A whole raft of Kawasaki men and women completed a two day test at a cold and overcast Mallala Raceway last Monday and Wednesday, as they prepare for round two of the Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship which will fire into action on 15-17 May.
The two day test was put on by SA Kawasaki Bcperformance team which had five of their riders taking part in the test, which were local Superbike rider Evan Byles, his teammate Ben Burke, Supersport pilots Kyle Buckley and Paul Young and local Ninja300 rider Di Jones.
Buckley was able to lap pretty consistent in the mid 10’s and not make too many mistakes
For Buckley, it was a test that went pretty well as he described it. On the first day the Queenslander mainly got to grips with the 2.6 km circuit again and got his eye in. “We didn’t change to much in regards to the bike setting from what we had at the first round,” said Buckley. “On Wednesday we changed a heap of stuff such as using a softer springs to get a bit more drive as we were suffering from a bit of wheel spin. Overall we ended up in a pretty good spot.”
Buckley did manage to complete a few race runs on the Wednesday, doing about ten to twelve laps. “We were able to lap pretty consistent and not make too many mistakes.” The youngster was in the mid tens in terms of lap times, which is unofficial. Due to destroying a clutch on Wednesday after doing to many practice starts and not being able to test everything that he wanted to he will make his way back to Mallala next Tuesday to test again which will be put on by Team Honda Racing.
Condon managed to go a bit faster than what he did last year in racing. “It was a very positive outcome” – Condon
BikeBiz/Ipone/Swann Insurance Racing’s Sean Condon walked away from the test very happy after he had a very positive test. Condon, who finished third in the AFX round at Sydney Motorsport Park worked on getting the tyres to last a little bit longer. “We played around with the bike a little bit such as suspension settings,” explained Condon. “We managed to go a bit faster than what we did last year in racing. It was a very positive outcome.” The twenty-six-year-old New South Welshman completed around sixty laps each day. Just like Buckley, Condon will also make his way back over to Mallala for the THR test.
Mike Jones (Cube Racing Kawasaki/Australian Outdoor Living) was also a happy camper after the test. At round one Jones had a big problem with front end chatter which was caused by the front tyre being a later built date. However at the test there was no front end chatter at all due to the tyre being an earlier built date. “I’m thinking because of the tyre we had at round one, this caused a lot of chatter,” said Jones. “I’m feeling confident going into round two as long as we don’t get a bad bunch of tyres. We made a few slight changes to the bike and these changes have seemed to make a big different.” Jones’s fastest time was a 1min07.7
Taking part in the test was also a few of the Ninja 300 class competitors which included Kelen Kawasaki’s Ben White and Julie Klinker, Scott Chapman (Zenith Removals) and Di Jones.
James Arnold (Italian Motorcycles/Little Red Grape) was the sole Pro-Twin rider to take part in the test on the Wednesday, due to his Panigale not running on Monday. Arnold was able to work through a number of suspension options and ended the day running in mid 10’s on old tyres. “The bike is feeling really good,” expressed the South Australian rider. “With the help from Darren Sciberras from Race Center we were able to find a good setting that I am confident in now. I’m really looking forward to round two!”
Jones worked a lot on suspension. In total, Jones and the SA Kawasaki Bcperformance team tested three different front springs and two different rear springs and managed to get find a set up that was a lot better. From her bike she jumped onto Young’s 300 and got off and straight away thought her bike was a “piece of crap,” as his bike is a lot newer.
Other riders who were in attendance at the test were Michael Blair (Blairbuild/Campbell Home Hardware/YRD), Troy Guenther (Fresh Chef/PI Technical/Wallace), Jason Ivkovic (IVKO Racing), and Kieran ‘Haga’ Hurrell.