As the three rider Kawasaki Racing Team effort approaches a home round for many of the team members this coming weekend, Loris Baz, Tom Sykes and SBK Evo rider David Salom are well prepared for the task ahead.

Full SBK riders Baz and Sykes completed a test at Jerez in Spain in good order and with impressive lap times on both race and qualifying set-ups. Their SBK Evo Kawasaki Racing Team-mate David Salom also tested alongside them, but missed some track time after a fall. The rider from Mallorca is heading to what is his own home race in any case, to take on the challenge of the magnificent Motorland Aragon track – all 5.344kms of it.

After a long lay-off from ‘real’ racing since the first round of the 2014 FIM Superbike World Championship on February 23rd the second round is eagerly anticipated by all, none more so than current second place rider Loris Baz. Fifth in race one in Australia was then followed up by a second place finish only 0.283 seconds from the win, in race two. Baz’s second fastest time from the recent Jerez tests sessions has also boosted his prospects for a good weekend at Aragon.

For 2013 World Champion Tom Sykes, Aragon has been a good venue in the past and regaining podium form is his aim after he too had a strong testing performance in Spain last week, finishing up third fastest on qualifying tyres. He already has a podium finish of third from the Phillip Island round this year, and is sixth overall in the championship standings.

The extra pressure and motivation of a home round should help the recovery of David Salom, who proved himself and his Ninja ZX-10R SBK Evo machine to be best of the bunch in the ‘internal’ competition to see who will win the awards for top Evo entry. With two leading Evo rides in Australia, Salom is very keen to have two solid rides at his home track of Aragon. In the combined championship rankings after one round and two races David is an impressive ninth.

This will be the first weekend of the new regular race schedule, which features many changes from 2013, especially in terms of raceday. The first SBK race is down to start at 10.30 am each time and the second at 13.10.

After the conclusion of the Aragon round there will be one weekend off before the third round of the championship, at Assen in the Netherlands, on April 27th.


Loris Baz:

“Our target this year was to be able to ride at the front from the very beginning of the season. The championship is long so we have to look and see what we can do in every race. That is important, to have a good feeling with the bike everywhere. Everybody is happy and working hard in the team. The bike works well at Aragon; we know that, it was maybe me not working really well there in the past. With all the progress we have made this winter I think we can be fast in every track. I am sure we can be at the front in Aragon if we are clever, avoid problems and take it step-by-step.”

Tom Sykes:

“I am excited and ready to go to Aragon. We have had good form there in the past but the results from last year do not do us justice. We have been working a lot with the bike and definitely improved in some areas, so now we need to assess things under full race conditions. I am happy with the changes we have made and with the three days of testing at Jerez we are a little bit more prepared. We know where we can work towards in the future, starting at Aragon. It is a circuit that is enjoyable to ride around and although the track is not my absolute favourite it should provide some close racing. It is also a track where we have done a lot of testing, so we have a lot of information about it.”

David Salom:

“I want to continue in a good way in round two after having such a good start in the new Evo class in Australia. Now we have another very important race coming up for our team, and for me, because it is in Spain. I will be riding even if I hurt my hand a little in a recent testing fall, so we are heading to Aragon to compete. We got some good work done at the previous test in Jerez too. We tried out some things to complete our electronics package and now we will have the chance to check them all again at Aragon.”

A strong line-up of other Kawasaki entries in 2014 includes Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Mahi Racing Team India), Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki), Sheridan Morais (Iron Brain Kawasaki SBK Team), Alessandro Andreozzi (Kawasaki Team Pedercini), Luca Scassa (Kawasaki Team Pedercini), Michel Fabrizio (Iron Brain Kawasaki SBK Team) and Luca Scassa (Kawasaki Team Pedercini).

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