World Superbike 2008 - Round Nine - Brno (Czech Republic)

World Superbike 2008 - Round Nine - Brno (Czech Republic)

LACONI IN PROVISORY SUPERPOLE

It hasn’t been one of the best days for the Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse team today at Brno track in Czech Republic.

Regis Laconi and Makoto Tamada placed respectively 19th and 25th in the free practice of the morning because of some technical problems that bothered them. Makoto Tamada started the session with a clutch problem but the team’s technicians solved it quickly. Unfortunately the lack of grip didn’t permit him to reach the results he wanted to achieve.

The gap is a problem that even Regis accused, but he faced it with determination and signed the 16th time in the qualifying session of the afternoon entering in the provisory Superpole.

REGIS LACONI #55: “ It’s the first time that I face a track with such difficulty. The asphalt doesn’t help to solve the grip problems as the tyres wears away from the first laps, especially the front one. I seriously risked during the qualifying session of the afternoon but I really wanted to be among the first 16 and I succeeded in it. We absolutely have to find something to improve the feeling and reduce the gap from the firsts”.

MAKOTO TAMADA #100: “ In the first free practice session in the morning I found something wrong with the clutch but the team promptly solved it. Unfortunately the lack of grip didn’t permit me to reach better results. In the first qualifying session in the afternoon we used a longer swing arm and honestly I felt an improvement. Anyway we couldn’t recover the gap we had from the first riders as they improved too. I hope the weather will be clement tomorrow in order to be able to take full advantage of the margin of improvement we have”.

FRANCESCO MASTRANDREA (Technical Director): “ Both riders accused the lack of grip equally on the front and rear tyre. This track is not giving us the results we thought to achieve. Maybe we have to change strategy and we are already valuating in which direction we shall go. We have margin of improvement and we are working to take full advantage of it”.