Despite having a bike slower than only the Ducatis through the speed trap, and qualifying well in the wet, the Kawasaki Racing Team suffered another disappointing race day at Mugello on Sunday.
Olivier Jacque, starting from the front of the second row, initially got off to a good start but was swallowed up as the field stormed towards the first corner. The injured Frenchman never managed to achieve the pace required and finished outside of the points in 16th.
"I finished the race, which was our priority, and I was surprised to be able to keep the rhythm, but now I am really exhausted," said Jacque, who was returning to action after sustaining a nasty arm injury at Shanghai. "I made a good start, but when I shifted to second and third gear many riders overtook me. Maybe I used the first one for too long, but the result was that I dropped from fourth to twelfth position on the first lap. Finally, the race was in dry conditions and this track is really demanding as well, so after seven laps I started to lose the strength in the arm. I couldn't be precise and I didn't want to take any risks and, instead, save energy for the rest of the race. I was sweating a lot for the last laps. I tried to overtake Guintoli and Tamada. Unfortunately, they were stronger than I was on the brakes at the end of the straight and I couldn't take advantage of our engine. This is the first step and I am sure that Barcelona is going to be better."
Team-mate
Randy de Puniet also had a bad start, from seventh on the grid, and never got into his stride before falling out on lap two.
