PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse riders Régis Laconi and Makoto Tamada took part in a positive three day test of the all new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R World Superbike machine at Phillip Island between 8 and 10 January, and each found improvements day-by-day. Conditions at the 4.445km circuit varied from a cool first day to an incredibly warm final day, complicating the task of finding a consistent set-up, and evaluating the latest batch of control tyres.
Laconi was slightly the faster of the two, putting his vast WSB experience to good work in ending the test with a time of 1’33.0 - less than one second from the quickest time of all over the three days. Tamada, with more recent experience of MotoGP racing than Superbike racing, took some time to get up to speed but still posted a highly respectable 1’33.4.
Régis Laconi: “We’ve worked hard all three days, especially today, as I completed over 100 laps. That included two race simulations. Right now I am very tired but I am very happy because the bike is giving me a really good feeling from both the front and the rear. Also, when we change the settings I can really feel the difference. Now the bike is easy to change direction plus the new electronics are working really well and giving me a good feeling. The new bike already has more power than last year, yet with the help of the new electronics it is wheelying less, making it much easier to ride. Overall, I am very happy.”
Makoto Tamada:
“It’s been a while since I was on a Superbike so I feel that I am still getting used to it, all of which made me ride carefully for the first couple of days. We’ve had some difficult times during this three day test but it is getting better day-by-day. One of my priorities is to bring the team together because I am new and we have new team members, so we will focus on this at Qatar. From a machine set-up point of view, we had some chatter problems, especially over the bumps. We need to concentrate on this aspect so that I can really start pushing.”
The team returns to its European base before preparations are made for the last pre-season test, at Qatar, to be held one week before the opening race of the scheduled 15-round SBK championship on Saturday 23 February.
