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KAWASAKI RACING TEAM >> A Dream Weekend for Kawasaki Racing Team

September 26 2010

26 September 2010
For Immediate Release

Tom Sykes put in an outstanding performance today with a sixth and fourth place to conclude a ‘dream’ weekend for the Kawasaki Racing Team at the famous Italian circuit of Imola.

After achieving a spectacular pole position in Saturdays Superpole in turmoil weather conditions, Sykes had an amazing start off the line and led race one for a period of eight laps before settling for a successful sixth place.  Race two he once again shot to the front and led for another five laps before the eventual double-race winner Carlos Checa, overtook and left Sykes to battle for the podium with Cal Crutchlow and Noryuki Haga. Sykes eventually had to settle for a fantastic fourth place, the best result for Kawasaki in years.

The twenty-five-year old has continued his thriving momentum over the past two races with a total of forty three points in four races taking him to fourteenth place in the Championship where he is only three points behind Ruben Xaus in thirteenth.
 
Ian Lowry from Moira, Northern Ireland had not raced at the Imola circuit before and struggled to adapt to his ZX-10R machine to the layout and tricky weather conditions. Lowry completed both 21-lap races just outside of the points, but managed to enjoy his experience racing amongst the extremely competitive world class racers.
 
Max Biaggi was crowned the 2010 Hannspree World Superbike Champion today after Leon Haslam retired in race two leaving the Italian the title to his name.

Tom Sykes: “I don’t think we could have hoped for anything more this weekend. We’ve had a pole position and a fourth and sixth place and I think we have proved now that we are in the same league. I am so happy but I am also trying to keep my feet on the ground. I just love racing on empty tarmac which I had a taste of today and loved it. It’s a great result for the PBM Team and Kawasaki and I feel like I am in a dream, I certainly didn’t expect this when I came here. The guys have given me a great package and I am so happy I have been able to repay them with great results.”

Ian Lowry: “I’ve not been to Imola before so it has been a big learning curve for me. Friday went well, we started off with the same settings that we left the Nurburgring with, and we spent a lot of time making changes to the bike and it was good for me to learn the circuit. It was a struggle on Saturday in the rain but the first race today went well; however the second race was more of a struggle up against the other Kawasaki’s. I had a few other problems also, but I know you can’t have it good all of the time. Now I am concentrating on Magny Cours next week and I am really looking forward to it.”
 
Paul Bird – Team Owner: “I’m over the moon with Tom’s performance this weekend and am very proud that we have finally been able to deliver the results we’ve been working so hard for since the PBM and Kawasaki partnership began two years ago. It’s great for Kawasaki to be running at the front of the World Superbikes again and we hope to maintain this at Magny Cours and ongoing with the new bike development in 2011. It was a hard job for Ian this weekend as Imola is not a circuit which is easy to adapt to and he also had very limited amount of time on the bike in the dry. It’s important in his position to learn from his experience and to bring that on to the next and final race of the season.”
 
2010 Round 12 Hannspree World Superbike Results
RACE 1:

1.      C. Checa (Althea Racing)
2.      L. Lanzi (DFX Corse )
3.      N. Haga (Ducati Xerox Team)
4.      J. Smrz (Team PATA B&G Racing)
5.      L. Haslam (Team Suzuki Alstare)
6.      T. Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)
7.      M. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox Team)
8.      S. Byrne (Althea Racing)
9.      S. Guintoli (Team Suzuki Alstare)
10.    C. Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda Team)
17.    I. Lowry (Kawasaki Racing Team)


RACE 2:
1.      C. Checa (Althea Racing)
2.      N. Haga (Ducati Xerox Team)
3.      C. Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda Team)
4.      T. Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)
5.      M. Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing)
6.      S. Byrne (Althea Racing)
7.      L. Lanzi (DFX Corse )
8.      S. Guintoli (Team Suzuki Alstare)
9.      R. Xaus (BMW Motorrad Motorsport)
10.    L. Scassa (Supersonic Racing Team)
17.    I. Lowry (Kawasaki Racing Team)
 
Championship Standings– Round 12
1.      M. Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing) – 413 points WORLD CHAMPION
2.      L. Haslam (Team Suzuki Alstare) – 350 points
3.      J. Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) – 288 points

Kawasaki Racing Team is sponsored by Hotbodies Racing and uses our windscreens on all of their bikes. Hotbodies Racing specializes in manufacturing high-performance parts for high-performance sportbikes and is the market leader in Windscreens, Undertails, Huggers, Flush-Mount Signals, MGP and Megaphone Exhausts, and full-race Bodywork.  Hotbodies Racing supports the sport with sponsorships around the world, and encourages dealer and distributor inquiries.  For more information visit: www.hotbodiesracing.com