WSBK – WSBK Guide 2013 – Kawasaki: up for the Greens! – WSBK 2013: presentation of Kawasaki teams

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Guide WSBK 2013 – Kawasaki: up the Greens !

WSBK - WSBK Guide 2013 - Kawasaki: up for the Greens! - WSBK 2013: presentation of Kawasaki teams

Still green at the start of last season, the new ZX-10R proved at the end of 2012 that it was now perfectly ripe. Sykes is the big favorite this year, but Baz can surprise! And two other Ninjas are in the game: Lundh and Sandi.

WSBK 2013: presentation of Kawasaki teams

Half a point. A little more sustained braking, a slightly better managed escape, a less tense exit from the curve, a flutter of butterfly wings in Tokyo Akashi ?! It is one of those very little things that earned Tom Sykes second place in the 2012 championship and not the first, won for a second time by Max Biaggi.

The Roman Emperor being now -, Tom Sykes shows up at Phillip Island in the suit of "best pilot" of the plateau. A fair reward for the English Ninja and for his Spanish team Provec, in charge of the two official ZX-10Rs.

Deeply marked by the dramatic accident of Joan Lascorz, the day after the second event in Imola (read and), the KRT (Kawasaki Racing Team) and its n ° 66 have continued to improve and have carried the n ° 17 high. of the Spanish pilot.

Sykes even wore a gigantic 17 on his helmet during the Magny-Cours final, as a tribute, even as a thank you. Because like Sete Gibernau in 2003 faced with the disappearance of the late one, it seems that Tom drew from this ordeal the element that he lacked to perform – and that Joan had precisely: a certain wisdom.

In 2011, the year of the baptism of the new ZX-10R, Tom Sykes was sometimes too bloody … So much so that Joan Lascorz, however slower, had finished ahead of the Briton in the general classification: the two Greens were respectively ranked 11th and 13th in the world championship.

On multiple occasions last year, the No.66 showed restraint: it stayed on its wheels and it paid off. Kawasaki openly welcomes the progress made by their leader in this area: "Sykes knows that motorcycle development continues to advance. But he also feels that what he learned in 2012 will be an asset for the challenge ahead."… Obviously, winning the WSBK title !

"There will be great expectations next year", approved this winter the vice-world champion,"and I feel like I can do well. For the 2012 final at Magny-Cours for example, I came second in the standings with a lot of pressure. And finally, I managed very well".

"We were a bit limited in the wet", recalls n ° 66/17,"so I took the maximum number of points in the first heat, those that I could collect without taking any risks, third place. I won the second round, the one where the championship was played and I’m quite proud of it".

Ultra fast in qualifying – he signed nine Superpoles in 2012! -, Tom Sykes especially crossed a milestone in the race last year by climbing 13 podiums (or one race in two) and by winning four victories. "I heard some comments that my luck had passed", he confides. But" let us "say it:"the best is yet to come"promises Kawa !

Promoted to World Superbike following the accident at Lascorz, Loris Baz has proven that he fully deserves the handlebars of the second official Ninja. He does not owe his renewal to the Greens to a simple combination of circumstances, but to his performance !

Winner of a memorable drying track race at Silverstone and author of two other podiums in similar conditions, "Bazooka" knows how to take advantage of the opportunities available to him and will be able to count on this great strength next year as well..

"I consider that if everything comes to you easily and you don’t have to fight, then you appreciate things less", explained this winter the n ° 76 of the KRT."I know where I am and I know where I’m going, I just gotta do whatever it takes to get there".

Unlike his teammate, Loris will not be under pressure this year: "i just want to do my best and i think by doing that we will have a good season", affirms our dear" Green Giant "… As a reminder, Loris measures 1.92 m and passes his 1.76 m teammate (respectable size for a pilot) for a" Tom Thumb " !

Adrien Morillas’ foal – and! – nevertheless sets a goal at the start of the year, the same as at the end of last season: "try as soon as possible to finish in the Top 5 in the dry, Loris signals.

"Then I will try to keep this level and improve myself even more"predicts this promising green shoot which just celebrated its 20th birthday on February 1st! And you by the way, what were you doing at his age? ?!

"Adrien Morillas, my coach and former team manager, always said that I had to switch to a 600 as soon as possible", remembers Loris Baz who discovered this displacement at only 14 years old – at the age when his little comrades were drooling on 50 cc! – and switched to 1000 cc two years later !

"So much so that I arrived in World Superbike at only 19, having already ridden six years on 4-stroke, four on a 1000 and with some experience on a British SBK Superbike machine.", summarizes Loris. An example one to follow ?!

Two other Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R prepared by the Pedercini team will also take part in the entire 2013 Superbike World Championship. They will be driven by a Swedish rider, Alexander Lundh, and the Italian Federico Sandi.

Lundh rode in 2010 and 2011 in the World Supersport (16th in the final standings both years) and last year tried to make a place for himself in the Grand Prix by joining the MZ Racing team. Alas, an injury to Assen and his lack of results we drive "home", in the World Superbike.

"We confirmed Alex Lundh, who did well last year despite only competing in the last four rounds.", announced the boss Lucio Pedercini at the beginning of the year."We are sure he will get better results playing a full season.".

Having entered the points four times – not bad out of six starts – the n ° 5 is delighted to be back for a full season: " My first experience in this fascinating and very competitive championship was unforgettable and I will now give my all to improve my results.".

His future teammate seems a little more upset still: "my goal is to be in the Top 10 regularly, even if there are a lot of riders and factory machines in Superbikes"Says Federico Sandi, also delighted to be able to play a full season in a serious team…

Because like Sylvain Guintoli, Maxime Berger or Jakub Smrz, the Italian n ° 23 keeps a bitter taste of his experience with the team … Supposed to compete in the European Superstock Championship on a Panigale, the 22-year-old boy had found himself without handlebars a few weeks before the start of the season, while his future ex-Canadian teammate, Brett McCormick, climbed in the Superbike category…

The efforts of the Althea team to make it run – still in Superstock 1000 on Panigale – were not subsequently found in vain and Federico’s only outing last year in the World Superbike was at Misano, riding a BMW Grillini..

"I will finally play a full season of the Superbike World Championship and this is a big step for me", rejoices Federico."I will try to take advantage of the experience I have accumulated in different competitions and different categories", concludes the transalpine rider, third in the 2011 CIV Superbike Championship on a 1098R Althea.

Kawasaki teams

  • # 66
    WSBK: 106 starts, 15 podiums including 5 wins, 11 poles

  • # 76
    WSBK: 20 starts, 3 podiums including 1 victory
  • # 5
    WSBK: 6 starts

  • # 23
    WSBK: 8 starts

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