Vermeulen Top Kawasaki Rider At Final Pre-Season Tests
Newsflash, 22 February 2010 Chris Vermeulen ended up only 1.220 seconds from the fastest rider after an official two-day test at Phillip Island, the last shakedowns before the 2010 season starts for real next weekend.
Tom Sykes was just a little behind his team-mate in testing, setting a 1’33.202 second lap compared to Vermeulen’s 1’32.870, as both riders made valuable set-up improvements in readiness for the Phillip Island SBK races.
The highly competitive nature of World Superbike in 2010 was demonstrated by the fact that Chris was only 1.220 seconds from the lead, yet was ranked 16th, with Sykes 18th.
New suspension parts for the officially-entered Kawasaki Ninja ZX10R, plus many other smaller refinements, allowed both Chris and Tom to improve all through the tests. Each rider posted their best times in the very last session, despite high winds that were not present on the morning of the last day.
The extensive Kawasaki Racing Team winter test schedule has now been completed and the 2010 season gets underway at PI with first practice on 26th February, Superpole on Saturday 27th and two races on Sunday 28th.
Chris Vermeulen “We improved in every session around here, and it was good to be riding at a track I really knew. We tried out some new linkage and shock components and they really helped with weight transfer. Now we are at the stage of trying to dial the bike in and understand the different race tyres. We still have work to do on race weekend and the times were so close at this test. Another two-tenths and I would have moved up about six places.”
Tom Sykes: “We tried a lot of things and went back to what we knew worked best. The team were very patient with me going through all the stuff that we had to try. It was very crucial that we did this, because we have a much better idea of where to go with set-up for the race next week. That is the most important thing, and this test was just to help us in the races. I feel we can close the gap a bit and I am looking forward to the races.”
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Tom Sykes was just a little behind his team-mate in testing, setting a 1’33.202 second lap compared to Vermeulen’s 1’32.870, as both riders made valuable set-up improvements in readiness for the Phillip Island SBK races.
