The track is quite technical and there are a variety of curves to keep you on your toes.“Last year was not so good for me, but the year before that I got a second and a third place. It’s a very tough season this year and our team has been working very hard to give me a competitive bike and that’s why I was so happy to get on the podium at Monza – I felt that we deserved it.“It’s always a mixed blessing being in a one-rider team because although you get a lot of attention, there is nobody to exchange information with. For sure, if there were two riders in the team, we would probably progress more quickly. But that’s not the case, so we all just have to get down to it and do the best we can. After the last round, I am thinking that more podiums are possible and it would be great to get one – or maybe two!”Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team ZX10R Superbike) says: “Personally, I really look forward to this race, it is a beautiful part of the world and it is massive bonus to go racing there. We struggled there last year but we have a new bike this year and I am positive about that. I am hoping we can go there and certainly improve on last year but also improve on our previous results this year and move forward again.“Hopefully we can make our hard work at the previous rounds count in America. The challenges for the rider there are the time zone change and the massive increase in altitude. You lose a bit of power from the bike at the high altitude but what you need is a bike set-up which turns and holds a good line at Miller. There is little of this circuit where you are completely upright. It sounds obvious but the more time we get on the bike the better we will be.”Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team ZX10R Superbike) says: “The idea of testing in Japan is to try some new ideas and give some feedback. I have my crew chief with me and I hope we can give good input into the development program. Our bike is so young and has more potential than we have been able to demonstrate so far.“The track at Miller is exciting. The altitude means there is less power, but that is the same for everybody. The track has some fast corners that I like very much, so let us see if we can make it an easy bike to change direction with and then we can go as fast as the best ones. The team, Kawasaki, my crew chief and I are all learning the set-up steps we should avoid and the steps that give us something positive.“Is not been easy for me to be competitive immediately, with no winter test, a new bike and new staff to work with, but I’m quite sure we are working with passion and motivation to improve race by race. We are preparing the base for a great future winning bike.”Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki Racing Team ZX10R Superbike) says: “It is disappointing to not race in America but my injuries are still healing. The good thing is they are improving. The decision was taken with the team and Kawasaki to miss the race and concentrate on testing.“That’s not only for myself to get some time under my belt away from the racing, but also to get more information about the bike. That means I should hopefully come back strong at Misano which is a track I know quite well. I have never ridden at Aragon before so it will be good to get some track time in and learn the track before we go there after Misano.”
2011 Miller Superbike Pre-Race Rider Talk
The track is quite technical and there are a variety of curves to keep you on your toes.“Last year was not so good for me, but the year before that I got a second and a third place. It’s a very tough season this year and our team has been working very hard to give me a competitive bike and that’s why I was so happy to get on the podium at Monza – I felt that we deserved it.“It’s always a mixed blessing being in a one-rider team because although you get a lot of attention, there is nobody to exchange information with. For sure, if there were two riders in the team, we would probably progress more quickly. But that’s not the case, so we all just have to get down to it and do the best we can. After the last round, I am thinking that more podiums are possible and it would be great to get one – or maybe two!”Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team ZX10R Superbike) says: “Personally, I really look forward to this race, it is a beautiful part of the world and it is massive bonus to go racing there. We struggled there last year but we have a new bike this year and I am positive about that. I am hoping we can go there and certainly improve on last year but also improve on our previous results this year and move forward again.“Hopefully we can make our hard work at the previous rounds count in America. The challenges for the rider there are the time zone change and the massive increase in altitude. You lose a bit of power from the bike at the high altitude but what you need is a bike set-up which turns and holds a good line at Miller. There is little of this circuit where you are completely upright. It sounds obvious but the more time we get on the bike the better we will be.”Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team ZX10R Superbike) says: “The idea of testing in Japan is to try some new ideas and give some feedback. I have my crew chief with me and I hope we can give good input into the development program. Our bike is so young and has more potential than we have been able to demonstrate so far.“The track at Miller is exciting. The altitude means there is less power, but that is the same for everybody. The track has some fast corners that I like very much, so let us see if we can make it an easy bike to change direction with and then we can go as fast as the best ones. The team, Kawasaki, my crew chief and I are all learning the set-up steps we should avoid and the steps that give us something positive.“Is not been easy for me to be competitive immediately, with no winter test, a new bike and new staff to work with, but I’m quite sure we are working with passion and motivation to improve race by race. We are preparing the base for a great future winning bike.”Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki Racing Team ZX10R Superbike) says: “It is disappointing to not race in America but my injuries are still healing. The good thing is they are improving. The decision was taken with the team and Kawasaki to miss the race and concentrate on testing.“That’s not only for myself to get some time under my belt away from the racing, but also to get more information about the bike. That means I should hopefully come back strong at Misano which is a track I know quite well. I have never ridden at Aragon before so it will be good to get some track time in and learn the track before we go there after Misano.”