PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse riders Makoto Tamada and Régis Laconi finished each Nürburgring well in the points, with Tamada scoring the day’s best individual result of ninth in race one.
The return to the Nürburgring started off as a tough challenge for Tamada and Laconi, who were 21st and 13th on the grid respectively, but they battled hard in each race, and to great effect, pushing themselves up in the championship rankings.
In race one Tamada rode strongly in the early laps and made up several places on the first lap itself, eventually going into the top ten for the first time since Assen.
Laconi was happy with the technical set-up of his machine but made bad starts in each race. He was 13 seconds from the win in race two, when the race was called on the 14th lap, after rain had started to fall.
Both Tamada and Laconi moved up one in the overall standings, with Tamada now 16th and Laconi 17th.
Régis Laconi:“I was really happy with race two because we had a few problems running with a full tank in race one. There was a lot of movement on the front end. I made a bad start in both races, and it was hard to fight at the front because the leaders are already gone. We made a good job with the bike this weekend so thanks to everyone in the technical ride of the team. I have found one good base setting that I really liked and it was even possible for me to use the softest rear tyre today. The bike is more stable on the brakes now and everything was right. I was really happy to ride my bike today, so big thanks to all at Kawasaki for that.”
Makoto Tamada: “I didn’t start as I wanted in race one but I began to recover positions from the first corner, when I went to the inside. That way I got a good position from the first lap, maintaining it for the whole race. I had a good feeling with the bike and the temperature was perfect for the tyres I chose. At half race distance I started to push even more to reach Nieto but I was at the limit and I couldn’t take the risk. In race two I didn’t start perfectly either and it’s quite difficult to pass on this track, so I was not able to gain so many positions. I thought it could be raining at some points of the track so I started to push but they put out the red flag earlier than I thought. Sure, I wanted to achieve a better final result but I can be satisfied about the places I made up today, considering the position I was starting from. We’ll work hard during these few days before the next round. I want to make a great result for the team as they really deserve it.”
