It's 17:55 local time here at the Losail circuit just outside Doha in Qatar. I'm here for the launch of the 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R.
We've only had two sessions on the bike. First impressions always explode your mind on any bike that's quick or radically different but when you take on a circuit like Losail, well, my brain's fried just trying to learn the right lines, let alone take in something as potent as the new ZX-10R.
Good job I've got four sessions left and two of them are tonight, at night.
The pics you can see were taken 5 minutes ago. I thought I'd need a clear visor here but the lighting is superb - way better than it appears on TV when MotoGP are in town - so I'm sticking with the dark visor. The atmosphere is great, outside of the circuit it's pitch black, I can just see the lights of cars bombing down the highway.
This track is so flat. Everyone is struggling with reference points, but probably no-one as much as me. It makes you realise you use so many reference points on a typical British circuit without even thinking about it and when there aren't any around, well it takes another level of concentration to string a decent lap together.
Not sure I've managed it yet.
The tricky corners are on the back section of the track, they all look identical as you approach but some are 50mph, others are 100mph+. I'm alright going into the fast ones a bit slow, I can handle that, it's the other way around that makes my you-know-what twitch like a rabbit's nose. This ZX-10R racks up speed at such a ridiculous rate, it's easy to get giddy..
I'll report back my first impressions of the ZX-10R in a few hours. I've just got to settle this barrage of info that's flying around my head first..
