Kawasaki preview Eastern Creek ASC
Kawasaki Racing Team are getting set to unleash their full green assault on what is expected to be the most exciting event on the 2007 ASC calendar.
The final round of the Australian Superbike Championship (ASC) kicks off this weekend at Eastern Creek Raceway and with 51 Championship points up for grabs, Kawasaki Racing Team are getting set to unleash their full green assault on what is expected to be the most exciting event on the 2007 ASC calendar.
After four days of extensive testing at Eastern Creek Raceway last month, KRT riders, Shannon Johnson and Wayne Maxwell, are confident they can achieve podium finishes further boosting their Championship standings. With only five points standing between Wayne Maxwell and Shaun Giles for fifth place in the Superbike Championship, Wayne is looking forward to putting his positive practice results into action this weekend.
“We had four good days of testing last month in which we recorded positive results onboard the ZX-10R,” said Maxwell. “I posted a 1.32:1 which was good as it placed me third fastest behind the Stauffer brothers.” “In race simulated conditions, I consistently posted low 1.32’s which I am happy about, giving me added confidence that I can achieve a podium finish this weekend.” “I really want to get back up into fifth place in the Superbike Championship where I was previously placed and I will be out to win as many points as I can in both Classes for KRT.”
Shannon Johnson is still coming to terms with what has been an up and down season, as the second year Kawasaki pilot recovers from a twice broken right hand – the outcome of two separate racing incidents.
“I have just had the worst luck this season,” said Johnson. “At two events I have been caught up in separate rider’s accidents, ultimately causing me to crash.” “I was holding onto fi fth place in the Championship, until an accident at Round Four resulted in me breaking my right hand. Doing everything I could to expedite the healing process in between rounds, I came out at the double header event in Queensland determined to reclaim my top five placing, again only to be caught up in a riders accident. I fell and re-broke the same hand.”
“I’ve had six weeks to rest my injuries and prepare for the final round event. I chose to sit out two of the Team’s test days to give my hand more time to heal and when I did take to the track for the last test session, my hand felt well on the way to being healed and strong enough to handle the racing conditions this weekend. I have nothing to lose this weekend and my goal is to better my current top ten position in the Superbike Championship and I aim to get back into the top ten in the Supersport class.”
Team Manager, Dave Cullen, is confident that with the determination shown by both riders to better their Championship standings, KRT can expect to see them giving it their all this weekend. “Having four days of testing last month was great preparation for the final round event,” said Cullen. “Maxwell has had four good practice sessions and posted consistently good times. Although through injury Shannon has had less time on his bikes, his times have shown to be competitive compared to other rider’s times and we should be up on the podium this weekend.”
“We have made good progress developing both the ZX-6R and ZX-10R in our recent testing sessions and I think Wayne’s competitive results reflect this. We were only half a second off Eastern Creek Raceways lap record in practice, so we are keen to get back out on the track and continue reeling in the record lap time.The whole Team is confident that we will be up there challenging the front runners this weekend and we have every intention of finishing the Championship on a high.”
