This weekend sees Germany’s Sachsenring hosting the 10th round of the 2007 MotoGP world championship and the Kawasaki Racing Team are heading to the circuit with high expectations of a great race.
Riders Randy de Puniet and Anthony West are aiming to boost their season campaign on their 800cc Ninja ZX-RRs after a round of mixed blessings at the Dutch Assen TT nearly a fortnight ago. De Puniet, having laid claim to a brilliant front row grid position in qualifying, crashed out of the race itself but West showed he’s a force to be reckoned with after taking ninth place in only his second MotoGP outing for Kawasaki.
The Sachsenring, near the town of Chemnitz in Eastern Germany, is a particularly twisty circuit, where the tarmac snakes through 10 left turns and just four rights, making the correct set up and tyre choice absolutely imperative. Both Kawasakis run Bridgestone tyres, which have more than proved their worth so far this season: a promising sign for the team.
Furthermore, both de Puniet and West have enjoyed numerous top 10 finishes at the circuit in their 250cc days: with four and six respectively. Such experience at the track is a major plus point: its undulations and numerous, tricky corners mean there’s little room for overtakes and it’ll be the Ninjas’ low-down and midrange grunt that will come to the fore for this race, rather than their already-proven, and very substantial, top end.
De Puniet, after last year’s disappointment when a mechanical failure forced him out of the German round, will be aiming to continue his recent good form (disregarding the hiccup at Assen) which has seen him getting increasingly impressive results including a fifth at Catalunya and a sixth, two weeks later, at Donington. Team newcomer West, meanwhile, aims to improve at every round, which, until now, he’s done. It means that, to keep himself smiling, he has to beat his own best position so far of ninth.
Sunday’s 30-lap Alice Motorrad Grand Prix will no doubt be a belter but the weekend kicks off with the first free practice sessions this Friday.
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