TOP TEN FOR NAKANO AND DE PUNIET AT JEREZ
24 March 2006 - Kawasaki Racing

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2006 - KAWASAKI RACING TEAM 24 MARCH 2006

The 2006 season opened at Jerez today, with Kawasaki''s Shinya Nakano and Randy de Puniet both putting in impressive performances during this afternoon''s one-hour free practice session, to finish in fifth and ninth place respectively.

Overnight rain left the 4.423 km Jerez circuit damp and slippery for this morning''s opening free practice session, during which both Kawasaki riders opted to remain in the pit box, venturing out only at the end of the session but completing less than 10 laps between them.

An improvement in the weather for afternoon free practice was good news for the thousands of Spanish race fans lining the circuit, but conditions on track remained unpredictable, as damp patches in the faster sections almost caught out a number of riders early in the session

Both Kawasaki riders complained of losing the rear through the fast series of turns at the back of the circuit, with de Puniet out of the seat on a number of occasions as the rear tyre on his Ninja ZX-RR span up after losing traction on the slippery track surface.

Nakano and de Puniet took advantage of improving grip levels towards the end of the session to test a new rear tyre from Bridgestone, constructed using a revised drive compound to increase traction out of the turns while remaining more consistent over race distance.

And while conditions weren''t ideal for evaluating subtle differences in tyre construction, both Nakano and de Puniet set their fastest times on the new tyre with just minutes of the session remaining.

While declaring themselves happy with today''s performance both Kawasaki riders remain confident that, as conditions tomorrow are forecast to match those during the recent IRTA test at Jerez, there are significant improvements still to come.

Shinya Nakano: 5th - 1''41.939
''This morning was a bit of a wash out. I waited right to the end before going out to bed in a new engine, but the track was just too slippery for the cut slick I''d opted for in the rear of the bike. This afternoon the conditions were better, but parts of the track were still very slippery right to the end of the session. We tested a new rear tyre from Bridgestone right at the end, with positive results, but we''ll need to confirm the results tomorrow when conditions are due to improve. It took me a little time this afternoon to get used to having so many bikes around me on track; a one-hour practice session is very different to the day long tests we''ve been doing over the winter when you mostly have the track to yourself! I''m happy to finish in the top five today, and tomorrow we just need to find those final tenths of a second from me and the bike to put us in the best position for qualifying.''

Randy de Puniet: 9th - 1''42.455
''There was nothing to learn this morning on track, as conditions weren''t dry enough for slicks nor damp enough for full wets. It was a bit of an anti-climax after waiting so long to make my MotoGP debut! At the start of the afternoon session I felt a little bit nervous; I don''t know why, because I felt okay this morning, but it quickly passed. Conditions were difficult this afternoon, and there were a couple of places on the fast sections of the track where the rear tried to come round on me when on a fast lap, but I don''t think this will be a problem if the weather improves for tomorrow as forecast. Overall I''m happy to finish inside the top ten today. Tomorrow we need to continue working the same way, so that we''re ready for my first MotoGP qualifying session in the afternoon.''

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