|
|
McConnell Falls Early as Fujiwara Gets Taken Out
04 August 2008
GIL Kawasaki riders Billy McConnell and Katsuaki Fujiwara were working well towards good Brands Hatch raceday finishes until each fell, in separate incidents. McConnell lost the front on his Ninja ZX-6R, while Fujiwara was intensely unlucky to be right behind another rider who had high-sided and Katsuaki crashed into his machine, without injury. His own bike cart-wheeled into the gravel trap, being extensively damaged on the way.
|
|
|
|
Walker Fights Hard to Go 12th in Misano
01 July 2008
Chris Walker made a vast improvement on his qualifying performance to finish 12th in the San Marino WSS race on his GIL Kawasaki, pushing hard throughout to make up for a 24th grid placing. Katsuaki Fujiwara had an unsatisfactory raceday, finishing his race on lap ten, while sitting 21st at the time. His machine had developed a technical problem and he had to pit before retiring. Even in the high temperatures of 33°C that afflicted the race, Waker kept a strong pace to the end, and was rewarded by more points and retention of his overall 11th place in the championship.
|
|
|
|
Supersport Riders Looking For Progress in Misano
24 June 2008
GIL Kawasaki riders Katsuaki Fujiwara and Chris Walker are fully prepared to take on the challenge of Misano after a recent test found improvements in the set-up of their Ninja ZX-6R machines. In the previous Nürburgring race, and a subsequent test at Brno, Walker found real advances in the set-up of his machine, and was also full of praise for the race pace of his bike last time out.
|
|
|
|
Walker Inside the Top Ten
16 June 2008
Chris Walker from the GIL Kawasaki team took his Ninja ZX-6R to a fine top ten finish at the Nürburgring in Germany, in a dramatic and twice delayed 19-lap Supersport race. Walker was eventually ninth, with his team-mate Katsuaki Fujiwara 11th, in what was an eventually lonely race for more championship points. Walker finished close to the two riders in front but was just unable to pass them before the flag. Each rider had endured a tough qualifying session, but called on their race craft and experience to get them moving forward when points were up for grabs.
|
|
|
|
Fujiwara And Walker Up For The Fight
10 June 2008
Katsuaki Fujiwara and Chris Walker from the GIL Kawasaki team look to Germany as an ideal opportunity to move back up the championship table on their Ninja ZX-6R machines. With Walker knocked off at the previous round in Monza, and Fujiwara 15th, each rider is keen to notch up as many points as possible on raceday, but first each must conquer a track which is a new test for virtually every rider in WSS. Like the Superbike class, the Nürburgring was last used for WSS racing in 1999 and its changes of elevation and fast corner entry sections will make it a challenge for the riders, even if safety considerations place the trackside grandstands quite far from the on-track action, and thus reduce the atmosphere compared to some other circuits.
|
|
|
|
Fujiwara Gets A Point At Monza
12 May 2008
Katsuaki Fujiwara (GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) managed to score a point for 15th at Monza, after finding problems holding a line during corner entries. Fujiwara was 21st on lap one but battled hard, despite having an imperfect set-up for the challenging Monza circuit. Chris Walker (GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) had an incredibly dramatic race, being hit by another rider, crashing, re-starting, making on-the-move repairs and finally being penalised with a ride through for cutting one of Monza’s many chicanes. He retired in pit lane on lap five.
|
|
|
|
Walker Within Five Seconds of Victory
28 April 2008
Chris Walker described his Assen performance as his best race of the year so far, as he took his Kawasaki GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R to 12th place, less than five seconds from winner Andrew Pitt. Walker, who had qualified only 20th, got a good start and was 14th at the end of lap one, latching onto the second group of riders behind the leading eight. He had made good progress with his machine set up in race conditions and felt confident throughout the race.
|
|
|
|
Assen Qualifying a Real Test for Kawasaki WSS Duo
27 April 2008
GIL Kawasaki riders Katsuaki Fujiwara and Chris Walker finished combined qualifying in 18th and 20th positions respectively, finding Assen a tough circuit to master in dry conditions. In the wet the Kawasaki duo were much more competitive, with Fujiwara second fastest in the rainy morning session today and Walker eighth. Fujiwara and Walker will each start from the fifth row of the grid, but they face 21-laps of the 4.555km circuit prepared for anything, after practicing in conditions ranging from bright sunshine to rain.
|
|
|
|
Walker Makes Up Time for Ninth
07 April 2008
After having to wait 40 minutes extra for their race to take place because of track repairs the Kawasaki GIL Kawasaki WSS competitors each ended their Spanish race weekend in the points. Chris Walker was disappointed after qualifying 14th on the grid, but made up places as he found that he suffered from less problems with the Valencia track surface than some other riders. He was even as low as 16th until he found his confidence and then he had an inspired ride to ninth.
|
|
|
|
Fujiwara Close To The Front Row In Qualifying
06 April 2008
GIL Kawasaki competitor Katsuaki Fujiwara was only one-thousandth of a second from a front row start after qualifying in fifth position for Sunday’s Valencia WSS race. Fujiwara’s best time of 1’37.232 was set on the first day of qualifying, as the higher temperatures on day two at Valencia prevented him from improving his lap time in the final session of timed practice.
