Kawasaki Racing Team out on track again at Valencia
Just a few days after the positive first winter test session for next year at MotorLand Aragón in Alcañiz, the Kawasaki Racing Team is now taking part in another two-day session at Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit. Today Monday and tomorrow Tuesday will see the two KRT riders Tom Sykes and Loris Baz try out the latest developments from Kawasaki's racing department on the resurfaced track.
The team is already using the new-for-2013 17-inch alloy wheels, required by regulation, as opposed to the lighter 16.5-inch magnesium wheels used in previous seasons. So far results on the bigger wheel sizes have been very positive, with Sykes fastest of all his peers at a recent test in Aragon.
Now new race-spec machines have just arrived from Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan, ready to be tested by the riders and fettled by the Spanish-based Kawasaki Racing Team set-up. A full programme of winter testing has been planned to give everybody in the Kawasaki Racing Team the best possible chance of success in the 2013 season.
Team Manager Guim Roda said: "These two days at Valencia are a kind of pre-test to prepare for the Jerez test we will do later this year. We have just received new bikes from Japan to meet the new 2013 rules about starter motors, and they have a new specification, so we have to check all goes well. We will bring our existing bikes to compare with new versions and some technical staff from KHI are also coming to follow the test and see how their new ‘babies' get on. The forthcoming Jerez test will be important because more of our rival teams will be there and between us we can check the performance of the bikes on a new track surface. Loris and Tom are fast riders at Valencia so let's see the feelings we get back from those two days."
