Superbike
Jamie’s weekend started well, with his Ninja ZX-10R proving to be right on the pace from the beginning. Sibling rivalry with his brother Daniel commenced from the first laps of the weekend and continued throughout, Daniel qualifying on pole ahead of Josh Brookes and Jamie. The qualifying lap times were extremely close and augured well for an exciting battle.

So it proved to be, with Jamie grabbing the holeshot from the start of race one and holding a few bike lengths lead for the first few laps. His brother Daniel then tried to outbrake Jamie on the inside going into Turn Two but had to sit his Yamaha up taking Jamie with him as they both struggled to stay on the circuit. This allowed Honda’s Josh Brookes to take the lead, with Daniel second and Jamie third having to scrub the dust off his Michelin tyres. Not unnaturally, Jamie was unhappy with the move and set about catching then passing Daniel to set up what looked like a certain second as the pair entered the final complex of corners on the last lap. Unfortunately a back marker baulked Jamie badly in Turn 11 and Daniel slipped through to take second over the line. Although third, Jamie set a new Superbike lap record for Eastern Creek, the benchmark now being 1 minute 32.027 seconds.

“That was a good race with a bad result,” said Jamie. “There was no way Daniel was going to make the corner as he came underneath me into Turn Two and he allowed Brookes to get through. Dan then held me up for ages… Brookesy got away and we were never going to catch him. Eventually I got past Dan, but then a backmarker forced me onto the dirt through Turn 11 and almost had me off as I tried to drive onto the straight for the last time. I wish the guys would take notice of the waved blue flags and get out of the way… Anyway, third is better than nothing, but I know if I get away cleanly in the next one I can win as the tyres are holding up well and the bike drives really well off the turns. So I’ll aim to get the lead and ride as hard as I can to hold off Josh and my brother.”

Race two proved to be even more exciting. Once again the Stauffer brothers got the best of the start with Dan just ahead of Jamie into Turn One for the first time. Brookes then managed to pass Jamie going into Turn Seven on the second lap making it Dan Stauffer, Brookes, Jamie. Brookes then passed Dan down the 800m Eastern Creek straight and set about gaining a lead. Jamie was having none of that idea and overtook his Yamaha-mounted brother around the outside through the ultra-fast Turn One. The huge crowd on the pit roof gasped as Jamie almost lost control of the big Ninja – however he regathered and pulled a few bike lengths over his brother. Jamie then put his head down and gradually whittled away Josh Brookes lead.

The Kurri Kurri Kawasaki rider then took the lead going inside Brookes as they entered Turn One side by side on lap eight. The Kawasaki was visibly faster than Brookes Honda through the twisty back section of the track, however Brookes managed to slipstream his way back to the front on the following lap. A titanic battle for position and line honours ensued over the next few laps only to be spoiled once again by the many backmarkers the front pair encountered on laps 12 and 13. Brookes got the win by seven one-hundreths of a second from Kawasaki-mounted Jamie Stauffer seemingly glued to his exhaust pipe as the pair weaved their way along the straight for the final time. After the race a tired and happy Jamie said, “That was a bit better, the ZX-10R is really competitive, it seems to handle and brake better than the Honda but we could do with a few kilometres and hour more speed at the top end. I’m a bit disappointed that we didn’t win here, however third is a good result and we’re fast – once again I got fastest lap of the race. I’m really looking forward to the next rounds as Wanneroo, Mallala and Winton all suit the Kawasaki and also I really like the tracks.

Supersport
The Kawasaki Racing Team’s Supersport campaign continues to grow in stature with teenager Josh Waters getting better and better on his Ninja ZX-6RR. Some initial mechanical gremlins with the dual butterfly fuel injection system only allowed Josh to finish two laps in qualifying. Even so, his second lap was fast enough to give Josh third on the grid and a thorough strip and rebuild of the bike allowed the super-fast Milduran youngster to race competitively.

“In race one I got messed about at the start and didn’t move through the field quickly enough. Brookes and Mark Aitchison were long gone by the time I got into third so there was no point tossing the bike away trying to make up the gap. But considering the start, I’m really happy with third and the bike ran perfectly. I’m aiming for a much better start in the second race because I’m sure the bike is as quick if not quicker than the others.”

Waters’ start was indeed much better, the Kawasaki mounted rider tucking into third off the line. Honda’s Josh Brookes then crashed leaving Mark Aitchison to take the lead with Waters second. By mid-race Josh powered his ZX-6RR right up to Aitchison and looked certain to be able to take the lead. However, Yamaha mounted Aitchison heard Josh coming and put his head down. Waters followed, unfortunately he couldn’t maintain the pace and had to settle for second after a very strong performance. Waters’ third and second places in the two race format gave him 42 points for second overall on the day and third in the championship.

“That was good, but once I caught Mark he sped up a bit and I had a moment in Turn Two trying to keep up. I then had a huge moment in Turn Four so I slowed to get 22 points rather than none. We’ve made so much progress with the bike and I love the next three circuits.”

The Kawasaki Racing Team senior teams co-ordinator, Scott Breedin deserved to be satisfied with the team’s performance overall and stated, “We had a pretty good weekend. We’re now down to making small changes to the bikes rather than taking educated guesses at larger changes. We’ve got the ZX-10R working extremely well and Jamie is riding brilliantly. Josh is getting more and more comfortable on the 600, he did well to get second overall on the day. We’ve got a little more work to do on the fuel mapping, but we’re confident, we’re competitive and we’re looking forward to progressing even more with both bikes.”

The Kawasaki Racing Team will next be in action at Barbagallo Raceway in Western Australia on 29th and 30th May.