The final qualifying day at Phillip Island was a good one for French rider
Regis Laconi on the PSG-1 Kawasaki, the veteran building on a strong start to the weekend.
Laconi achieved both consistent and quick results and will start Sunday's two races from the third row of the grid, having qualified in tenth place - a vast improvement over results in Qatar for the Italian Kawasaki team.
A former winner at Phillip Island in his factory Ducati days, the Frenchman was on the ball from the off on Friday and has spent most of the weekend inside the top ten.
“I'm quite satisfied with the job done today,” he commented, “We changed the steering angle and made some changes to the rear shock, and this has nearly solved the chattering problem we have been experiencing.
“It' s impossible to foresee tomorrow's results, and it will be a hard round, but I found a good feeling with the bike and I feel more confident, especially entering bends. I'm sure I can battle among the first ten positions where there will be movement. You can feel the competition.”
MotoGP refugee
Makoto Tamada was not quite as happy as his team-mate. As with many riders coming from other categories, the Japanese rider is having to adjust to the very different feeling of riding on the Pirelli tyres in World Superbike.
“I'm really disappointed not to be among the 16 riders in Superpole, but I still have some problems with the feeling from the front of the bike,” the two-time MotoGP winner admitted, “We are focusing on front tyre choice to find a better solution.
“Compared to this morning, I improved a lot, especially in first two splits, and this is why I'm quite confident about tomorrow. But we have to work more to make our ZX-10R more competitive.”
