In the first race Parkes had been as high up sixth and battled all the way to record a top ten finish after 23-intense laps of action. His team-mate Tamada was in fighting form himself, despite his painful toe injury, going 14th after starting the race from 24th place.
The second race saw each rider find troubles they and their technical crews could not have foreseen, as Parkes lost grip from the front and was not able to match his race one pace. Tamada had problem making gear changes in race two and that was to finally force him to retire in the pits.
Parkes' race one performance took him to 19th in the standings, on eight points, while Makoto now has two points and is ranked 22nd.
Broc Parkes:
“Race one was good. We got a good start and got though the first two corners pretty well, in seventh and running with the front guys. I got a bit of a tow for about four or five laps, then started to drop off and a few other guys came past me. Overall our race pace is much better, and we are getting much more confident with the bike. I am remembering how to ride a Superbike! I’m really enjoying myself actually. Thanks to Kawasaki and all the guys in the team because I had a crash on Friday and the team fixed it well, because when I hopped on the bike on Saturday morning it was perfect. Well done to them all. In race two I could not get any feel from the front tyre for some reason and it was a long race. Everyone’s pace was slower in race two it seems, but we were quite a bit off. But we are looking forward to the next races because race one here showed us what is possible.”
Makoto Tamada:
“In the first race the result was not so good and yet not so bad, because it was the first time that we got a point. I was sorry to miss the test last week here in Valencia as this put me behind with set up. After the start in race one I pushed hard. We were not so good in braking potential and turning into corners. In race two we changed the settings and braking was good, also turning, and traction was a little better. I lost places at the beginning and had problems making clean gear changes, so we had to come in.”
