Colchester Kawasaki ... testing at Mallory yesterday
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MSS COLCHESTER Kawasaki today (Thursday) take part in the MSVR Brands Hatch test as part of their initial three-day shakedown programme.
After yesterday’s successful test at Mallory Park where the team’s two riders, Julien Da Costa and Simon Andrews, completed more than 90 laps, the team can now focus on amassing data from the Kent circuit in readiness for the first round of the championship on Easter weekend.
However, Simon Andrews will miss these two days at Brands Hatch today and Snetterton on Friday following a spill at Mallory. The 24 year-old Evesham rider suffered bruising to his shoulder in the accident after his ZX-10R was blown off line by a strong gust of wind.
Despite this set-back, the riders completed enough laps to confirm the direction of the team’s radical winter development work and to allow the Magnetti Marelli technicians to make great advances with the sophisticated engine and data management systems.
Team owner Nick Morgan is optimistic: ‘It was a shame for Simon and his crew yesterday but, nevertheless, we did enough laps to extract some strong data and confirm that the stuff we’ve done in the workshop over the winter months has really worked. There are some significant changes to our bikes for the 09 season and clearly these are a really bold step in the right direction. We may be down to one rider temporarily but Julien is massively experienced, mentally very strong and also very quick and professional. He will continue to spearhead the development work while Simon’s bruising subsides. The bruising to his ego may take slightly longer to heal, though.’
