Both Suzuki and Kawasaki are battling to bust up the Ducati-Yamaha-Honda grip on race wins: impossible to say yet, in the white-hot aura of
MotoGP, whether they can make the breakthrough.
Saturday am - Kawasaki Start with a Big Bang
Kawasaki have suddenly become synonymous with a screamer firing order for their ZX-RR engine, but the company will in fact use the older big-bang configuration in early-season MotoGP races.
There's still a question mark over tyre wear with the screamer layout, it became evident in talks with competition manager Michael Bartholemy at the team launch at Jerez last night.
"We were the first team to run a screamer engine with pneumatic valve gear," he said. "Our test rider Olivier Jacque said it has many advantages, but we will not give it to the riders yet because things around it are not yet right.
"People went to big-bang engines [with the old 990cc MotoGP bikes] to save tyres. We've sent our screamer engine to Europe for mapping, but the one thing you can't find out on a dyno is how an engine affects tyres."
So riders
John Hopkins and
Anthony West will start the season with the big-bang motor, and may not get the screamer until about round five, after Jacque has approved it.
There's much else happening in this team that believes it has a bike to match Ducati's Desmosedici. Jacque will today test a new clutch, and modifications to the gearbox will eliminate shuddering on downshifts. The three riders will also test a new electronics package, developed with Marelli.
"It gives you more options, and allows you to set up the bike more to the rider's individual requests," Bartholemy said. "He might want the power to be a little smoother here, or more aggressive there."
Bartholemy is also launching a major test programme, using Jacque's development talents to the full. The Frenchman will run a total of 13 test sessions this year, including several at
Jerez, three at Estoril, and one at the new Indianapolis circuit in the USA.
