Kawasaki is under pressure to improve both its reliability and performance after a nightmare Italian Grand Prix at Mugello.
Things were already looking tough for
John Hopkins and Anthony West when the pair qualified just 14th and 19th on the 19-rider grid - and race day was to provide little relief.
Hopkins, who suffered a broken chain at the previous Le Mans round, made a dramatic exit from 13th position on lap 7 when a downshifting problem sent him straight on at the end of the 200mph home straight.
"We saw in qualifying that we were some way off the pace in race trim, so we decided to take a chance with some fairly big changes ahead of morning warm-up today. It was a gamble that paid off, because the set-up of the bike was much improved in the race. But then, just seven laps into the race the bike developed a fault with the quickshifter and I couldn't backshift approaching turn one," Hopper confirmed.
"With no way to scrub off speed the crash was inevitable. It was a big crash, and I count myself lucky that I managed to walk away uninjured. Obviously I'm frustrated because this is the second time in a row that a technical problem has put me out of the race. This cannot be allowed to happen again," he warned.
Team-mate West at least reached the chequered flag, albeit in 15th and last, behind even 41-year-old Repsol Honda wild-card Tady Okada.
"I'm starting to sound like a stuck record now, because every time I get off the bike I'm explaining the same problem," said a frustrated West. "It's fairly simple; the rear just spins up when you get on the gas out of the turns and the bike goes sideways when it's supposed to go forwards. This is a real, physical problem, not something that exists only in
Anthony West's head. Now I'm looking to the team for a solution, because I came to
MotoGP to race, and so far this season I've had little opportunity to do so. Whether the team can find a solution before the next race, which is only one week away, I don't know."
