Date: 15/09/2007


TOUGH BATTLE AHEAD FOR WEST AND DE PUNIET
Anthony West and Randy de Puniet were left disappointed with their final grid positions for tomorrow's Portuguese Grand Prix, after both Kawasaki riders struggled to find their form during this afternoon's qualifying session at Estoril.

The chatter problems that had plagued West throughout free practice yesterday were all but eliminated with a change of set-up on his Ninja ZX-RR ahead of this morning's hour-long practice period. But with only two hours remaining in which to refine the rest of the set-up, the 26-year-old Australian knew he was facing a tough task.

West was then forced to switch to his number two machine early on in this afternoon's qualifying session, after a minor mechanical problem sidelined his preferred bike. Despite this setback, the Kawasaki pilot attacked as hard as he dared on his qualifying tyres, eventually qualifying 16th fastest and securing a sixth row start for tomorrow's 28-lap race.

West's team leader, de Puniet, also suffered problems during qualifying today. After finding a good set-up on his Ninja ZX-RR during free practice yesterday, the 26-year-old Frenchman looked all set to secure a top ten start during qualifying this afternoon, until a crash with just five minutes of the session remaining brought his second flying lap to a premature conclusion.

Racing back to the pit box and jumping on his number two bike, de Puniet headed out on his final qualifying tyre, but was unable to improve on his previous best lap time after struggling to regain his rhythm. As a result, the Frenchman will start tomorrow's race from 18th position, and the sixth row of the grid.

Having arrived in Estoril with high expectations, West and de Puniet were both disappointed with today's performance. However, both riders are confident that the outright speed shown by Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR during the two days of practice so far will allow then to fight their way through the field with minimum risk, by using this speed advantage to overtake on Estoril's 900 metre long main straight.


#13 - 16th - Best Lap 1'37.885
"It's been tricky today to do consistent lap times but I'm pretty pleased with the speed of the bike, it's really fast on the straights and I think if I'm battling with someone in the race I should be able to pass them just on the power. The bike's been getting better all weekend and much of the chatter I encountered yesterday has gone: it's smoother and easier to ride so I’m getting faster with each outing, but we just ran out of time today. Normally the bike is really easy to flick through the turns, but for some reason it feels a bit twitchy at this track during fast changes of direction, but I'm sure we can deal with that. Tomorrow, I'm just going to try and do my best and be as consistent as possible in the race."



#14 - 18th - Best Lap 1'38.271
"We've done some good lap times today on race tyres while evaluating lots of different settings as well as some alternative tyre compounds. Unfortunately, with the first set of qualifiers there were a couple of riders on the racing line and I got held up. With the second set, I crashed when I lost the front at turn four: a very tight left-hander. After that, I restarted with my spare bike but the feeling wasn't so good so I didn't improve my lap time. I'm not happy about my qualifying position but all the experimenting we've done has been very helpful and we can work with the information we've collected to ensure we can make up time tomorrow."



Kawasaki Technical Manager
"The positions we have on the grid are not what we were expecting ahead of this weekend, but we've had some issues with the circuit, which is one of the most technical on the calendar. We've really managed to improve over the last couple of days but have, unfortunately, run out of track time to find that last few, all-important, per cent. However, if you look at the lap times on race tyres overall, we're not so far off, and although it's going to be difficult for Anthony and Randy to make up ground from where they are on the grid, and it's not an easy track on which to pass, they're both racers and I'm confident they'll finish higher than they've qualified in the race tomorrow."



1. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team 1'36.301; 2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.040; 3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha Factory Racing +0.275; 4. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Tech 3 Yamaha +0.435; 5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +0.528; 6. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Factory Racing +0.603; 7. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda Gresini +0.856; 8. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Tech 3 Yamaha +0.888; 9. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda Gresini +0.945; 10. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +0.979; 16. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.584; 18. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.970

[red_dave]

Go Westy!

Got myself a nice spot in front of a big screen here in the George & Dragon Pub...

[hoffy]

Go Westy!

Got myself a nice spot in front of a big screen here in the George & Dragon Pub...

You better have your KSRC shirt on.......bastard

[MadKaw]

Circuit: Estoril
Date: 16/09/2007


A HARD LESSON LEARNT AT ESTORIL
The Portuguese Grand Prix proved a difficult event for Kawasaki's Anthony West and Randy de Puniet today, after a weekend of mixed fortunes for the squad.

West, starting from 16th on the grid, got off to a spectacular start, crossing the line in tenth at the end of lap one and going up to ninth by lap two. Soon after, however, the Australian lost momentum after losing confidence in the front grip and began to slide back down the field, eventually finishing the race in 12th position.

West's feedback, together with input from test and development rider, Olivier Jacque who watched the race from trackside, will be used by West, his crew and Kawasaki's engineers as they work together to improve the Australian's performance over the next four races.

"We have a good engine, which allows us to maintain good contact with other riders down the straights, but when tyres start to wear, it's difficult for Randy and Anthony to maintain their lines," explained Jacque. "This means we must work with our chassis and the electronics on the bikes, so that the riders don't have to push the rear so much, which increases tyre wear and causes the bike to start sliding. It's very helpful for us all to work together on this project and I've no doubt we are progressing all the time. It's just been a difficult weekend. "

The day started well for West's team leader, de Puniet, when he raced around the 4.182km circuit at speeds of up to 314.754kmh during the morning warm up, finishing the session in second place, just 0.225 seconds behind current championship leader, Casey Stoner. However, a rare mechanical problem took him out of the race on lap 20: a huge disappointment for the fast Frenchman after early promise had seen him steadily make his way through the pack.

The feeling in the team is understandably low but, with considerable and well-founded faith in both the Ninja ZX-RR and Bridgestone tyres, they look forward to the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi next week, when wild card rider, Akira Yanagawa, will join de Puniet and West for the 15th round of the championship.


12th Position
"I felt really, really good in the first few laps and the bike felt right: everything worked together and made me feel I could pass everyone in front of me. I kept making up places but all of a sudden I had problems with some sliding at the front. There were a number of times I felt uneasy, so I changed my riding style a bit to push the rear some more, but that wasn't very helpful and caused some spinning. I've struggled here all weekend but I'm looking forward to Motegi and I'm sure we can iron out these issues."



DNF
"My race was going well but then, on about lap 14, I started to have some problems accessing the low down and midrange power. I carried on for a few more laps because I was riding faster than the others in my group and was sure it was possible to finish at the front of it. I'm very disappointed because after some difficult times during practice, things were looking okay."



Kawasaki Competition Manager
"This hasn't been the best weekend, I must admit, and I'm particularly disappointed for Randy. It's hard to understand why these technical problems occur, especially when we've been so reliable over the course of the season, but we will work through it. And it was a difficult race for Anthony: his lap times weren't as consistent as we've come to expect from him but again, when we sort out the problems he's having, he will be up there, too. His performance in the earlier part of the season shows what he's capable of. I'm looking forward to Motegi next week, the home race for our manufacturer, where hopefully we'll repeat the success we had at Laguna Seca, the last time we had three bikes on the grid."



1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha Factory Racing 45'49.911; 2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +0.175; 3. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +1.477; 4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +12.951; 5. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda Gresini +17.343; 6. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +18.857; 7. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda LCR +31.524; 8. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda Gresini +40.535; 9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +43.107; 10. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Factory Racing +44.674; 11. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda +45.403; 12. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +54.562; DNF. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +9 Laps

[Bogan]

Rossi finished only one-tenth of a second ahead of Pedrosa and was euphoric. "The feeling of winning when you haven't won for five races is like when you haven't had sex for a long time. Men will understand what I mean," Rossi said.