MIXED EMOTIONS FOR KAWASAKI RACING
A NIGHT OF MIXED EMOTIONS FOR KAWASAKI RACING TEAM
It was a night of mixed emotion for Kawasaki Racing Team (KRT) last night at the opening round of the Australian Supercross Championship in Adelaide, with a podium finish for current Pro Open Champion, Daniel Reardon.
At an event which left competitors questioning who the Pro Open winner was and in front of a vocal crowd, KRT Riders Daniel Reardon and Mitch Hoad both rode incredibly fast machines, kick starting KRT’s 2007 Off Road Racing campaigns at a blistering pace.
Reardon showed from early in the program that he is again the man to beat in 2007, as lap after lap he dominated an experienced field of competitive riders, convincingly winning both heats and the 5 lap Super Pole Race.In the Super Pole Race, which decided the gate positioning for the feature race, Reardon again got off to a flying start winning the hole shot on the opening lap to fly through and win the battle.
In the feature race of the evening, Reardon got off to a good start but misfortune saw him go down on the third lap relegating him to rear of the pack. Snapping his clutch lever in the fall, Reardon demonstrated to the rest of the field why he is the current Supercross Champion, continually making ground and passing fellow riders on a machine without a clutch for the remainder the race.
Like a true Champion, Reardon was in the zone and continually culled the field lap after lap. By lap 14, he was back up to seventh place. Reardon’s comeback ride was brought to a shuddering halt when a serious accident by a back marker at the rear of the field, called for the race to be flagged and stopped.
Keeping his composure after a lengthy break and with seven laps remaining, the race re-start would see Reardon do what he does best, winning the final laps of the stop start contest in convincing form.
A confused field was left wondering who had won the overall event. A new point system ruling saw theresults of the first 14 lap postponed race and the 7 lap restart race, be combined to make the overall result for the event, placing Reardon in third.
Reardon said, “My bike was great and I felt good. It’s just a shame luck wasn’t on our side during themain race. I am a bit disappointed with the overall result. I was definitely the fastest guy out there.”
In the Pro Lites Class, Mitch Hoad’s first event back quickly reminded the 2006 Pro Lite front runner how competitive this Class is. Hoad rode an incredibly fast machine and clocked very fast lap times amongst tough competition.
Unfortunately Hoad spent most of his time tangled in chaotic traffic throughout the first two heats and the Super Pole Race, hindering his opening comeback campaign.In the main Pro Lite Class feature race, Hoad teased the field getting a great start to win the hole shot and take the lead.
His glory was short lived when he became unsteady in the whoops section of the trackand was relegated to rear of the pack. With determination, Hoad would fight his way back up the field to finish the race in tenth place.
Hoad said, “There were certainly no problems with my bike. It was fast, very fast! I was held upthroughout my races which unsteadied me. I just struggled to fi nd open road in order to make a
clean break and as such, I just kept getting tangled up in trouble.”
“It’s not the start I was looking for in the Championship as I was feeling good and was mentally
ready for my comeback ride. I had no problems with my arm and my fi tness was really good. My
250 was awesome. It was so fast. But unfortunately luck just wasn’t on my side.”
KRT Team Manager, Brett Whale said, “It wasn’t all bad for Mitch. He showed signs of fi nding his
2006 form especially when he flew out to win the hole shot in the main race. He certainly was thequickest guy in the class.
Mitch was really fast, maybe even too fast!”Whale went on to say,” I’m really proud of the way the new Team worked this weekend. Themechanics worked hard and gave both riders exceptionally fast bikes. The guys rode exceptionally well and the support from our Sponsors was great. It’s just a shame that the results don’t reflect this.
In Dan’s case, it’s always going to be a bitter pill to swallow when you lose an important race
in a Championship on a points count back scenario, especially when your lap times are up to 2
seconds a lap faster that the rest of the field. But I suppose that’s racing.”
