MotoGP – QP1 Assen, discontent for the Kawasaki riders under the downpour

Little satisfaction for the Kawasaki riders on a windy and rainy day in Assen on the first day of testing in Holland.

Nakano and Hofmann were unable to hide the disappointment of finding themselves in the last row of the starting grid in twenty-fourth and twenty-second position respectively.

The circuit, made impassable by the weather conditions which did not allow temperatures to exceed 12°, limited Nakano and did not allow him to express himself. Furthermore, the Japanese drove the last 20 minutes of testing with obvious rear problems.

In similar weather conditions to Mugello, Hofmann managed to place tenth after driving a superb race on the water. After the seventh position achieved in the last grand prix by Nakano, this last place on the grid does not excite him at all. That same performance which was the best since his return to racing in 2002, after over twenty years of absence from the MotoGP.

It's no surprise that after today's performance, the Fuchs-Kawasaki team riders are hoping for better weather to compete in the dry on Saturday.
Both Bridgestone and Kawasaki technicians are trying to find a solution that will allow Hofmann and Nakano to move up positions on the grid for the last round of official testing scheduled for tomorrow.

Alex Hofmann: 22nd (2'18.074)
“I don't like being on the second page of the qualifying times list. It was impossible to go any faster than this in these conditions and it's not fun to ride like this at all. At the beginning of the test session I was able to set decent times but later, when I tried to lengthen the braking and open the corners earlier, I realized the difficulty in being able to lower the times. I wasn't confident with the rear. For now I really hope that it will be sunny on Saturday.”

Shinya Nakano: 24th (2'19.765)
“Today is a bad day for me. I couldn't get on the gas coming out of corners and everyone else was much faster than me. In the last session I had a problem that reduced the pressure in the rear brake circuit. Fortunately we were able to intervene on the characteristics of the engine to compensate for the problem for tomorrow if it continues to rain. Like Alex, I hope for a dry race on Saturday.”

Kawasaki Racing Team translated from Davide Giordano