The Quattro Plant Kawasaki team left Thruxton disappointed after scoring just three points this weekend. Gary Mason achieved that return with 13th in race one before a technical problem took him out of race two and the Lichfield rider hopes some improvements to the ZX-10R can ensure regular points in the coming races.
“I believe we made the right tyre selection for race 1. I made a good start, but by lap 10 I was nursing the rear tyre just to bring the bike home. I am disappointed with the finish, but I was happy to add to my points tally. My DNF in race 2 was later isolated to an electrical fault on the bike.”
“This is only the second round in the series, and we are not a million miles away from where we need to be. Over the next couple of weeks we have some development on the chassis, so I am really excited to out developing the bike before we head to my favourite circuit at Oulton Park for round 3.”
Teammate Freddy Foray enjoyed his first visit to Thruxton although that wasn't reflected in the results. The Frenchman was 20th in the opening race before crashing in the second and is targeting a return to form at Oulton Park.
“This was my first time at Thruxton and I really liked the circuit. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish in the points in both races due to being off the pace in race 1, because of grip, and my early exit in race 2, as a result of my low-side. I just lost the front-end and landed hard on my shoulder. Fortunately, I only bruised my right-side, so will be back testing with the team after a short break in France.”
Team Owner John Jameson feels the team are slowly improving the motorcycle and hopes Mason's experience with the ZX-10R can help him and Foray move forward.
”Thruxton can be a very demanding circuit and we are disappointed with the results, but over this round we have learnt a lot about the bike set-up for both riders. We are able to use Gary's knowledge of the bike. However, we need to work harder with Freddy, as his knowledge has come from riding a Suzuki, which is very different. This is only the second round and we have made great progress, so it is important we continue our development before the next round at our home circuit in May.”