A letdown for SRC and a podium place for Team Green

The Suzuka 8 Hours threw up mixed results for Kawasaki. Team Green’s factory Kawasaki finished second, but Team Kawasaki SRC, a world title contender, threw in the towel.

Bad luck is dogging the heels of Team Kawasaki SRC, which was forced to withdraw after being in the top 10 for the first six hours at the Suzuka 8 Hours. Gregory Leblanc, Matthieu Lagrive and Jérémy Guarnoni were psyched to take on this challenging race with a ZX-10R 2016 still undergoing fine-tuning. Starting from their post-qualifying 21st place on the grid, they had steered their way skilfully up to 10th place when a rear wheel axle broke, bringing the Kawasaki SRC bike to a standstill and forcing them to withdraw.

“We’re obviously very disappointed, because we raced perfectly for six hours with all the means at our disposal to fight it out at Suzuka,” says Gilles Stafler, team manager of Team Kawasaki SRC. “But other teams who, like us, are in the running for the world title also had problems, so we won’t lose ground in the provisional standings. The Oschersleben 8 Hours in end-August will be the clincher.”

Kawasaki did get on the podium at Suzuka, though, thanks to the Team Green riders Akira Yanagawa, Leon Haslam and Kazuki Watanabe. Team Green finished second behind the factory Yamaha. It’s the first time since 2009 that Kawasaki has secured a podium at the Suzuka 8 Hours. Back then, Eva RT Trick Star was on the second step. This year the Japanese privateer finished 7th at Suzuka. Another Kawasaki also made it into the top 20: Team Bolliger Switzerland, with riders Horst Saiger, Michael Savary and Gianluca Vizziello, finished 15th.

The final round of the FIM EWC championship, the Oschersleben 8 Hours, will be held on Saturday 27 August.

Original Source[ Kawasaki Motors Europe ]