planetearth
There Can Be Only One
Number of posts : 3271
Registration date : 2007-02-03
 |  Subject: 'Kawasaki duo predicting no heroics.'  Tue Mar 06, 2007 7:05 pm | |
| - Quote :
- A top ten finish would be enough to satisfy Kawasaki team-mates Randy de Puniet and Olivier Jacque in Saturday's Qatar season opener.
de Puniet could arguably be labelled unofficial team leader after a series of impressive performances during winter testing - and completed three race simulations in as many days during last months test at Qatar - although the long runs highlighted tyre concerns for the grand prix.
"After such a heavy test schedule I'm really looking forward to finally getting down to racing again. I think we've shown our competitiveness over the past few weeks and I'm happy with the performance of both our Ninja ZX-RR and myself. The test is Qatar went well, although we struggled a little with identifying a race tyre, but we were able to do some more work on this at Jerez where we made a big step forward," he said.
"We're still missing a bit of top speed, which will be a slight handicap at Qatar with the long straight, but we've already shown that we can make up this deficit through the turns thanks to the balanced handling of our bike. The track at Qatar is normally quite dirty, which means there is normally only one racing line. This means that it's difficult to overtake and makes a good starting position even more important. I will be looking to qualify as high up the grid as possible, and I will be happy if we leave Qatar with a top ten finish in the opening race of the season," added the former 250GP winner.
de Puniet crashed out of last year's grand prix and newly promoted team-mate Olivier Jacque also heads for Qatar needing to put the memory of an accident firmly behind him. The 33-year-old Frenchman was forced to sit out most of the recent three-day test at the Losail circuit as a result of injuries sustained after high-siding his Ninja ZX-RR on the opening day.
The former 250cc world champion is also under no illusions about his return to racing this weekend, but is excited at the prospect of sustained competition after several seasons as the team's test and development rider.
"I can't wait for the first race; I'm really excited about making my racing return at Qatar," declared OJ. "We've had a good pre-season; progressing and always evolving after each test, now we need to carry that momentum into the opening race. Losail is a special circuit for me. I have done many tests in Qatar, and despite the fact that I've crashed there a few times I really like the circuit. It's a good track, fast and flat, although it can also be tricky because the wind blows sand onto the track, making surface conditions unpredictable. There is a long main straight, and our top speed is not yet the best, but I think we can compensate for this through corner speed, which has proved to be one of the strengths of the new Ninja ZX-RR during testing.
"My target for the coming weekend is to improve my lap times, gain some consistency and battle it out with one of the groups in the race. I don't know if a top ten finish is possible, as I'm still not completely up to race speed, but I'm sure it's going to be a close and fun race. This race is sure to give me a boost; I have been waiting a long time to be part of a full factory team and I want to make the most of this opportunity, starting this weekend," Jacque concluded. Crash.net | |
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