Motourage

After two long-haul races in a row, the official Kawasaki Supersport Team returns to European operations with Joan Lascorz and Katsuaki Fujiwara ready to post strong finishes at Misano.

The often-tricky layout of Misano holds no fears for Lascorz and Fujiwara, who have returned from their unofficial summer break fit and more motivated than ever to go for podium places. Thus far Joan has only been off the podium once in seven races, while Katsuaki is searching only for that missing spark of good fortune to put him back into the top three.

The team had planned a test in Spain between Miller and Misano, but rain washed out their plans, and the technicians spent their time working on suspension and electronic advances to take to Italy. The team will now test after the Misano round, in the official IMS tests at Imola, on June 29 and 30.

Lascorz currently holds third place in the overall rankings – 14 points from the lead – with Katsuaki ninth and only 10 points from a top-five ranking – meaning there is everything to play for at Misano and beyond.

Joan Lascorz: “We got a top three finish in America last time out, and that was not so bad, but we want even more at Misano. It would have been good to get a test in before this weekend, but it was not to be because of the weather. I know the track at Misano, I know the competition and I know our team, so I am expecting the usual tough race – but I also expect to be competitive.”

Katsuaki Fujiwara: “I was sixth at Miller last time out and we are making constant improvements to our machine, so I am confident we can have a good weekend in Misano. Our bike was very consistent in America and that made me really happy. Our aim is to get the bike working just as well in Italy because I want to finish the season in the top four or five places.”