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Latest Supersport Challenge Energises Kawasaki Duo
01 October 2008
GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R competitors Katsuaki Fujiwara and Chris Martin are set to attack in the intensely competitive World Supersport category once again this weekend, at the Magny-Cours circuit. Seasoned World Supersport campaigner Fujiwara is already a well known figure in the 600cc class, but for Chris Martin, the whole experience of WSS competition is a novel one in 2008, and Magny-Cours will be another new track for him to learn. Fujiwara’s latest French adventure in his eighth WSS season sees him out to beat his season best qualifying of fifth so he can start Sunday’s race from the best possible grid position. He is currently 22nd in the championship standings, with 14 points.
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Fujiwara Battles Hard at Vallelunga
22 September 2008
Katsuaki Fujiwara from the GIL Kawasaki team secured a finish of 18th today, just a couple of seconds from a points score after a hard race at the 4.110km circuit near Rome. Chris Martin was 20th after running off the track at one stage, having been down the order in qualifying. He will continue in the team for the next rounds, when he hopes more dry track time will help his cause.
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Fujiwara and Martin Complete Dry Final Qualifying
21 September 2008
GIL Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R riders Katsuaki Fujiwara and Chris Martin made their first dry laps of the weekend today and ended up qualifying on the fifth and seventh rows of the grid respectively. Fujiwara used his available dry time to make good improvements in his machine’s set-up, and despite setting 17th fastest time, he knows more can be forthcoming on raceday.
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Kawasaki Supersport Riders In The Points
08 September 2008
On a dry set-up in a dry race Katsuaki Fujiwara and his latest team-mate Chris Martin each scored points, making Donington a successful event in the end up for each Ninja ZX-6R rider. With wet sessions appearing throughout the weekend to that point, even in morning warm-up, the team had to estimate when choosing their dry settings. Despite this each rider was able to fight hard in the early laps, even with an imperfect set-up.
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Kawasaki Riders Qualify in the Wet
07 September 2008
Changeable track conditions, with short spells of almost dry track time and longer periods of rain, saw Katsuaki Fujiwara take 11th place in qualifying, at a circuit he always finds an affinity with. His team-mate Chris Martin lost a little on his first day performance, and therefore starts from 14th place, but is confident that he can improve on his qualifying place on raceday, at one of his home circuits.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Wins For Lanzi & Haga In SBK Round 3 At Valencia
06 April 2008
Lorenzo Lanzi (RG Ducati) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) took the wins in a spectacular day of action at Valencia in front of 60,000 spectators, a record attendance for World Superbikes at the Spanish circuit. Carlos Checa (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) and Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare) were the protagonists of the first race. Neukirchner led every lap from pole position until the final corner, when Checa dived inside, but the Spaniard crashed and took his German rival down with him. Neukirchner suffered a broken left collarbone in the incident and failed to take part in race 2, while Checa remounted to finish fifth.
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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.
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Suzuki Take 1-2 In Thrilling Valencia Superpole
05 April 2008
Suzuki Alstare riders Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama finished first and second in today’s thrilling Superpole session at the Valencia circuit. The young German rider has been on the pace all weekend and he took his first ever Superpole, Suzuki’s 16th pole position, with a time of 1m33.805s, the new outright circuit record. His Suzuki team-mate Yukio Kagayama was just a fraction of a second behind, the Japanese rider almost back to full strength after his recent collarbone injury. Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) was the first rider this weekend to dip under 1m34s, but he was outpaced in the one-lap sprint and had to settle for third place.
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Bayliss Faces Spanish Attack At Valencia
03 April 2008
With the opening two flyaway rounds behind them, competitors in the 2008 HANNspree Superbike World Championship are now on European soil for the third round of the series at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit, Valencia, Spain. The form guide after two events shows Ducati Xerox Team’s Troy Bayliss at the top of the standings with 88 points and three wins to his name in four races, but other riders and teams are now emerging as powerful threats to the Australian, in particular Suzuki Alstare’s Fonsi Nieto and Carlos Checa of HANNspree Honda Ten Kate. “Valencia is one of those tracks where I expect everyone to go better and I think those teams that have perhaps been a little behind us with getting ready for the championship will now start to show results,” said Bayliss.
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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.
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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.
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