|
|
|
|
Valencia Next Up For WSS Duo
01 April 2008
A recent test at Valencia was an ideal preparation for GIL Kawasaki riders Katsuaki Fujiwara and Chris Walker before this weekend’s race in Spain. Both the team’s riders are new to the race-winning Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R this year, although each has had vastly different experience on Supersport machinery. Fujiwara is a seasoned campaigner and multiple race winner in this class, while Walker will take only his third ever career WSS start at Valencia on Sunday 6 April.
|
|
|
|
Fujiwara Makes A Set-Up Breakthrough
17 March 2008
Katsuaki Fujiwara (GIL Kawasaki) used revised suspension settings on his Ninja ZX-6R to set the fifth best official testing time out of 19 riders at the tight and twisty Valencia circuit. The current lap record holder in race conditions at Valencia secured a best of 1’37.572 on his way to a top five place. He would have posted an even faster time but the session was red flagged near the end, and the final few minutes of testing were cancelled.
|
|
|
|
Walker 14th But Fujiwara Stops
02 March 2008
Chris Walker (GIL Kawasaki) rode his Ninja ZX-6R to 14th place at Phillip Island this weekend, in a delayed 21-lap race. Starting from the fourth row, Walker was involved in several midfield battles during the race, but made up two places on his qualifying position at the end of 21 laps. His team-mate Fujiwara was relegated from 15th on the grid to 21st place on lap one and he was forced out altogether on lap three, despite having high hopes for raceday after some late set-up changes.
|
|
|
|
Supersport Team Heads Down Under
26 February 2008
After scoring points at Losail last week GIL Kawasaki riders Katsuaki Fujiwara and Chris Walker take their Ninja ZX-6Rs to Phillip Island this weekend. Qualifying proved something of a trial for both riders in the season opener, partly because of the massive grid of well over 30 riders, and partly as each rider is new to the team for 2008. In the race the riders and machines came good, with Walker ninth and Fujiwara 15th. It was Walker’s first ever race in Supersport, making his top ten finish an impressive feat in such a busy and well-equipped grid.
|
|
|
|
Walker Into The Top Ten At Losail
25 February 2008
Chris Walker (GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) made his way from 20th on the grid to ninth in the World Supersport race at Losail, fighting until the last lap to improve his position. Katsuaki Fujiwara (GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) had a tough race but also improved on his starting position, taking a point for 15th place in raceday track conditions that suited his machine settings more than they did in qualifying.
|
|
|
|
Kawasaki WSS Squad Ready For Round One
19 February 2008
GIL Kawasaki riders Katsuaki Fujiwara and Chris Walker have good reason to be confident going into the first race of the 2008 World Supersport season, having only recently completed a positive test at the 5.380km Losail Circuit with their Ninja ZX-6R machines. With both riders on the pace over a single timed lap, and putting in strong performances on race tyres, the new riding line up in the GIL team has already proven itself adept at learning the character and personality of the ZX-6R, and now the entire team aims to qualify well, and then race even better come Saturday 23rd, date of the first race of the 14-round season.
|
|
|
|
Kawasaki Duo Set The Pre-Season Pace
13 February 2008
Three intense days of testing around the often dusty Losail circuit in Qatar delivered good results for GIL Kawasaki riders Katsuaki Fujiwara and Chris Walker, with Fujiwara proving to be fastest rider on day three. Times could have been reduced even more, had the circuit been in cleaner condition, but Fujiwara posted an impressive 2’03.3 second lap, while Walker was only a tenth slower after using Fujiwara’s experience in this class to help him make a final step-up in pace. 2008 will be Walker’s rookie WSS season, despite vast experience in Superbike and many other forms of racing, and he found his team-mate’s assistance in this test invaluable in a number of ways.
|
|
|
|
GIL Kawasaki’s New Riders Make Strong Progress
11 January 2008
Katsuaki Fujiwara and Chris Walker (GIL Kawasaki) both found their latest test sessions, at Phillip Island in Australia, immensely beneficial in getting to know the GIL team and the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R Supersport machine. Fujiwara, coming into the team after a long and illustrious WSS career, and Walker, a class rookie but one of the most experienced riders in the SBK paddock, made great improvements in set-up across the three days, and ended up with highly respectable times in their first big test against their new peer group. Fujiwara set a time of 1’35.6, while Walker was only one tenth of a second off.
|
|
|
|
GIL Kawasaki Duo Ready to Face All Comers
10 January 2008
The GIL Kawasaki team approaches the 2008 season with an all new riding line up aboard its well-proven ZX-6R machines, in the shape of serial WSS race winner Katsuaki Fujiwara and SBK race-winner Chris Walker. Each rider will be in place for the Development Team’s tests at Phillip Island between 8 and 10 January to take the next steps along the trail to full competitiveness before the season starts for real on 23 February.
|
|
|
|
Foret 3rd Overall In The Standings
08 October 2007
Fabien Foret (Gil Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) ended his WSS season in third place in the championship, despite suffering a DNF at Magny-Cours. The 2002 World Champion started the race from fifth place, but had to pull in on lap 13 ending his race due to an electrical problem that affected the performance of his engine. Pere Riba (GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) was another non-finisher, having to park his bike out on track after it stopped on lap five.
|
|
Tag Search
Here's a random selection of the latest hi-def images we have for this tag.
Tags relate items to each other by subject. This page shows the latest items we've published for 'Gil Kawasaki'.
|
|
Tags: 
